This is a continuation of previous study of low-alloy steel quench hardening using forced convection bath (FCB) and intensive quench (IQ) systems. Work has been done to characterize the contributions of surface defects, carbon content, and segregation to distortion present after quenching in both systems. This was done by quenching... more

This is a continuation of previous study of low-alloy steel quench hardening using forced convection bath (FCB) and intensive quench (IQ) systems. Work has been done to characterize the contributions of surface defects, carbon content, and segregation to distortion present after quenching in both systems. This was done by quenching cast 43XX series C-rings and machined defective parts in both the FCB and IQ systems. It was found neither quench system was able to avoid crack formation due to surface defects, carbon content, or casting segregation. In both systems, crack depth and size correlated directly to both carbon content and segregation. Specific crack locations often correlated with the geometry and size of defects. less