A numerical approach to the cooling curves of porous P/M materials for quenching process

The software is developed in FORTRAN to obtain the cooling curves of powder metallurgy (P/M) of porous materials. The software is written in two-dimensional form and in cylindrical coordinates. The thermal conductivity of the porous materials is obtained using empirical correlations given in the literature. The natural convection, nucleate boiling and film boiling processes without and with radiation are considered in the analysis. The heat transfer coefficients on vertical and horizontal surfaces are calculated using the empirical correlations given in the literature. Energy equations are solved using the control volume method, but the effect of pore geometries is not considered in the analysis. Examples of the cooling curves are given for plain carbon steel with the water as the quenchant for 2.5%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% porosities. It is shown that the software can be used for different quenchants and the porous materials with different geometries.