About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials Processing Fundamentals: Towards Sustainable Process Modeling, Design, and Operation
|
| Presentation Title |
Quench Process Modeling and Simulation in the Heat-Treatment of Critical Aerospace Components |
| Author(s) |
Ramanan Sankaran, Vimal Ramanuj, Nicholas Killingsworth, Chong Cha, Michael George Glavicic, Weizhou Li |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Nicholas Killingsworth |
| Abstract Scope |
This work presents a comprehensive evaluation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for modeling the quench heat-treatment of advanced metal alloy components used in aerospace applications. The study establishes a predictive baseline CFD model capable of simulating industrial-scale quenching processes without relying on empirical heat transfer coefficient (HTC) calibrations. Validation is performed against both academic and industrial test cases, demonstrating that the baseline CFD approach achieves temperature prediction accuracy comparable to or exceeding traditional HTC-based methods, with average errors below ten percent. To improve the performance of the CFD method a novel direct numerical simulation capability is developed and verified using laboratory boiling experiments, providing high-fidelity insights into two-phase flow phenomena and informing improvements to mean-field closure models. The results enable virtual testing of quench processes, reducing reliance on costly experimental trials and facilitating the optimization of component cooling rates and mechanical properties. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |