This article presents the fundamentals and nomenclature of polymer quenchants and provides a detailed discussion on the polymers used for quenching formulation. The article describes the effect of polymer structure on the quenching mechanism. It also presents the factors affecting polymer quenchant performance. The article details the use of polymer quenchants for intensive quenching and then focuses on the wire patenting processes and polymer quenchant analysis. The article presents the application of polymer quenchants for induction hardening. Finally, it provides details on cooling curve analysis of polymer quenchants.

Intensive quenching (IQ) is an alternative method of hardening steel parts. Two types of IQ methods are used in heat treating practice: IQ-2 and IQ-3. IQ-2 is implemented in IQ water tanks, which are usually used for batch quenching of steel parts. IQ-3 is conducted in single-part processing using high-velocity water flow IQ units. This article presents a detailed description of IQ technology, related equipment, and IQ applications. A review of intensive quench system design and processing is provided, including numerical design criteria, steel selection, quenchants, properties (especially optimal residual stress profiles). Several specific applications of intensive quenching are also provided.

Intensive quenching (IQ) is an alternative method of hardening steel parts, providing extremely high cooling rates within the martensite-phase formation temperature range. This article begins with the description on the general correlation between steel mechanical properties and cooling rate during IQ. It presents a review of batch intensive quenching (IQ-2) methods and single-part intensive quenching (IQ-3) methods as well as practical applications of these methods. The article provides useful information on the effect of heat flow on cooling in these methods, and discusses the improvements achieved in part microstructure, mechanical properties, and stress conditions of steel, after intensive quenching. It also describes the reasons for part distortion in IQ, and reviews the types of quench systems used in IQ-2 and IQ-3 processes.