Reduction of Thermal Distortion in the Hardening Process of a Tubular Stabilizer through Conductive Heating and Quenching in Clamping State Free

This study presents a method to reduce thermal distortion in tubular automotive stabilizer bars by replacing batch furnace heating with individual conductive heating and implementing a press-quenching technique with a seven-point clamping fixture. Using finite element analysis, researchers optimized the clamping system to maintain critical dimensional tolerances while addressing the challenges of inhomogeneous temperature distribution through a programmed current profile. Statistical analysis confirmed significant improvement in dimensional stability compared to conventional quenching.