The phase transformation model is coupled with the inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP) to estimate the steel/quenchant interfacial heat flux. Cylindrical steel probes having section thicknesses 25 and 50mm, respectively, and lengths 30mm were made from medium and high carbon steels (AISI 1045 and 52100). The probes were quenched in mineral, neem, and sunflower oils. The cooling curves at the centre and near the surface of steel probes were recorded. The near-surface cooling curve was used as a reference temperature data in the IHCP algorithm for the estimation of surface heat flux, whereas the cooling curve at the centre was used as the boundary condition of the axisymmetric model of the probe. The effect of phase transformation on the metal/quenchant interfacial heat flux was indicated by a kink and rise of heat flux. The increase in the section thickness of the probe from 25 to 50mm decreased the magnitude of the heat flux. Increasing section thickness increases the phase transformation, increasing the resistance to heat flow at the metal/quenchant interface.

Many alternative ecofriendly quenchants have been developed to replace mineral oil such as vegetable oils, polymer quenchants, and nanofluids. Although vegetable oils show superior cooling performance to mineral oil, their use is limited due to high production costs and low thermal stability. In this study, used coconut oil was chemically treated and its cooling and heat transfer characteristics were compared with that of refined coconut oil and mineral oil. The thermophysical properties of chemically treated waste coconut oil were found to be higher than that of the other oils tested, and its wettability proved to be better as well. Quenching experiments using an Inconel 600 probe (as per ISO 9950 and ASTM D 6200 standards) showed that the vapor blanket stage was shorter for the chemically treated oil than either of the others. The treated waste oil was also found to have the highest average peak heat flux based on the solution to the inverse heat conduction problem.