DISTORTION AND RESIDUAL-STRESS IN QUENCHED ALUMINUM BARS

Predictions of distortion and residual stress for rectangular bars, qu enched on one surface, are compared with experimental measurements. Th e heat flow is unidirectional, and the dominant stress components acts along the length of the bars. Thermocouples measure the transient tem perature distribution, and displacement transducers monitor the distor tion of the bars into the circular arcs. The thermal history inferred from an inverse heat transfer calculation drives the mechanical stress and deformation analysis. The numerical analyses demonstrate the sens itivity of the quench distortion to the thermal boundary conditions, t he thermophysical properties and the constitutive model. Agreement bet ween the predicted and measured distortion is only qualitative. The pr edicted residual stress field compared very well with the residual str ess inferred from layer removal techniques.