Effect of Austempering Process Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel Quenched in a Mixture of Used Engine Oil and Ash
Keywords:
Austempering, Mechanical properties, Mild steel, Engine oil, AshAbstract
The study was aimed at enhancing the utilization of a blend of recycled engine oil and ash as an appropriate quenchant for the austempering heat treatment of mild steel. The objectives of the study were to utilize Response Surface Methodology to create a model for efficient use of the mixture as a quenchant, determine the optimal process parameters (time and temperature) for austempering with the mixture and develop a predictive model to guide the austempering process in achieving specific desired properties in mild steel. The experimental was designed with Minitab resulting to 27 experimental runs. The independent variables were temperature and time to determine the hardness, impact energy and maximum load. The result showed that maximum hardness of 190BHN, impact energy of110J and maximum load of 6500W. The optimization studied gave hardness value of 176.870, impact energy of 60.1852 and maximum load of 5964.81 at temperature of 8700C and time of 27.7773mins with desirability of 1. It was concluded from the studies that using the optimal austempering time and temperature for achieving specific mechanical properties suitable for a particular application can save cost of production by reducing energy cost.