Quenching
Glossary · Materials & Heat Treatment
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Quenching is rapidly cooling heated steel in water, oil or air to lock in a hard structure.
In practice
The speed of cooling is what creates hardness. Quenched steel is hard and also brittle and full of internal stress, so quenching is almost always followed by tempering.
Why it matters
Parts move and can crack during quench. Anything with sharp internal corners, abrupt section changes or thin walls is a candidate to crack, which is a design consideration long before it is a heat treat problem.
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