On the thermo-mechanical coupling in austenite-martensite phase transformation related to the quenching process

The present contribution considers modeling and simulation of the quenching process, presenting an anisothermal model formulated within the framework of continuum mechanics and the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The energy equation thermo-mechanical coupling terms due to internal and thermal couplings are exploited. In order to analyze the importance of these terms, three different models are considered. The first one is an uncoupled model in the sense that these terms are neglected, corresponding to the rigid body energy equation. In second model, these couplings are represented through the incorporation of a source term in the energy equation associated with the latent heat released during the austenite-martensite phase transformation. Finally, the third model considers all thermo-mechanical coupling terms of the proposed model. Progressive induction hardening of a long cylindrical body is considered as an application of the proposed general formulation. Numerical simulations analyze the effect of the thermo-mechanical coupling terms, comparing the three proposed models. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.