Software Tool to Design Optimal Cooling Plans for Intensive Quenching Preventing Profile Deformation

Pau Vial¹ and Gabriele Macedonio¹

¹Kautec Solutions SL, carrer del Noc 24, Banyoles 17820, Spain

Abstract. In the automotive and aerospace industries, the demand for high-performance aluminium profiles is driven by the need for materials that combine exceptional strength-to-weight ratios with superior corrosion resistance. These materials require advanced cooling capabilities due to their quench sensitivity. Intensive quenching technology not only provides high cooling rates but also implements the Variable Geometry concept to properly apply the coolant to prevent profile deformation caused by thermal stresses. This principle is based on adjustable nozzles with selective coolant flow and angle of impingement. To find an optimal configuration of the nozzles given a specific profile geometry, we present GOTA, which is a software tool equipped with spraying and thermal simulators that consider the vapour lock that appears during the cooling process. These simulators allow visualisation of the quenching process, and this is used by a machine learning algorithm that automatically finds an optimal cooling plan given a specific profile. GOTA is tested on several profiles and the results are benchmarked against the existing quenching technology to highlight how this tool can improve overall product quality.