A challenging issue in the feld of thermomechanical processing (TMP) of metal products is the development of new hardening methods and the creation of new cooling media with controlled thermal properties to be used for heat intensity control during thermal treatment. The developed mathematical models of the heat transfer processes during thermal treatment of metal products in air-water mixtures with predetermined thermophysical properties have allowed the heat-transfer conditions to be controlled and adjusted, which particularly makes it possible to forgo the use of aggressive and expensive cooling media.
The development is based on a possibility to regulate the heat flow intensity with the jet flow depending on the hydrodynamic conditions and thermophysical properties of the cooling medium via controllable change in the concentration and size of gaseous bubbles, considering the cavitation nature of fluid. The process of cooling in the technology of heat treatment of metal products is realized by the compact part of the jet stream of water, with gaseous phase (air and vapor in the water) concentration being controlled in the main jet stream.