Table 1.
Chemical composition of S45C steel for the arc quenching process.
Table 2.
Experiment parameters designed by traditional method and average hardness values.
Table 3.
Experiment parameters designed by using the Taguchi method and average hardness values.
Fig 1.
The S45C steel plate and arc quenching process: (a) S45C steel plate, (b) arc quenching machine, (c) arc quenching surface, and (d) position of hardness pathways quenching by arc energy.
Fig 2.
Effects of current intensity on the surface hardness of S45C steel with a curve shape.
Fig 3.
Effects of Travel speed on the surface hardness of S45C steel with a curve shape.
Fig 4.
Effects of arc length on the surface hardness of S45C steel with a curve shape.
Fig 5.
Effects of gas flow rate on the surface hardness of S45C steel with a curve shape.
Table 4.
Evaluate results by parameters affecting S/N ratio.
Fig 6.
Effects of pulse time on the surface hardness of S45C steel with a curve shape.
Fig. 7.
Main effects plot for SN ratios of the S45C steel hardness with a concave surface (larger is better).
Fig 8.
The 3D surface graph of interaction between Current intensity, Travel speed and Pulse time for the surface hardness of S45C steel after electric arc quenching: (a) The 3D surface graph of Surface hardness versus Current intensity and Travel speed, (b) The 3D surface graph of surface hardness versus Current intensity and Pulse time.
Fig 9.
The 3D surface graph of interaction between Current intensity, Arc length and Gas flow rate for the surface hardness of S45C steel after electric arc quenching: (a) The 3D surface graph of Surface hardness versus Current intensity and Arc length, (b) The 3D surface graph of surface hardness versus Current intensity and Gas flow rate.
Fig 10.
The 3D surface graph of interaction between Pulse time, Arc length and Gas flow rate for the surface hardness of S45C steel after electric arc quenching: (a) The 3D surface graph of Surface hardness versus Pulse time and Arc length, (b) The 3D surface graph of surface hardness versus Pulse time and Gas flow rate.
Fig 11.
The 3D surface graph of interaction between Pulse time, Arc length and Travel speed for the surface hardness of S45C steel after electric arc quenching: (a) The 3D surface graph of Surface hardness versus Pulse time and Travel speed, (b) The 3D surface graph of surface hardness versus Travel speed and Arc length.
Fig 12.
The 3D surface graph of interaction between Gas flow rate, Arc length and Travel speed for the surface hardness of S45C steel after electric arc quenching: (a) The 3D surface graph of Surface hardness versus Arc length and Gas flow rate, (b) The 3D surface graph of surface hardness versus Travel speed and Gas flow rate.
Fig 13.
Structure of sample No. 6: (a) macrostructure (S2 Fig), (b) base metal (S3 Fig), (c) heat-affected zone, (d) hardening area (S4 Fig), and (e) hardened area under SEM (S5 Fig).
Fig 14.
Microhardness vs. depth diagram of sample No. 6 (
S6 Fig).