The run out table in the lab: Quenching of fast moving steel plates

In the Run Out Table, red hot steel slabs moving at speeds between 2 and 22 m/s are quench cooled by impingement of hundreds of water jets. Proper control of the Run Out Table process is crucial to ensure the desired steel microstructure and mechanical properties and can only be achieved with insight based on accurate experimental data. Although quenching experiments have been widely reported in literature, the few on moving surfaces reached maximum surface speeds of 1.5 m/s, which is much lower than in the actual Run Out Table process. In this paper, we present the first measurements with a new laboratory setup that allows surfaces to move at speeds between 0 and 8 m/s. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest laboratory speed ever reported. The preliminary results show good reproducibility. Importantly, a transition in the heat flux history trends is found at speeds above 1.5 m/s. This finding confirms the need to perform experiments at surface speeds exceeding those of the past.