What are Quench Cracks in Steel and Why do they occur?
Quenching is a critical process that involves severe cooling of large structural parts to cause martensitic transformation. This quenching process is always accompanied by several tensile and compressive stresses associated with austenite to martensite transformation. These stresses, in severe cases, result in cracks during heat treatment and counted as defects of heat treatment. Cracks developed during hardening treatment are termed as Quench Cracks. Cracks of these nature are a matter of concern as these cracks make steel render useless and of scrap value.