Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096

www.elsevier.com/locate/nel
Inverse heat conduction analysis of quenching process using nite-element
and optimization method
Li Huiping, Zhao Guoqun

, Niu Shanting, LuanYiguo

Mould and Die Engineering Technology Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250061, PR China
Received 23 November 2004; received in revised form 6 March 2006; accepted 18 April 2006
Available online 9 June 2006
Abstract
The calculation of surface heat transfer coefcient during quenching process is one of the inverse heat conduction problems, and it is a
nonlinear and ill-posed problem. A new method to calculate the temperature-dependent surface heat transfer coefcient during quenching
process is presented, which applies nite-element method (FEM), advanceretreat method and golden section method to the inverse heat
conduction problem, and can calculate the surface heat transfer coefcient according to the temperature curve gained by experiment. In order
to apply the advanceretreat method to the inverse heat conduction problem during quenching process, the arithmetic is improved, so that
the searching interval of optimization can be gained by the improved advanceretreat method. The optimum values of surface heat transfer
coefcient can be easily obtained in the searching interval by golden section method. During the calculation process, the phase-transformation
volume and phase-transformation latent heat of every element in every time interval can be calculated easily by FEM. The temperature and
phase-transformation volume of every element are calculated with the coupling calculation of phase-transformation latent heat.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Quenching; Inverse heat conduction; Finite-element method; Optimization
1. Introduction
The heat exchange problem with a known initial condition
and boundary condition is a well-posed problem. It can be
solved by mathematical analysis. But if the boundary condition
of heat exchange problem has to be ascertained by measuring
some temperatures in the interior or the surface of the domain,
it can be dened as an inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP).
IHCP has numerous important applications in various sciences
and engineering. For example, the temperature of a very hot
surface is not easily measured directly with sensors. Usually
sensors are placed beneath the surface and the temperature of
the hot surface is estimated by inverse analysis. Other examples
of IHCP are the estimation of unknown temperature-dependent
thermo-physical parameters of materials from the temperature
recordings at the boundary surfaces of the domain [1].

Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 531 8395811.

E-mail addresses: lihuiping@sdu.edu.cn (L. Huiping),
Zhaogq@sdu.edu.cn (Z. Guoqun).
0168-874X/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nel.2006.04.002
IHCP is an ill-posed problem, which is more difcult to solve
than the normal heat exchange problem. Many researchers
have studied the methods of evaluating temperature-dependent
surface heat transfer coefcient. Based on the KarhunenLove
Galerkin procedure, Park and Chung proposed a method for
the solution of inverse problem of estimating the time-varying
strength of a heat source in a two-dimensional heat conduction
system [2]. Osman and Beck [3] treated the problem of esti-
mating the temperature-dependent heat transfer coefcient in
the quenching of a sphere as a nonlinear parameter estimation
problem, and used the sequential function specication method
to estimate the unknown heat transfer coefcients one by one.
According to the temperaturetime data measured at subsurface
locations, Naylor and Osthuizen [4] determined the heat trans-
fer coefcient in a force convective ow over a square prism
using an iterative algorithm. Taler and Zima [5] used the con-
trol volume methods to solve multi-dimensional inverse heat
conduction problem. By this method, the partial heat conduc-
tion equation is replaced by a system of ordinary differential
equations in time, which are then solved sequentially, the pro-
cedure is started at a partial node where sensor is located and
1088 L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096
Nomenclature
thermal conductivity, W/m

C
c
p
constant pressure specic heat, J/kg

C
T temperature,

C
j partial differential operator
H
k
convection coefcient, W/m
2
C
T
w
temperature of boundary,

C
boundary of object
W weight function
s curve boundary
N transient thermal capacity matrix
V volume fraction of phase-transformation
density of material, kg/m
3
t time, s
q
v
latent heat of phase transformation, J/m
3
x, y, z rectangular coordinates
H
s
radiation coefcient, W/m
2
C
T
c
temperature of ambience,

C
r radius
J function
K stiffness matrix
H enthalpies, J/m
3
sequentialy marches through space to the surface node.
Hernandez-Morales et al. [6] and Chantasiriwan [7] also stud-
ied the one-dimensional problem of estimating the transient
heat transfer coefcient at the surface of steel bars subjected to
quenching using the sequential function specication method.
According to the temperaturetime data of several interior lo-
cations in the quenching part measured by sensors, Gu et al.
[1,8] used the inverse heat conduction method to estimate the
heat transfer coefcients between quenching part and water or
oil. They did not consider the inuence of phase-transformation
latent heat by using specic steel in their study, and supposed
it was one-dimensional heat conduction along the thickness of
part. Cheng et al. [9] and Chen et al. [10] also estimated the heat
transfer coefcients between quenching part and quenching
medium using the inverse heat conduction method. The results
gained by this method are consistent with the results gained by
experiment. Cheng et al. [11] used the nite-difference method
to solve the inverse-estimating problem of heat conduction
between steel 45 and quenching medium. They considered the
inuence of phase-transformation latent heat in their study.
Their solving precision is not very satisfactory, even though
the process iteration efciency is very high.
In this paper, a new method of estimating the temperature-
dependent surface heat transfer coefcient during quenching
process is presented, which applies nite-element method
(FEM), advanceretreat method and golden section method
to the inverse heat conduction problem, and can calculate
the surface heat transfer coefcient according to the temper-
ature curve obtained by experiment. In order to apply the
advanceretreat method to inverse heat conduction problem
during quenching process, the arithmetic of advanceretreat
method is improved, so that the searching interval of optimiza-
tion can be gained by the improved advanceretreat method,
and then the optimum values of surface heat transfer coef-
cient can be easily obtained in the searching interval by golden
section method. During the calculation process, the phase-
transformation volume and phase-transformation latent heat of
every element in every time interval can be calculated easily
by FEM. The temperature and phase-transformation volume
of every element are calculated with the coupling calculation
of phase-transformation latent heat.
2. FEM modeling of heat conduction and phase
transformation
2.1. FEM modeling of heat conduction
2.1.1. Basic equation
According to the Fourier law, the Fourier heat conduction
equation of transient problem with the phase-transformation
latent heat can be achieved by using conservation of energy in a
rectangular coordinates system. The equation can be written as
j
jx
_

jT
jx
_
+
j
jy
_

jT
jy
_
+
j
jz
_

jT
jz
_
+ q
v
= c
p
jT
jt
, (1)
where is the thermal conductivity, T the temperature of
quenching part, q
v
the latent heat of phase transformation,
the density of material, c
p
the constant pressure specic heat
and t time.
2.1.2. Initial condition
Initial condition is the initial temperature of quenching part.
It is the starting point of calculation. The initial condition at
time t = 0 can be described as
T |
t =0
= T
0
(x, y, z), (2)
where T
0
(x, y, z) is the function of initial temperature.
2.1.3. Boundary condition
Boundary condition is the way of heat exchange between
quenching part and ambience. The boundary condition of
quenching is the third-type condition, and it is the mixed heat
exchange boundary of convection and radiation. It can be
written as

jT
jn

= H
k
(T
w
T
c
) + H
s
_
T
4
w
T
4
c
_
= H(T
w
T
c
),
(3)
where n is the outer normal of boundary surface, H
k
the con-
vection coefcient, H
s
the radiation coefcient, T
w
the temper-
ature of boundary and T
c
the temperature of ambience. H is
the total heat transfer coefcient. It is the estimating goal of
nite-element analysis for inverse heat conduction.
L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096 1089
2.1.4. Discretization of temperature eld
Applying the Galerkin principle, the transient heat conduc-
tion partial differential equation with the latent heat of phase-
transformation process can be written as
_ _
D
W
l
_

_
r
j
2
T
jx
2
+ r
j
2
T
jr
2
+
jT
jr
_
+ q
v
r
c
p
r
jT
jt
_
dx dr = 0 (l = 1, 2, . . . , n), (4)
where W is the weight function, D the whole region of integral,
l the serial number of nite-element node, d the full differential
operator and r the radius.
Applying the Green equation to Eq. (4), the following equa-
tion can be obtained:
jJ
D
jT
l
=
_

HrW
l
jT
jn
ds
_ _
D
_
r
_
jT
jx
jW
l
jx
+
jT
jr
jW
l
jr
_
q
v
rW
l
+ rc
p
W
l
jT
jt
_
dx dr = 0, (5)
where
_

is the curve integral of close boundary. For the quad-

rangular nite-element, Eq. (5) can be written as a variational
format of element, and described as
jJ
e
jT
l
=
_ _
e
_
r
_
jT
jx
jW
l
jx
+
jT
jr
jW
l
jr
_
q
v
rW
l
+ rc
p
W
l
jT
jt
_
dx dr
_
e
HrW
l
jT
jn
ds
= K
e
{T }
e
+ N
e
_
jT
jt
_
e
{p}
e
, (6)
where n is the normal direction of boundary, s the curve bound-
ary, K
e
the stiffness matrix of nite-element, N
e
the transient
thermal capacity matrix of nite-element, {p}
e
includes both
the phase-transformation latent heat and boundary conditions
and e is the number of nite-elements.
In the calculation of temperature, the CrankNicolson
method is used [12].
2.1.5. Phase-transformation latent heat
During the cooling process of heat treatment, when there
are phase transformations in the quenching part, phase-
transformation latent heat will be produced. During the heating
process of heat treatment, when there are phase transfor-
mations, phase-transformation latent heat will be absorbed.
Although the latent heat produced in the process of solids
transformation (one solid to another solid) is smaller than the
latent heat produced in the process of solidication or melt,
it is an important factor that cannot be neglected. From the
point of view of mathematics, the basic equation (1) becomes
a highly nonlinear equation due to the latent heat, and it is
more difcult to solve this equation.
In this paper, the material involved is steel, the quenching
process only involves cooling, and the heat source term only
derives from latent heat corresponding to transformations of
austenite during cooling. During the simulation process, the
phase-transformation latent heat produced in the nite-elements
are regarded as the inner heat sources of corresponding ele-
ments, and the correct values of phase-transformation latent
heat are gained by iterative method in every simulating step.
During the quenching process, the inner heat source item q
v
of the basic (1) is produced due to austenitic transformation,
the enthalpy H of austenitic decomposed into pearlite is
1.56 10
9
1.50 10
6
T J/m
3
(where T is temperature in

C
[13]; the enthalpies H(J/m
3
) of austenitic decomposed into
ferrite, bainite and martensite correspond to 5.910
8
, 6.210
8
and 6.4 10
8
, respectively [14,15].
Due to austenitic transformation relating to temperature, the
phase-transformation latent heat is also a linear function of
temperature. The equation for calculating latent heat can be
described as
q
v
= H
f
n+1
f
n
t
= H f , (7)
where f
n
and f
n+1
correspond to the phase-transformation vol-
ume at time t
n
and time t
n+1
, respectively and f is the phase-
transformation volume for a unit time.
2.2. Mathematic modeling of phase transformation
The phase transformations during quenching process is clas-
sied into diffusion-type and non diffusion-type transforma-
tions. The transformations of austenite decomposed into ferrite,
pearlite and bainite are controlled by temperature history. The
JohnsonMehlAvrami equation [16], one of the most popu-
lar kinetic equations, is applied for evaluating volume fractions
of ferrite, pearlite and bainite in the paper. The equation of
diffusion-type transformations can be described as
V = 1 exp(bt
n
), n =
ln
_
ln(1 V
1
)
ln(1 V
2
)
_
ln
_
t
1
t
2
_ ,
b =
ln(1 V
1
)
t
n
1
, (8)
where t
1
and t
2
are the isothermal times of certain tem-
perature and V
1
and V
2
are the volume fractions of phase-
transformations of certain temperature. All of them depend on
Timetemperature transformation (TTT) curve of steel, which
varies with the type of steel.
The JohnsonMehlAvrami equation is valid only for isother-
mal transformations. In order to calculate the phase transfor-
mations by JMA equation and TTT curve, cooling curves are
regarded as a series of small isothermal time steps connected by
instantaneous temperature changes following constant volume
fraction lines. The transformed volume fractions are then calcu-
lated isothermally during each time step. Every phase transfor-
mation is assumed to occur between certain temperature limits.
For the diffusion-type transformation, the incubation period and
the phase-transformation volume fractions can be determined
according to Scheils additivity method [17,18].
The volume fraction of non diffusion-type transformation de-
pends only on temperature, and is not controlled by temperature
1090 L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096
history. Not considering the effect of stresses to non diffusion-
type transformation, Koistinen and Marburger [19] described
the equation of non diffusion-type transformation as the func-
tion of temperature:
V = 1 exp[(M
s
T )], (9)
where M
s
is the temperature of martensite beginning to trans-
form. is a constant, whose value varies with the type of steel.
It can be obtained by calculation in TTT curve. For steel P20,
= 0.023.
3. Optimizing model and method
3.1. Optimizing model
In this research, only the heat transfer coefcient is involved,
and other parameters are not involved. For the evaluating
process of inverse heat conduction problem using optimizing
method and FEM, the iterative processes are necessary. In
order to keep the evaluation process continuously and achieve
the desired evaluation precision, it is important to construct a
correct convergence criterion or optimization model. Accord-
ing to the character of evaluating the temperature-dependent
surface heat transfer coefcient during quenching process, the
criterion of convergence is constructed with the measuring
values of temperature eld and the computing values of every
iteration, which can be described as
min f (x) = min {T } = min

_
N

i=1
(T
i
T

i
)
2
, (10)
H
i
/H
min
10,
H
i
/H
max
10,
where f (x) is the standard deviation of the computing values
of temperature eld, N the total number of target points and
min f (x) the target function. When the value of f (x) reaches
the desired precision, the correct surface heat transfer coef-
cient corresponding to certain temperature is gained. In this
study, the minimum value of f (x) is set as 1 10
4
. H
i
is
the surface heat transfer coefcient of ith step, T
i
the measured
value of temperature corresponding to ith step, T

i
the com-
puted value of temperature corresponding to ith step and H
min
and H
max
the lower and upper limits of optimizing interval.
3.2. Searching the optimizing interval
A simple method of searching interval is advanceretreat
method. The principle of this method is stated as follows: Start
to search the interval from certain point along one direction,
and search three points which function values show up-down-
up trend according to certain searching step size; if it is not
successful along this direction, then retreat the starting point
and search the interval along other direction (along an inverse
direction) [20]. During the process of searching interval us-
ing advanceretreat method, as soon as a boundary point is
ascertained, the value of this point will be regarded as the
surface heat transfer coefcient and used in the simulation
programof temperature and phase-transformation elds to eval-
uate the temperatures. The surface heat transfer coefcients be-
tween quenching part and quenching agent are different from
the surface temperatures of quenching part, and the difference
range is very large. For example, the surface heat transfer co-
efcient is about 135 W/m
2
C between 20

C water and the

quenching part of 860

C; the surface heat transfer coefcient

is about 13,491 W/m
2
C between 20

C water and the quench-

ing part of 430

C; the surface heat transfer coefcient is about

4350 W/m
2
C between 20

C water and the quenching part

whose surface temperature is close to room temperature. There-
fore the searching time of an appropriate interval strongly de-
pends on the value of initial step size
s
. If the value of
s
is
bigger, the optimization iterative time of golden section method
is increased largely although the searching time of appropriate
interval is decreased; if the value of
s
is smaller, the search-
ing time of appropriate interval is increased largely although
the optimization iterative time of golden section method is de-
creased. In order to decrease the searching time of appropri-
ate interval when
s
keeps the same value, the advanceretreat
method is improved. The following error function is applied to
evaluate the result.
E() =
_

N
i=1
(T
i
T

i
)
2
,
_
N

i=1
T
i

N

i=1
T

i
0
_
,

_
N

i=1
(T
i
T

i
)
2
,
_
N

i=1
T
i

N

i=1
T

i
<0
_
,
(11)
where is the surface heat transfer coefcient and T
i
the com-
puting values of nite-element node i. T

i
is the objective val-
ues of node i. Its value can be gotten by experiment or other
methods.
The computing values of T
i
will vary with the heat transfer
coefcient in every time interval, and the error values due to the
different heat transfer coefcients can be calculated by Eq. (11).
There is only one appropriate heat transfer coefcient, which
will make the error E() small enough, and this heat transfer
coefcient is the objective. Except this appropriate heat transfer
coefcient, the error E() of other heat transfer coefcients will
be a negative or positive number. The rst job of searching the
appropriate heat transfer coefcient is to ascertain an interval.
One endpoint of the interval can make the error E() to be a
negative number, and other endpoint of the interval can make
the error E() to be a positive number. For every heat transfer
coefcient, the procedure will be applied to calculate the T
i
,
and then the error E() will be calculated by Eq. (11).
The computing procedures of searching an appropriate inter-
val using improved advanceretreat method are as follows:
(i) Select the value of initial searching step size
s
and the
value of initial surface heat transfer coefcient
3
(for the
rst time, the value of
3
is random; for the later times, the
value of
3
is the surface heat transfer coefcient attained in
the former optimization). The value of
3
is sent to the pro-
cedure of evaluating temperature and phase-transformation
L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096 1091
Fig. 1. SDL ow chart of improved advanceretreat method.
elds, and the computing values of some node tempera-
tures will be gained. Then the error E
3
= E(
3
) between
computing values and objective values of temperature is
evaluated using Eq. (11). Let kk = 0, where kk is used to
take count of searching times.
(ii) Let the surface heat transfer coefcient =
3
+
s
. The
value of is sent to the program of evaluating temperature
and phase-transformation elds, and the computing values
of some node temperatures will be attained. Then the error
E =E() between computing values and objective values
of temperature is evaluated using Eq. (11). Let kk=kk+1.
(iii) If EE
3
>0, then compare E with E
3
. If |E| <|E
3
|, then
let
s
=2.0
s
,
3
=, E
3
=E, and go to the procedure (ii).
If |E| >|E
3
|, then let
s
=
s
, and go to the procedure
(ii). If |E| = |E
3
|, then go to the procedure (v).
(iv) If E E
3
0, then go to the procedure (v).
(v) Let
l
= min{,
3
},
r
= max{,
3
}, E
l
= min{E, E
3
},
E
r
= min{E, E
3
}.
(vi) Let =(
1
+
r
)/2.0. The value of is sent to the program
of evaluating temperature and phase-transformation elds,
and the computing values of some node temperatures will
be gotten. Then the error E = E() between computing
values and objective values of temperature is evaluated
using Eq. (11). If E E
3
>0, then let E
l
= E,
1
= ,
kk = kk 1. Otherwise let E
r
= E,
r
= , kk = kk 1.
(vii) If kk >1, then go to the procedure (vi). If kk 1, then stop,
and the appropriate interval attained is the interval [
l
,
r
].
The SDL ow chart of improved advanceretreat method is
shown in Fig. 1.
During the process of quenching, the surface heat transfer
coefcients have a wide range. If the general advanceretreat
method is used to search the appropriate interval, the searching
times will increase largely. Suppose the former surface tem-
perature is 400

C, for which the heat transfer coefcient is

11,961 W/m
2
C; the current surface temperature is 430

C, for
which heat transfer coefcient is 13,491 W/m
2
C. The differ-
ence between them is 1530 W/m
2
C. If the step size of search-
ing interval is 5 W/m
2
C, the times of searching the appropri-
ate interval are 1530/5 + 1 = 307. Therefore the program will
spend a lot of time to search the appropriate interval as it is
evaluating temperature and phase-transformation elds every
time.
If the improved advanceretreat method is used to search the
appropriate interval, the step size is not constant, and the later
step size is double the former step size. The interval length will
be (2
n
2
n1
)
s
=2
n1

s
after n times of search. For this in-
terval, the bisearch method is used to continue searching, and
the interval length of
s
will be found after n 1 times of
bisearch. The total times of searching the appropriate interval
1092 L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096
are 8 + (8 1) = 15 for the above-mentioned example. Com-
paring the improved advanceretreat method with the general
advanceretreat method, it shows that the searching times of
improved advanceretreat method are reduced largely.
In order to search the appropriate interval, program of evalu-
ating temperature and phase-transformation elds is used time
after time in the searching procedure. The temperature and
phase-transformation elds are not given new values after ev-
ery repeating use. It is just to nd out the values of tempera-
ture eld corresponding to the heat transfer coefcient which
value is the endpoint of interval after cooling for denite time.
So the values of temperature and phase-transformation elds
should be resumed to the original values after every repeat-
ing use. Then the error between computing values and objec-
tive values of temperature is evaluated using Eq. (11), and the
searching direction and the convergent state can be ascertained
according to the error. Only after the appropriate heat transfer
coefcient corresponding to certain objective values of temper-
ature is found out, the temperature and phase-transformation
elds are given new values, and then continue to search the heat
transfer coefcient corresponding to other objective values of
temperature.
3.3. Ascertaining the optimum value of heat transfer coefcient
Golden section method is one of the methods used for eval-
uating the minimum value in the interval of unimodal distribu-
tion function. The principle is that: for reducing the searching
interval which includes the optimum value, the function val-
ues are compared by accepting different tentative points, and
the approximative value of function minimum point will be
achieved when the searching interval is reduced to a prescriptive
value.
Firstly, two tentative points are selected in the interval [a, b].
Suppose the left tentative point is

l
= a + (1 )(b a),
the right tentative point is

r
= a + (b a),
where are the solution of binomial equation
2
+ 1 = 0.
Secondly, evaluate two function values of left and right ten-
tative points according to Eq. (11)

l
= E(
l
),
r
= E(
r
).
According to the characteristics of unimodal distribution func-
tion, if
1
<
r
, there is no minimum value in the interval
[
r
, b]. The interval [
r
, b] can be neglected, and let b =
r
.
The new interval [a,
r
] can be attained. If
1
>
r
, there is no
minimum value in the interval [a,
l
]. The interval [a,
l
] can
be neglected, and let a =
l
. The new interval [
l
, b] can be
attained.
The computing procedures of ascertaining optimum value
of heat transfer coefcient using golden section method are as
follows:
(i) Suppose the appropriate interval searched by improved
advanceretreat method is [a, b], the prescriptive iterative
precision is . The left and right tentative points are

l
= a + (1 )(b a) and
r
= a + (b a),
where =(

51)/2.0. According to Eq. (11), the values

of error are

l
= E(
l
) and
r
= E(
r
).
(ii) If
l
<
r
, then let b =
r
,
r
=
l
,
r
=
l
, and evaluate
the values of
l
and
l
:

l
= a + (1 )(b a),
l
= E(
l
).
If
l

r
, then let a =
l
,
l
=
r
,
l
=
r
, and evaluate
the values of
r
and
r
:

r
= a + (b a),
r
= E(
r
).
(iii) If |b a| , then do the following procedure: if
l
<
r
,
then let =
l
, or else let =
r
, and the value of is the
minimum value to be ascertained. If |b a| >, then go
to the procedure (ii).
The SDL ow chart of golden section method is shown in
Fig. 2.
The computing algorithm of golden section method shows
that the length of interval is
n1
(b a) after n times itera-
tive evaluations. b a is the length of initial interval, which
is equal to the initial searching step size
s
of the improved
advanceretreat method. So the iterative times of golden sec-
tion method depend on the initial interval length, viz. the initial
searching step size
s
of the improved advanceretreat method.
The smaller the value of
s
is, the less the iterative times of
ascertaining appropriate value is.
3.4. Analyzing the iterative times of gold section method
(1) If
l
<
r
, then the interval [
r
, b] will be neglected, and
the new right tentative point can be described by

r
= a

+ (b

) = a + (
r
a) = a +
2
(b a).
Because values are the solutions of binomial equation
2
+
1=0, the new right tentative point can also be described by

r
= a +
2
(b a) = a + (1 )(b a) =
l
.
The new right tentative point is just the left tentative point of
old interval.
L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096 1093
Fig. 2. SDL ow chart of gold section method.
(2) If
l
>
r
, then the interval [a,
l
] will be neglected, and
the new left tentative point can be described by

l
= a

+ (1 )(b

) =
l
+ (1 )(b
l
),
Because values are the solutions of binomial equation
2
+
1 =0, the new left tentative point can also be described by

l
= a + (1 )(b a) + (1 )(b a)
= a + (1
2
)(b a) = a + (b a) =
r
.
The new left tentative point is just the right tentative point of
old interval.
That is to say, if values are equal to the solutions of binomial
equation
2
+1=0, only one tentative point and its function
value need be calculated in every iterative calculation except
the rst iterative calculation. So the workload of calculation
can be decreased largely, and the time of optimization also can
be reduced largely.
4. Example of evaluating surface heat transfer coefcient
A software is programmed using FEM technology,
advanceretreat method and golden section method. The soft-
ware can evaluate the temperature eld, phase-transformation
eld and surface heat transfer coefcient with the coupling
calculation of phase-transformation latent heat. In order to
verify the software, the temperature curves of several positions
in the quenching part are calculated using the FEM software
packageMARC and user subroutine programmed to evaluate
the phase transformation. During the process of evaluating, the
surface heat transfer coefcient is gained fromRef. [21], and the
thermal physical parameters of material are shown in Fig. 3. The
size of simulation specimen is 40200 mm, and the material
is P20 steel. The material is heated to 850

C. Suppose that this

temperature is kept for sufcient time to ensure the material
transforms into austenite fully. Then the specimen is quenched
in 20

C water. The FEM model includes 640 elements and 729

nodes. The circumference of specimen has adiabatic boundary
condition, except the quenched end. The cooling curves at 0,
30, 60, 100, 150 and 200 mm from the quenched end are shown
in Fig. 4.
According to the temperature curves gained from MARC
software package, the temperature-dependent surface heat
transfer coefcient is calculated using the software that is pro-
grammed in the paper. The FEM model of evaluating surface
heat transfer coefcient is same as the following FEM model.
During the process of evaluating, the required length of interval
is 5 W/m
2
C, and the evaluating precision is 0.01 W/m
2
C.
The ow chart of calculating heat transfer coefcient is shown
in Fig. 5.
According the temperature curves in Fig. 4, the temperature-
dependent surface heat transfer coefcient is calculated. During
the process of calculating, the iterative times of searching the
appropriate interval using advanceretreat method are shown
in Fig. 6 (searching interval). After the appropriate interval is
found out, the iterative times of evaluating the heat transfer
coefcient in the appropriate interval using gold section method
are shown in Fig. 6 (optimization). The curves of heat transfer
1094 L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096
Fig. 3. Thermophysical properties of different phases in steel P20 as a function of temperature: (a) specic heat; (b) density; (c) thermal conductivity.
(Mmartensite; Bbainite; Ppearlite; Fferrite; Aaustenite).
Fig. 4. Cooling curves at different distances (mm) from quenched end.
coefcients and temperatures in the quenched end are shown
in Fig. 7.
During the calculation process, the phase-transformation vol-
ume and phase-transformation latent heat of every element
in every time interval can be calculated easily by FEM. The
temperature and phase-transformation volume of every ele-
ment are calculated with the coupling calculation of phase-
transformation latent heat. The heat transfer coefcients calcu-
lated using FEM and the heat transfer coefcients in Ref. [21]
are shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 5. Flow chart of calculating heat transfer coefcient.
Fig. 8 shows that the heat transfer coefcients gained using
FEM and optimization method correspond well with the results
of Ref. [21]. So the method of evaluating heat transfer coef-
cients represented in the paper is accurate and dependable. The
method can calculate easily the heat transfer coefcients with
the coupling calculation of phase-transformation latent heat.
L. Huiping et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 42 (2006) 10871096 1095
Fig. 6. Iterative times of searching interval and heat transfer coefcient
optimization.
Fig. 7. Heat transfer coefcient and temperature of end (0 mm) gained by
FEM.
The cooling speed is very rapid in the process of bubble boil,
and the temperature difference can be more than 4050

C in a
period of 0.1 s. But the cooling speed is slow in the process of
convection and lm boil. The slowest temperature difference is
0.010.1

C in a period of 0.1 s. Due to these reasons, the tem-

perature interval is very large in the process of evaluating heat
transfer coefcients, and the difference between the heat trans-
fer coefcients gained using IHCP method and the results of
Ref. [21] is large (Fig. 8(a)). In order to avoid this difference,
a self-adaptable time step is used, which computes the time
step according to the size of temperature difference, and can
improve the precision of evaluating heat transfer coefcients
(Fig. 8(b)).
5. Conclusions
From the temperature curves, the temperature-dependent sur-
face heat transfer coefcients of inverse heat conduction prob-
lem with the phase-transformation latent heat are evaluated us-
ing FEM, the improved advanceretreat method and the golden
section method. During the process of calculation, the phase-
transformation latent heat is coupled with temperature and
Fig. 8. Heat transfer coefcient gained by optimization and reference.
(a) Invariable time step. (b) Self-adaptable time step.
phase-transformation. The heat transfer coefcients gained us-
ing FEM and optimization method are compared with the re-
sults of reference. It shows that the precision of the method
given in this paper is satisfactory, and the convergence speed
of iteration is very rapid.
The temperature curves are obtained using FEM soft-
ware package and special user subroutine developed in
this paper. According to these temperature curves, the
temperature-dependent surface heat transfer coefcients can
be evaluated. If the temperature curves of several posi-
tions in the quenched part are measured by experiment, the
temperature-dependent surface heat transfer coefcients can
also be evaluated using the software programmed in this
paper.
Acknowledgment
This research work has been supported by the National Sci-
ence Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China
50425517 and Foundation of New Century Excellent Talents
Plan of the Education Ministry of China.
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