IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 14, Issue 2 Ver. V (Mar. - Apr. 2017), PP 96-103 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/1684-14020596103 www.iosrjournals.org 96 | Page Experimental and Numerical Investigation for Quench Annealed 316L Stainless Steel by Number of Quenching Media Payman Sahbah Ahmed 1 , and SirwanSarbast Talabani 2 1,2 Manufacturing Engineering Department, Koya University, Koysinjaq, Kurdistan, Iraq Abstract: The aim of this research is to study the effect of using a number of quechants for quench annealing on some mechanical properties of 316L stainless steel. A solid model of the specimen is created and a finite element analysis (FEA) by solidWorks is conducted using the ASTM standard as a guide. Experimental bending test shows that the best quenching media is water which gives the highest modulus and apricot juice was the lowest. The highest von mises values for all quenching media for the three loading types are below the yield strength demonstrating that they pass the von Mises stress failure criteria by successfully withstanding the applied loads. Quenching by apricot juice gives the highest displacement values while water gives the lowest displacement value.Both experimental and numerical investigation show that quenching by water is the best quenching medium for quench annealing of 316L stainless steel. Keywords: 316L stainless steel, quench annealing, solution annealing, solidworks, FEM analysis. I. Introduction Corrosion is the main problem in iron and its alloys when they used in air, acids and in furnaces at elevated temperatures. Corrosion problem in Iron could be solved by adding chromium and nickel to give iron alloy known as stainless steel which have better corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures of 1100⁰C, do not corrode in sea water and have good corrosion resistance to acids with high concentrations. Stainless steel is the best choice for any designer because of its distinctive global utility and fabrication properties which make it the main industrial structural material such as cold rolled sheets, oil and gas, chemical processes and food industries.Good corrosion resistance, manufacturing and weldability can be obtained by using the austenitic stainless steel. Their main usage is in cryogenic applications due to their good impact strength at low temperatures. Existence of molybdenum in austenitic stainless steel gives 316 type which is the second main type in production after 304 and have better and preferable properties than 304 especially better pitting and crevice corrosion resistance in chloride. Decreasing the carbon content of 316 gives 316L type which have high resistance to precipitation of carbides on grain boundaries i.e. sensitization, high toughness at normal and cryogenic conditions, higher creep, stress to rupture and tensile strength at high temperatures [1]. Heat treatment should be done on the austenitic stainless steels during or after manufacturing to remove the effects of cold forming or to dissolve precipitated chromium carbides resulting from thermal exposures. The most important heat treatment for 316 stainless steel alloys is the solution anneal which is done by heating in temperature range of (1040 to 1175°C) then air cooling or a water quench (called solution-annealing or quench annealing [2], depending on section thickness. Cooling should be sufficiently rapid through the (816-427°C) range to avoid re-precipitation of chromium carbides and provide optimum corrosion resistance. Cooling should be in less than three minutes [3]. water, aqueous solutions of salts and alkalis, and oils are the main liquids commonly used as rapid cooling or “quenching” media and they subject to boiling in three stages as follows: 1. Stage one: film boiling stage, the cooling rate is low in this stage in which a vapor blanket is formed on the surface of the steel. 2. Stage two: boiling with the formation of bubbles begins when the vapor film is completely broken up. The highest rate of cooling is in this stage. It is observed in cooling the surface to a temperature below the critical. It is also called the stage of nucleate boiling, or the vapor-transport stage. 3. Stage three: heat exchange by convection at temperatures below the boiling point of the quenching medium, the cooling rate is lowest. This is often called the liquid stage [4]. The aim of this research is to study the effect of using number of quechants for the solution annealing or quench annealing on some mechanical properties of 316L stainless steel. A solid model of the specimen is created and a finite element analysis (FEA) by solidWorks is conducted using the ASTM standard as a guide. The FEA model will help to predict failure locations. II. Materials and Methods The research has been carried out on the commercial stainless steel alloy 316L. The chemical composition of the alloy is indicated in Table 1 [5]. The influence of solution annealing on bending properties and microstructure of 316L alloy after quenching, tempering and chilling was investigated and compared with