CRYOQUENCH SYSTEM

Cryogenic Testing for Sub-Zero Material Testing & Cryogenic Thermal Simulation

Push material qualification to its limits. The Gleeble CryoQuench delivers precise cryogenic quenching, ISO-Q quenching, and liquid nitrogen quenching down to −150°C — enabling turnkey cryogenic physical simulation that integrates directly with your existing Gleeble platform.

Unlock Material Behavior Under Extreme Cold Conditions
For engineers and materials scientists demanding absolute confidence in low-temperature material performance, the Gleeble CryoQuench represents the most capable and precisely controlled cryogenic quench system available today.

Validated in aerospace, defense, energy infrastructure, and advanced steel metallurgy, the CryoQuench enables your laboratory to conduct ductility testing at cryogenic temperatures, assess fracture toughness testing at low temperatures, characterize phase transition testing below −100°C, and evaluate martensite transformation and retained austenite reduction — all within a single, fully integrated platform.

Where conventional test rigs deliver only ambient or moderately chilled environments, the CryoQuench harnesses liquid nitrogen quenching technology to drive specimens to −150°C at programmable rates, faithfully reproducing the thermo-mechanical histories that define real-world cryogenic service. The result: material data you can trust, qualification timelines you can defend, and microstructures you can optimize.

Designed as a turnkey cryogenic system, the CryoQuench is available as a factory-installed option or as an on-site upgrade to existing Gleeble systems — protecting your capital investment while dramatically extending your testing envelope.

Achieving Controlled Cooling to −150°C

Generic cryogenic chambers lack the programmable multi-stage profiles needed for accurate −150°C material testing. CryoQuench provides up to 60°C/s controlled cooling across a four-stage thermal profile.

Reproducing Real Service Conditions

From LNG pipeline shock-cooling to hypersonic thermal cycling, materials must be tested as they are used. CryoQuench mirrors in-service cryogenic thermal simulation profiles with sub-degree precision.
 

Integrating Cryo Testing With Existing Infrastructure
Separate cryogenic test stands fragment your workflow and data. CryoQuench integrates natively with your Gleeble, delivering synchronized thermo-mechanical data in a single acquisition environment.
 

Meeting Defense and Aerospace Qualification Standards
Cryogenic stress testing and materials qualification for aerospace, hypersonic, and military applications demand audit-ready documentation. Gleeble's unified data environment satisfies the most demanding specifications.

Thermal Control

Four-Stage ISO-Q Quenching Profile

The CryoQuench executes a precisely governed four-stage ISO-Q quenching cycle — from 1,000°C through to −150°C — with independently programmable cooling rates at each stage. This enables faithful reproduction of industrial heat treatment sequences, including high-temperature austenitizing, controlled pearlite/bainite nose avoidance, and deep cryogenic sub-zero quenching, all within a single specimen and a single test run.

Cooling Technology

Liquid Nitrogen Quenching to −150°C

Employing direct liquid nitrogen quenching, the CryoQuench achieves specimen temperatures as low as −150°C (−238°F) with cooling rates up to 10°C/s in the sub-ambient regime (25°C to −150°C). The system's closed-loop temperature control maintains set-point accuracy within ±2°C, ensuring test-to-test reproducibility essential for statistical material qualification.

Specimen Flexibility

Standard Round-Bar Cryogenic Specimen Testing

Standardized around the 10 mm diameter × 84 mm long reduced-center specimen (Drawing SMR201B, free span 5 mm × 5 mm), the CryoQuench supports direct preparation of dilatometry and mechanical test specimens. The geometry is compatible with international standards for Jominy, CCT, and isothermal transformation testing, facilitating benchmark comparisons and multi-laboratory round-robin studies.

System Integration

Native Gleeble Integration — Upgrade on Site

The CryoQuench is engineered to integrate directly with existing Gleeble 3500, 3800, and 3800-GTC systems as an on-site upgrade. No new data acquisition hardware is required. All cryogenic quench cycles are programmed and logged through the standard Gleeble HydraWARE® environment, ensuring seamless data continuity across your entire thermo-mechanical simulation library.

Process Safety

Turnkey Cryogenic System With Integrated Safety
 

As a turnkey cryogenic system, CryoQuench includes a self-contained liquid nitrogen supply and control manifold, integrated oxygen-depletion monitoring, and automated system shutdown protocols. The compact, lab-ready design requires no facility modifications for nitrogen storage below minimum safety thresholds, making installation practical in existing materials laboratory environments.

Data Integrity

Unified Thermo-Mechanical Data Acquisition

Every cryogenic specimen testing cycle captures synchronized temperature, dilatometry, force, stroke, and optional strain data within the same timestamped acquisition file. This removes data reconciliation errors between thermal and mechanical datasets — a critical advantage for generating CCT and TTT diagrams, transformation kinetics models, and CALPHAD validation datasets at sub-zero temperatures.