Quench - anyone care to explain?

[GrimJack]

I heard about this factor called quench in engines. However, I've never seen a good explanation of what it is. Even some digging about in Google and our own search engine doesn't turn up much.

So... if you understand it, care to take a stab at explaining it to the rest of us?

 

[MDCmotorsports]

....An important first step is to set the assembled quench distance to .035". The quench distance is the compressed thickness of the head gasket plus the deck height, (the distance your piston is down in the bore). If your piston height, (not dome height), is above the block deck, subtract the overage from the gasket thickness to get a true assembled quench distance. The quench area is the flat part of the piston that would contact a similar flat area on the cylinder head if you had .000" assembled quench height....

http://racingsecrets.com/article_racing-10.html

 

[GrimJack]

Long article, lots to digest there. Thanks!