UNIT 5: ALLOY STEELS AND CAST IRONS

Introduction to cast Iron and its basic types,

Effect of different alloying elements on IC
diagram, Introduction to tool steel,
transformation products of austenite, time
temperature transformation diagrams and its
plotting, critical cooling rate.
Cast Irons
 Cast iron
• Cast iron is made when pig iron is re-melted in
small cupola furnaces (similar to the blast
furnace in design and operation) and poured
into molds to make castings.
• Cast Iron is generally defined as an alloy of
Iron with greater than 2% Carbon, and usually
with more than 0.1% Silicon.
Exception: Silicon and other alloying
elements may considerably change the
maximum solubility of Carbon in Austenite.
Thus certain alloys can solidify with a eutectic
structure having less than 2% Carbon.
 Advantages and disadvantages of cast irons
(in comparison with steels):

Advantages :
• good castability (low Tm, good fluidility)
• good machinability (graphite cast irons)
• antivibration properties
• low stress concentration
• Good compressibility
• Low cost material usually produced by sand
casting
Advantages and disadvantages of cast irons
(in comparison with steels):
• A wide range of properties, depending on composition &
cooling rate
• Cast iron are having low melting point (1140 to 1240C)
than steels (1340 to 1450C), hence, easy to melt.
• While manufacturing of cast iron, raw materials like pig
iron, cast iron scrap, steel scrap, ferro-silicon, iron ore,
limestone, coke, etc. are used. So cheaper in cast
• Cast iron are also having high hardness, high resistance to
wear and abrasion.
• By altering chemical composition and heat treatment,
cast iron can provide a wide range of metallic properties.
 Disadvantages :

• High Brittleness
• Non Machinable (White Cast Iron, Chilled
Cast Iron)
• Cold Brittleness
Basic elements present in cast iron
• Carbon
• Silicon
• Phosphorus
• Sulphur . Sulfur, when present, forms iron sulfide, which
prevents the formation of graphite and increases hardness
the problem with sulfur is that it makes molten cast iron
sluggish, which causes short run defects. To counter the
effects of sulfur, manganese is added because the two form
into manganese sulfide instead of iron sulfide.
• The manganese sulfide is lighter than the melt so it tends
to float out of the melt and into the slag.
• Generally, the amount of sulphur in cast iron is between
0.06 to 0.12%.
 Phosphorus
Like silicon, phosphorus also a strong graphitizer
and its amount varies from 0.1 to 0.3%.
• Generally, phosphorus combines with iron and
forms iron phosphide (Fe3P), which separates
eutectic mixture with cementite and austenite.
• The formed ternary eutectic of iron phosphide,
austenite and cementite is termed as steadite.
• Steadite reduces toughness and increases
brittleness of cast iron.
 Sulphur .
• Sulfur, when present, forms iron sulfide,
which prevents the formation of graphite and
increases hardness the problem with sulfur is
that it makes molten cast iron sluggish, which
causes short run defects.
• Generally, the amount of sulphur in cast iron is
between 0.06 to 0.12%.
 Effect of composition
• Effect of composition
S+ P
Carbon equivalent CE = C +
3

A CE over 4.3 (hypereutectic) leads to carbide or

graphite solidifying first & promotes grey cast iron
A CE less than 4.3 (hypoeutectic) leads to austenite
solidifying first & promotes white iron
 Classification of Cast Iron :
• (a) According to furnace used for their
manufacturing :
• Cupola cast iron
• Air furnace cast iron
• Duplex cast iron
• Electric furnace cast iron
 (b) According to composition and
purity :
• Low carbon and low silicon cast iron
• High carbon and low sulphur cast iron
• Cast iron with nickel alloy
 White CI
Malleabilize
Grey CI
CAST IRONS Stress concentration
Ductile CI at flake tips avoided

Good castability  C > 2.4% Malleable CI

Alloy CI
 (c) According to microstructure
• White cast iron : all the carbon is in the combined form i.e.
cementite.
• Has a white crystalline fracture surface because fracture
occurs along the iron carbide plates.
• Considerable strength, insignificant ductility.
• Carbon : 2.3 to 3.00
• Silicon : 0.5 to
• Phosphorous: 0.1 to 0.2
• Sulphur : 0.06 to 0.1
• Mn :0.5 to 1.00
Applications
• Brake shoe
• Shot blasting nozzle
• Mill liner
• crushers
• Malleable cast iron : It contains free carbon
(graphite) in the form of irregular spheroids
which is called as temper carbon graphite
nodules i.e. rosettes.
• Graphite in nodular form
• Produced by heat treatment of white cast iron
• Graphite nodules are irregular clusters
• Similar properties to ductile iron
Malleabalizing cycle
 Microstructure of Malleable Iron

• Malleable Iron: cast

as White Iron, then
malleabilized, or
heat treated, to
impart ductility.
Consists of tempered
Graphite in an a-
Ferrite or Pearlite
matrix.
 Annealing treatments
• Ferritic malleable iron
– Depends on C and Si
– 1st stage 2 to 36 hours at 940˚C in a controlled atmosphere
– Cool rapidly to 750˚C & hold for 1 to 6 hours
• For pearlitic malleable iron
– Similar 1st stage above (2 - 36 h at 940˚C)
– Cool to 870˚C slowly, then air cool & temper to
specification
• Harden and temper pearlitic iron for martensitic
castings
25
 Types of Malleable Cast Iron :
• (a) Ferritic malleable cast iron
• (b) Pearlitic malleable cast iron
• (c) Pearlito -Ferritic malleable cast iron
 Malleable Iron
Pearlitic Matrix Ferrite (White)

Graphite (black)

Pearlite (grey)

Partially Malleabilized Iron Ferritic Matrix

→ Incomplete Ferritizing Anneal

Ferrite (White)

Graphite (black)

10 m
Fully Malleabilized Iron
→ Complete Ferritizing Anneal
 Malleable Cast Iron
• Ductile Iron can be austempered to high tensile
strength, fatigue strength, toughness, and wear
resistance.

• Cast Iron pipe make up to 44% of those

shipments. 29% used for automobiles and light
trucks (economic advantages and high
reliability)
• .
 Applications
• Ferritic malleable: Pipe fitting,valves,chains
• Pearlitic : switch gear parts, voltage
transmission and distribution system
• Ferrito-pearlitic :
 applications
• Other important applications are:
Papermaking machinery; Farm equipment;
Construction machinery and equipment;
Power transmission components (gears);
Oilfield equipment
 Effect of cooling rate
• Slow cooling favours the formation of graphite
& low hardness
• Rapid cooling promotes carbides with high
hardness
• Thick sections cool slowly, while thin sections
cool quickly
• Sand moulds cool slowly, but metal chills can
be used to increase cooling rate & promote
white iron
31
 Black heart malleable cast iron
• Decarburization takes place on surface and
center shows presence of graphite that is why
it is called as Black heart malleable cast iron .
• White heart malleable cast iron :
Decarburization takes place through out cross
section fractured surface shows no graphite
 Gray Iron
• Gray Iron: Graphite flakes surrounded by a
matrix of either Pearlite or a-Ferrite.
• Exhibits gray fracture surface due to fracture
occurring along Graphite plates.
• The product of a stable solidification.
Considerable strength, insignificant ductility.
Microstructure of Gray Cast Iron
 Properties of grey cast iron
• Machineability is excellent
• Ductility is low (0.6%), impact resistance low
• Damping capacity high
• Thermal conductivity high
• Dry and normal wear properties excellent

35
 Properties of grey cast iron
• Gray cast irons are comparatively weak and
brittle in tension due to its microstructure; the
graphite flakes have tips which serve as points
of stress concentration.
• Strength and ductility are much higher under
compression loads.
 Applications
• Engines
– Cylinder blocks, liners,
• Brake drums, clutch plates
• Pressure pipe fittings (AS2544)
• Machinery beds
• Furnace parts, ingot and glass moulds

37
 Meehanite
• The Meehanite process was developed in the
late 1920s and early 1930s, by the Ross
Meehan foundry in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• This initial discovery was based around the
use of calcium silicide to inoculate irons
melted in a controlled manner.
• This resulted in the development of cast irons
of greater strength suitable for critical
engineering applications.
 Meehanite
• Type of gray cast iron with calcium silicide
which gives uniform size and distribution of
graphite flakes to improve tensile strength and
machinability
 Applications
• Heavy service gears, cable drums, crane wheels,
kiln tyres and rollers, stamping, drawing,
pressing, blanking and heading dies; lathe
spindles, chucks, ball mill heads and gudgeons,
hydraulic cylinders and rams; crankshafts, high
pressure chambers, cylinder heads and valve
bodies; straightening, bending and forming rolls.
Heavy machine tool beds, saddles, racks and
chucks, press and drawing cast to form dies,
bolsters, compressor and diesel engine cylinders
and liners, high speed gearing, flywheels, cam
shafts, crank shafts
 Nodular Cast Iron
• SG Iron is also known as Ductile Cast Iron,
Nodular Cast Iron, Spheroidal Graphite Iron
and Spherulitic Cast Iron.
• The main characteristic of this material is the
structure of the graphite.
• In SG Cast Iron the graphite is in the form of
spherical nodules (hence the name
Spheroidal Graphite) rather than flakes as in
Grey Iron
 Classifications of Cast Iron
• Ductile (Nodular)
Iron:
• Graphite nodules
surrounded by a
matrix of either a- Microstructure of Ductile Iron

Ferrite, Bainite, or
Austenite. Exhibits
substantial ductility
in its as cast form.
 Manufacturing
❑Mg, Ce, Ca (or other spheroidizing) elements
are added
❑The elements added to promote
spheroidization react with the solute in the
liquid to form heterogenous nucleation sites
❑The alloying elements are injected into mould
before pouring (George-Fischer container)
 Mg
• Mg is light in Wt
• Vaporises
• Reactive
• React with sulphur
• Produces temporary effect of sperodisation
• So added as master alloy
 Production
• Composition similar to grey cast iron except
for higher purity.
• Melt is added to inoculant in ladle.
• Magnesium as wire, ingots or pellets is added
to ladle before adding hot iron.
• Mg vapour rises through melt, has affinity to
sulphur so removing sulphur is known as
scavanging .

45
 Problems
• Spherodisation evolves large gas leads to
porosity
• Shrinkage is more in SG iron than gray
Microstructure

• Graphite spheres
surrounded by ferrite
• Usually some pearlite
• May be some cementite
• Can be hardened to
martensite by heat
treatment

50
 Ductile Iron/Nodular Iron
Ferrite Graphite nodules

10 m
With Ferritic Matrix With (Ferrite + Pearlite) Matrix

With Pearlitic matrix

 Ductile Iron/Nodular Iron

Ferrite (White)
Graphite (black)

Bull’s Eye

Ferrite

5 m

Pearlite (grey)
 Properties
• Strength higher than grey cast iron
• Ductility up to 6% as cast or 20% annealed
• Low cost
– Simple manufacturing process makes complex
shapes
• Machineability better than steel

53
 Properties
• Cost:
• Castability:
• Ductility
• Machining: .
• Tensile Strength:
• Weight Reduction
 Applications
• Automotive industry 55% of ductile iron in
USA
– Crankshafts, front wheel spindle supports,
steering knuckles, disc brake callipers
• Pipe and pipe fittings (joined by welding)

55
 MOTTLED IRON
• Cast-iron in which most of the carbon is
combined with iron in the form
of cementite Fe3C but in which there is also a
small amount of graphite.
• The fracture has a
white crystalline appearance with clusters of
dark spots, indicating the presence
of graphite.
 Chilled Cast Iron
• Chilled cast iron shows white structure at surface
and gray in the centre.
• Hence, good properties of white cast iron i.e.
hardness and wear resistance and gray cast iron
i.e. machinability, damping capacity can be
coupled together.
• The melt composition is adjusted in such a way
that rapid cooling gives white structure and usual
cooling gives gray structure.
• Mostly, amount of carbon varies from 3.3% to
3.5% with silicon between 2.0% to 2.5%.
 Chilled Cast Iron
• For fast cooling, metal or graphite chillers or
chill plates are used.
• Chill depth (thickness of white layer) can be
controlled by controlling the carbon and
silicon contents and some other alloying
elements which are carbide formers or
graphitizers.
• To calculate chill depth in chilled casting chill
test is used.
Chill test
 Applications
• Rail-friet car wheels
• Road rollers
• Grinding balls
• Stamp shoes and dies
• Cane crushing rollers
 Heat treatments to cast Iron
• Stress relieving
• Annealing
• Hardening and tempering
• Surface hardening