Degenerated Graphite Growth in Ductile Iron

As part of a study devoted to the effect of trace elements on graphite degeneracy, near-eutectic ductile iron melts were prepared to which minute amounts of lead and of both lead and cerium were added. The melts were cast into an insulated Y4 mould, giving a solidification time of about 1 hour and a cooling time to room temperature of about 15 hours. In the thermal centre of the Pb containing sample graphite spheroids as well as intergranular lamellar graphite have been found. At the same location of the casting containing both Pb and Ce, exploded as well as chunky graphite could be observed, while the formation of intergranular lamellar graphite has been suppressed. Deep etching of the samples allowed reaching the following conclusions: i) intergranular graphite in the SG-Pb sample often, if not always, originates on graphite nodules and extends towards the last to freeze areas; ii) in one location of the SG-PbCe sample, chunky graphite strings were observed to originate on an exploded nodule, thus confirming the close relationship between these two forms of graphite. Because of the over-treatment in cerium of the SG-PbCe sample, other unusual degenerate graphite was observed which appears as coarse aggregates of "porous" graphite after deep etching.

Effect of Cooling Rate and Aluminium Addition on Graphite Growth during Solidification and Graphitization

Even using high inoculation levels, mottled structures are often obtained when casting Mg-treated cast irons in thin wall parts. For full graphitization of the cast components, this calls for a subsequent heat-treatment which is generally achieved in the austenite field. The aim of this work was investigating the impact of the process and the cooling rate on the graphite structure for two different casting conditions. The influence of the cooling rate on graphite degeneracy due to the presence of impurity was also investigated considering low-level additions of aluminium. Extensive metallographic investigation has been carried out from which it is concluded that the internal graphite structure is the same for the two studied cooling conditions. Accordingly, the growth mechanism of graphite should be the same when it precipitates from liquid, during eutectic reaction or else solid-state graphitization. Finally, microanalyses suggest magnesium and aluminium do not interact in the same way with graphite during its growth.

A Possible Mechanism for the Formation of Exploded Graphite in Nodular Cast Irons

In hypereutectic nodular cast irons, primary precipitation of graphite may lead to graphite flotation in thick section castings. Graphite degeneracy such as so-called exploded graphite is then often associated with this flotation phenomenon and it appears as precipitates where the nodular form is replaced by star-like or flower-like shape. It has been reported that exploded graphite develops after the primary spheroidal nodules have reached some tens of microns in diameter. In this contribution, a model for this transition is presented.

Effect of Carbon Equivalent on Graphite Formation in Heavy-Section Ductile Iron Parts

The influence of post-inoculation and of cerium and antimony additions on the solidification process and on the formation of chunky graphite in ductile iron heavy-section parts have been studied previously in the case of near-eutectic alloys. It appeared of interest to complement these works by analysing the effect of carbon equivalent on graphite degeneracy. In the present work, hypo-, hyper- and near-eutectic melts have been cast in large blocks and standard cups. Analysis of the corresponding cooling curves recorded during solidification as well as microstructure observations on these casts have been carried out. A clear effect of carbon equivalent as promoter of chunky graphite formation is observed. The results have been added to the set of data already available and various correlations are discussed.