Search Results (10)

Ductile iron—also known as spheroidal graphite iron (SGI)—is a versatile material that exhibits a wide range of applications. In addition to the matrix structure itself, graphite morphology and material defects, such as graphite degenerations, also have a decisive influence on its mechanical properties. Missing or incomplete classifications of these deviating graphite morphologies in common standards, alongside insufficient knowledge regarding their effects, leads to a more complicated lifetime assessment and often results in rejection of SGI components. Therefore, relevant material parameters were derived from experimental quasi-static and fatigue investigations on SGI materials with different graphite degenerations and correlated with microstructural parameters quantified by an optimized digital image analysis method. While a linear correlation between the amount and mechanical properties was identified for spiky graphite, for chunky graphite, the presence in general can lead to a detrimental reduction in mechanical properties. Full article

The microstructure and tensile behavior of two heavy section castings that had chemical compositions typical of GJS400 were investigated. Conventional metallography, fractography, and micro-Computer Tomography (μ-CT) were employed, enabling the quantification of the volume fractions of eutectic cells with degenerated Chunky Graphite (CHG), which was identified as the major defect in the castings. The Voce equation approach was exploited to evaluate the tensile behaviors of the defective castings for integrity assessment. The results demonstrated that the Defects-Driven Plasticity (DDP) phenomenon, which refers to an unexpected regular plastic behavior related to defects and metallurgical discontinuities, was consistent with the observed tensile behavior. This resulted in a linearity of Voce parameters in the Matrix Assessment Diagram (MAD), which contradicts the physical meaning of the Voce equation. The findings suggest that the defects, such as CHG, contribute to the linear distribution of Voce parameters in the MAD. Furthermore, it is reported that the linearity in the MAD of Voce parameters for a defective casting is equivalent to the existence of a pivotal point in the differential data of the tensile strain hardening data. This pivotal point was exploited to propose a new material quality index assessing the integrity of castings. Full article

In this work, the results of the examinations of the effect of the mold material and mold technology on the microstructure and properties of the casts parts of ductile cast iron have been presented. Four different self-hardening molding sands based on fresh silica sand from Grudzen Las, with organic binders (no-bake process), were used to prepare molds for tested castings. A novelty is the use of molding sand with a two-component binder: furfuryl resin-polycaprolactone PCL biomaterial. The molds were poured with ductile iron according to standard PN-EN 1563:2018-10. The microstructure of the experimental castings was examined on metallographic cross-sections with PN-EN ISO 945-1:2019-09 standard. Observations were made in the area at the casting/mold boundary and in a zone approximately 10 mm from the surface of the casting with a light microscope. The tensile test at room temperature was conducted according to standard PN-EN ISO 6892-1:2016-09. Circular cross-section test pieces, machined from samples taken from castings, were used. In the present experiment, it was stated that interactions between the mold material of different compositions and liquid cast iron at the stage of casting solidification led to some evolution of casting’s microstructure in the superficial layer, such as a pearlite rim observed for acidic mold sand, a ferritic rim for alkaline sand, and graphite spheroids degeneration, especially spectacular for the acidic mold with polycaprolactone (PCL) addition. These microstructural effects may point to the interference of the direct chemical interactions between liquid alloy and the components released from the mold sand, such as sulfur and oxygen. Particularly noteworthy is the observation that the use of molding sand with furfuryl resin with the addition of biodegradable PCL material does not lead to an unfavorable modification of the mechanical properties in the casting. The samples taken from Casting No. 2, made on the acidic molding sand with the participation of biodegradable material, had an average strength of 672 MPa, the highest average strength UTS-among all tested molding sands. However, the elongation after fracture was 48% lower compared to the reference samples from Casting No. 1 from the sand without the addition of PCL. Full article

The main objective of this work is to investigate the mechanism of sulfur diffusion from the mold (sand resin P-toluol sulfonic acid mold, sulfur-containing acid) in liquid cast iron in order to limit the graphite degeneration in the surface layer of iron castings. A pyramid trunk with square section samples was cast. On the opposite side of the feed canal of the samples, steel sheets with different thicknesses (0.5, 1, and 3 mm) were inserted with the intention of blocking the diffusion of sulfur from the mold into the cast sample during solidification. The structure evaluation (graphite and matrix) in the surface layer and the casting body was recorded. The experimental results revealed that by blocking the direct diffusion of sulfur at the mold-casting interface, a decrease of the demodified layer thickness (for 0.5 mm steel sheet thickness) is obtained until its disappearance (for steel sheet thicknesses of more than 1 mm). The paper contains data that may be useful in elucidating the mechanism of graphite degeneration in the superficial layer of ductile iron castings. Based on the obtained results, we recommend using such barriers on the metal-mold interface, which are able to limit sulfur diffusion from the mold/core materials into the iron castings, in order to limit or even cease graphite degeneration in the Mg-treated surface iron casting layer. The paper presents additional data related to the interaction of sulfur at the ductile iron casting-mold interface previously analyzed. Full article

The adsorbed atoms exhibit tendency to occupy a triangular lattice formed by periodic potential of the underlying crystal surface. Such a lattice is formed by, e.g., a single layer of graphane or the graphite surfaces as well as (111) surface of face-cubic center crystals. In the present work, an extension of the lattice gas model to $S=1/2$ fermionic particles on the two-dimensional triangular (hexagonal) lattice is analyzed. In such a model, each lattice site can be occupied not by only one particle, but by two particles, which interact with each other by onsite U and intersite $W_1$ and $W_2$ (nearest and next-nearest-neighbor, respectively) density-density interaction. The investigated hamiltonian has a form of the extended Hubbard model in the atomic limit (i.e., the zero-bandwidth limit). In the analysis of the phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of this model with repulsive $W_1>0$, the variational approach is used, which treats the onsite interaction term exactly and the intersite interactions within the mean-field approximation. The ground state ($T=0$) diagram for $W_2\le 0$ as well as finite temperature ($T>0$) phase diagrams for $W_2=0$ are presented. Two different types of charge order within $\sqrt{3}\times \sqrt{3}$ unit cell can occur. At $T=0$, for $W_2=0$ phase separated states are degenerated with homogeneous phases (but $T>0$ removes this degeneration), whereas attractive $W_2<0$ stabilizes phase separation at incommensurate fillings. For $U/W_1<0$ and $U/W_1>1/2$ only the phase with two different concentrations occurs (together with two different phase separated states occurring), whereas for small repulsive $0<U/W_1<1/2$ the other ordered phase also appears (with tree different concentrations in sublattices). The qualitative differences with the model considered on hypercubic lattices are also discussed. Full article

Having established that sulphur presence in the mould materials appears to have an important contribution in graphite degeneration at least in the casting surface layer, a research program is undertaken to explore the possible beneficial effect of sulphur diffusion blocking at the metal–mould interface. Test samples, with and without a thin steel sheet (up to 3 mm thickness) application on the inner surface of the mould cavity, before iron melt pouring, are considered for structure analysis. A higher nodulizing potential (0.048% Mg_res, 0.015% Ce_res, and 0.006% La_res) decreases the occurrence of surface graphite degeneration in castings obtained in rigid chemically bonded resin sand moulds, using P-toluol sulfonic acid (PTSA) hardener (S-including), but it is not enough to avoid this phenomenon (200–400 μm skin in present experimental conditions). The casting skin appears to have different values, depending on the evaluation technique (un- and Nital-etching direct measurement, or graphite parameters variation on the casting section). In the presence of a thin steel sheet at the metal–mould interface, the casting skin thickness decreases or is just excluded. It is supposed that it acts as a barrier, blocking S-diffusion from the mould media into the iron melt. Without this S-diffusion, the graphite degeneration in the casting surface layer could be avoided, or at least diminished. For industrial application, the increasing of residual content of nodulizing elements is a limited solution, and it is recommended to use barriers to block S transfer on the mould/metal surface, such as dense coatings or coatings with desulphurization capacity. Full article

The main objective of the present paper is to evaluate by thermal (cooling curve) analysis the solidification pattern and the occurrence of the layer of degenerate graphite at the surface of ductile iron castings (3.15% Si, typically as 450-18 grade, ISO 1563/2011), with or without a mold coating, including S or O, and different agents (carbonic material, iron powder), supposed to act to block their diffusion into the iron melt. It is found that the mold coating materials temperately influence the parameters of the solidification cooling curves and, more visibly, the occurrence and the thickness of the undesired skin layer. Different graphite morphologies comparable to the casting body are present, at a large range of thicknesses, from 50 up to 200 µm. The sulfur presence in the mold coating will promote a higher skin thickness compared to oxygen (up to 50% by oxygen and 2.5–3.3 times for sulfur action), despite the fact that in the casting body, the graphite nodularity undergoes a limited decrease (from 85% up to 82%–83% level). Carbonic material or iron powder supplementary addition decreases these undesired effects, but the solidification undercooling compared to the equilibrium system is increased. It is found that carbonic material is more efficient at limiting oxygen than iron powder is at limiting the negative effects of sulfur on the casting skin thickness. More experiments are necessary to quantify their capacity to block the oxygen or sulfur transfer into the iron melt. Full article

The last decade has witnessed significant research efforts directed to the understanding of nucleation and crystallization of graphite and associated solidification phenomena, driven in part by the ever-growing interest in the use of spheroidal graphite cast iron in the manufacture of large castings, such as wind turbine parts. These applications raised new challenges to the production of sound castings, mostly because of the exceedingly long solidification times imposed by the size of the castings. These solidification conditions resulted in many instances in graphite degeneration with subsequent decrease in mechanical properties. Obviously, the subject of graphite nucleation and crystallization in cast iron is still in need of additional answers. Over the years, many reviews of the subject have been published. The goal of this paper is to provide an update on the advances achieved in comprehending the mechanisms that govern the nucleation and crystallization of spheroidal graphite and related imperfect morphologies from iron-carbon-silicon melts. In this analysis, we examine not only the crystallization of graphite in cast iron, but also that of metamorphic graphite (natural graphite formed through transformation by heat, pressure, or other natural actions), and of other materials with similar lattice structure and crystallization morphologies. Full article

The stainless steel bipolar plate has received much attention due to the cost of graphite bipolar plates. Since the micro-channel of bipolar plates plays the role of fuel flow field, electric connector and fuel sealing, an investigation of the deep drawing process for stainless steel micro-channel arrays is reported in this work. The updated Lagrangian formulation, degenerated shell finite element analysis, and the r-minimum rule have been employed to study the relationship between punch load and stroke, distributions of stress and strain, thickness variations and depth variations of individual micro-channel sections. A micro-channel array is practically formed, with a width and depth of a single micro-channel of 0.75 mm and 0.5 mm, respectively. Fractures were usually observed in the fillet corner of the micro-channel bottom. According to the experimental results, more attention should be devoted to the fillet dimension design of punch and die. A larger die fillet can lead to better formability and a reduction of the punch load. In addition, the micro-channel thickness and the fillet radius have to be taken into consideration at the same time. Finally, the punch load estimated by the unmodified metal forming equation is higher than that of experiments. Full article

In this paper, we explore the effect of a long solidification time (12 h) on the mechanical properties of an EN-GJS-400-type ferritic ductile cast iron (DCI). For this purpose, static tensile, rotating bending fatigue, fatigue crack growth and fracture toughness tests are carried out on specimens extracted from the same casting. The obtained results are compared with those of similar materials published in the technical literature. Moreover, the discussion is complemented with metallurgical and fractographic analyses. It has been found that the long solidification time, representative of conditions arising in heavy-section castings, leads to an overgrowth of the graphite nodules and a partial degeneration into chunky graphite. With respect to minimum values prescribed for thick-walled (t > 60 mm) EN-GJS-400-15, the reduction in tensile strength and total elongation is equal to 20% and 75%, respectively. The rotating bending fatigue limit is reduced by 30% with respect to the standard EN-1563, reporting the results of fatigue tests employing laboratory samples extracted from thin-walled castings. Conversely, the resistance to fatigue crack growth is even superior and the fracture toughness comparable to that of conventional DCI. Full article