Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Effects of MgFeSi and Inoculant Selection on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Varying Section Size Ductile Iron Castings

  • Technical Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Metalcasting Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The selection of MgFeSi alloy and inoculants used for ductile iron treatment has confounded members of the foundry industry for many years. Frequently foundries have used certain types of alloys “because they have always done it that way” or “because someone else was doing it.” The current study involves ductile iron produced with three grades of MgFeSi with varying levels and types of rare earths along with four different inoculants. The iron was cast into test samples of various thickness from 2×2×8 inches to 10×10×8 inches. Mechanical properties and microstructures were evaluated at multiple locations in each of the 36 samples for a total of 156 points of data. In this paper, we will summarize the findings for differing section sizes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
Figure 20
Figure 21
Figure 22

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. Alagarsamy, S. Kumar, Demystifying shrinkage porosity in ductile iron castings. Inter Metalcast 14, 1136–1151 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-020-00440-3 (Figure 16)

  2. Role of rare earth elements in production of ductile iron, Hot topics issue #5, 2007, Al Alagarsmy

  3. A. Javaid, C.R. Loper Jr., Production of heavy-section ductile cast iron. Trans. Am. Foundrymen’s Soc. 103, 135–150 (1995)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Determine the relationship between solidification time and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile iron castings DIS project 23 by Arthur Spangler

  5. T. Skalund, “A model for graphite formation in ductile iron,” PhD. Thesis, Metallurgisk Institutt Trondheim, 1992

  6. D.H. Withey, C.R. Loper Jr., Effect of the use of chills in heavy-section ductile iron castings. AFS Transactions 77, 262–280 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  7. L. Magnusson Aberg, “Trace elements and control limits in ductile iron,” Nov 13, 2014

  8. P. Ferro, A. Fabrizi, R. Cervo, C. Carollo, Effect of inoculant containing rare earth metals and bismuth on microstructure and mechanical properties of heavy-section near-eutectic ductile iron castings. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 213(9), 1601–1608 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper would not be possible without the support from the authors’ respective companies. The MgFeSi and inoculant materials were supplied by Elkem and Carpenter Brothers Inc. The charge materials, production time and resources to cast the trial samples, as well as sample preparation and analysis, were supplied by the ownership/management at Betz Industries. This paper is an invited submission to IJMC selected from presentations at the 7th Keith Millis Symposium on Ductile Iron held October 18–20, 2023, at the Crown Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, Atlanta, GA. It is published in the IJMC by permission of the DIS (Ductile Iron Society).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Betz Industries, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

    T. Beach, J. Clayton, P. Leblang & T. Sheets

  2. Elkem Materials Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    R. Logan & M. Riabov

  3. Carpenter Brothers, Inc., Mequon, WI, USA

    J. Morrison

Authors
  1. T. Beach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Clayton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. P. Leblang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T. Sheets
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Logan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Riabov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. J. Morrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Riabov.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This paper is an invited submission to IJMC selected from presentations at the 7th Keith Millis Symposium on Ductile Iron held October 18-20,2023, at the Crown Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, Atlanta, GA. It is published in the IJMC by permission of the DIS (Ductile Iron Society).

Appendices

Appendix 1: ISO Standard section thickness mechanical properties

See Table 8.

Table 8 Guidance Values for Mechanical Properties Measured on Test Pieces Machined from Samples Cut from the Castings for Ferritic to Pearlitic Grades
Full size table

Appendix 2 Chemistry results

Sample

MgFeSi

Inoculant

CE

C

Si

Mn

P

S

Cu

Cr

Mo

Ni

Mg

 

1

1

1

4.310

3.560

2.251

0.388

0.018

0.008

0.114

0.045

0.006

0.018

0.051

 

2

1

2

4.355

3.580

2.326

0.413

0.024

0.008

0.100

0.036

0.003

0.014

0.044

 

3

2

3

4.369

3.590

2.336

0.408

0.024

0.009

0.101

0.037

0.004

0.014

0.056

 

4

1

4

4.344

3.590

2.263

0.406

0.015

0.009

0.110

0.056

0.006

0.019

0.041

 

5

2

1

4.399

3.630

2.306

0.390

0.019

0.009

0.108

0.046

0.006

0.018

0.053

 

6

2

2

4.302

3.550

2.255

0.413

0.021

0.007

0.105

0.044

0.004

0.016

0.049

 

7

1

3

4.405

3.640

2.295

0.411

0.021

0.010

0.102

0.050

0.004

0.027

0.048

 

8

2

4

4.393

3.620

2.320

0.405

0.014

0.011

0.099

0.065

0.006

0.028

0.039

 

9

3

1

4.435

3.660

2.325

0.389

0.020

0.009

0.102

0.046

0.004

0.017

0.046

 

10

3

2

4.350

3.590

2.279

0.399

0.017

0.009

0.099

0.054

0.004

0.035

0.041

 

11

3

3

4.323

3.560

2.290

0.390

0.013

0.009

0.095

0.062

0.006

0.028

0.046

 

12

3

4

4.387

3.620

2.300

0.383

0.015

0.004

0.098

0.041

0.003

0.016

0.059

 
  

Median

4.362

3.590

2.298

0.402

0.018

0.009

0.101

0.046

0.004

0.018

0.047

 
  

Std Dev

0.0409

0.0348

0.0289

0.0111

0.0036

0.0017

0.0055

0.0092

0.0012

0.0068

0.0062

 

Al

Ti

Sn

Sb

Bi

Ce

V

Nb

Co

B

Zr

La

0.024

0.008

0.012

0.006

0.0000

0.013

0.053

0.008

0.004

0.0000

0.000

0.0053

0.038

0.008

0.012

0.006

0.0009

0.014

0.045

0.007

0.004

0.0001

0.001

0.0048

0.021

0.006

0.012

0.007

0.0012

0.016

0.045

0.009

0.003

0.0001

0.001

0.0023

0.026

0.007

0.012

0.005

0.0012

0.014

0.045

0.007

0.004

0.0006

0.001

0.0053

0.021

0.008

0.012

0.006

0.0004

0.016

0.052

0.009

0.005

0.0001

0.001

0.0023

0.034

0.007

0.012

0.006

0.0008

0.016

0.046

0.006

0.004

0.0002

0.001

0.0025

0.019

0.006

0.012

0.005

0.0002

0.015

0.048

0.004

0.007

0.0005

0.000

0.0053

0.020

0.011

0.014

0.006

0.0006

0.015

0.045

0.010

0.003

0.0003

0.001

0.0016

0.020

0.005

0.012

0.005

0.0004

0.015

0.046

0.008

0.004

0.0002

0.001

0.0014

0.035

0.019

0.012

0.005

0.0001

0.016

0.059

0.006

0.013

0.0002

0.001

0.0013

0.026

0.010

0.014

0.006

0.0003

0.017

0.044

0.010

0.003

0.0002

0.001

0.0016

0.021

0.005

0.012

0.005

0.0017

0.018

0.046

0.007

0.004

0.0002

0.000

0.0027

0.022

0.008

0.012

0.006

0.001

0.015

0.046

0.008

0.004

0.000

0.001

0.002

0.0066

0.0039

0.0007

0.0004

0.0005

0.0014

0.0045

0.0016

0.0030

0.0002

0.0003

0.0016

Appendix 3: Alloy Additions

Sample

MgFeSi

Inoculant

Weight

Mg

Inoc

Mg Addition Rate (%)

1

1

1

10000

135

50

1.35

2

1

2

10000

118

56

1.18

3

2

3

10000

129

50

1.29

4

1

4

10000

125

50

1.25

5

2

1

15000

195

75

1.30

6

2

2

24000

319

131

1.33

7

1

3

19000

296

59

1.56

8

2

4

25000

336

125

1.34

9

3

1

17000

219

79

1.29

10

3

2

11000

136

55

1.24

11

3

3

10000

136

50

1.36

12

3

4

17000

289

85

1.70

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Beach, T., Clayton, J., Leblang, P. et al. The Effects of MgFeSi and Inoculant Selection on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Varying Section Size Ductile Iron Castings. Inter Metalcast (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-024-01265-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-024-01265-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation