06 Paper
06 Paper
06 Paper
of
FOUNDRY ENGINEERING ISSN (2299-2944)
Volume 12
DOI: 10.2478/v10266-012-0104-z Issue 4/2012
Published quarterly as the organ of the Foundry Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences 39 – 46
Abstract
The paper presents a solidification sequence of graphite eutectic cells of A and D types, as well as globular and cementite eutectics. The
morphology of eutectic cells in cast iron, the equations for their growth and the distances between the graphite precipitations in A and D
eutectic types were analyzed. It is observed a critical eutectic growth rate at which one type of eutectic transformed into another. A
mathematical formula was derived that combined the maximum degree of undercooling, the cooling rate of cast iron, eutectic cell count
and the eutectic growth rate. One type of eutectic structure turned smoothly into the other at a particular transition rate, transformation
temperature and transformational eutectic cell count. Inoculation of cast iron increased the number of eutectic cells with flake graphite and
the graphite nodule count in ductile iron, while reducing the undercooling. An increase in intensity of inoculation caused a smooth
transition from a cementite eutectic structure to a mixture of cementite and D type eutectic structure, then to a mixture of D and A types of
eutectics up to the presence of only the A type of eutectic structure. Moreover, the mechanism of inoculation of cast iron was studied.
1. Introduction take the form of rosettes during growth. On the concave surface of
graphite rosettes, an austenite nucleates and surrounds the central
part of the rosette, rising along its branches and leading to the
Cast iron is the most important and most widely used casting
creation of eutectic cells. From each nucleus, a single eutectic cell
alloy and its inoculation phenomenon was discovered in 1920 [1]
is formed. Therefore, the number of nuclei also represents the
and patented by Meeh in 1924 [2]. There are many studies on this
number of eutectic cells. In ductile iron, each graphite nucleus
phenomenon, which are summarized and analyzed in [3].
gives rise to a single graphite nodule. As the solidification process
Elements such as Ba, Ca and Sr, which are usually introduced to a
continues, the austenite shell nucleates directly on the graphite
bath in ferrosilicon, are the most important inoculants of cast iron.
nodule and the eutectic transformation begins. Eutectic cells may
Ferrosilicon that contains these elements is treated as a complex
contain a lot of nodules. Thus, in ductile iron, the number of
inoculant.
nuclei can be identified only by the number of graphite nodules
The purpose of this study were to analyze the inoculation
rather than the number of eutectic cells.
effects and explain the inoculation mechanism of cast iron.
You may notice that the higher the degree of undercooling, the
4. Morphology of eutectic cells higher the cell growth rate.
High undercooling
In a typical grey cast iron with flake graphite, there are two a)
types of eutectic structures.
a) b)
n (large cells)
c) d)
b) c)
D type of graphite and eutectic D type of graphite
A type eutectic
D type eutectic Fig.4. Influence of growth rate on free energy of eutectics (a,b);
uA,D – trasformation rate of A to D type of eutectic, uD,C -
trasformation rate of D type to cementite eutectic,
λ = 16,1 u −0,25 ; µm microstructures (c,d,e) of A, D and cementite eutectics,
(4) respectively; values of transformation rates deal with pure Fe-C
alloys
The graphs of these equations indicate a discontinuity within the
interface distance between the A and D types of graphite eutectic Below this rate range, the A type is formed since it has the
structure (Fig. 3). lowest free energy, while above this range, the D type is
100 produced, because its free energy is lower than that of the A type
80 (Fig. 4a). Similarly, there is an experimentally determined rate
60 A ty pe of eutecic
40
range for the graphite-cementite eutectic transition (uD,c = 85 ÷
250 µm/s) [9]. Above this rate range, cementite eutectic is formed
20 because its free energy is lower than that for the D type of eutectic
(Fig. 4b). Near the transformation range, the "smooth" transition
λ, µm
9 D Ty pe of eutecitc of one type of eutectic into another through the eutectic mixture
7
of different proportions (Fig. 5) is observed.
5
3 a) b)
1
5 15 25 35 45
u, µm/s
Fig. 3. Influence of growth rate on interfacial distance
c)
From the cooling curves (Fig. 8), an average cooling rate was
determined at temperature, Tr (Tr = 1153.9 + 5.25Si-14.88P
Fig. 6. Eutectic cell in cast iron (a, b) and influence of =1164.4 oC), amounting to Q = 3.1 oC/s. From the metallographic
cell count and type of eutectic on graphite flake length, according images, the following parameters were determined: the number of
to ASTM Standard (c) eutectic cells N = 5011 cm-3 and N = 42404 cm-3 and the
iinterfacial distance λ = 14 µm and λ = 53 µm for uninoculated
and inoculated cast iron, which correspond to the D and A type of
9. Chilling tendency eutectics, respectively.
Degree of undercooling
A measure of the chilling tendency of cast iron is the fraction of
the cementite eutectic structure in the standard casting, usually in
Based on [11], taking into account equation (1) and the heat
the form of a wedge (Fig. 10).
balance of the heat generated during solidification and the heat
flowing into the mold, the general and the missing equation for
a) b
the degree of undercooling of an eutectic alloy can be derived:
1/8
4 c ef Q 3 (5)
ΔTm = 3
3
π f l ΔH e N μ
where:
Q - cooling rate of alloy,
cef - specific heat of austenite,
∆He - latent heat of graphite eutectic,
N - number of eutectic cells per unit volume,
µ - growth coefficient of eutectic cell.
Fig. 7. Wedge for chilling tendency test (cementite eutectic
formation) with cooling rate along its height (a), influence of cell After the adoption of previously indicated data and cef =15.2
count on the chills (b) J/(cm3 oC) and ∆He = 2028.8 J/cm3, the maximum degree of
undercooling was calculated (Fig. 8) for:
uninoculated inoculated
b)
Fig. 11. Effect of sulphur on the transition temperature, Tt = TAD
Chilling tendency
a) b)