J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.23 No.

1, 2007

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Eects of Alloying Elements on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Heavy Section Ductile Cast Iron
G.S.Cho1) , K.H.Choe1) , K.W.Lee1) and A.Ikenaga2)
1) Advanced Material Processing Team, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, 994-32, Dongchun-Dong, Yeonsu-Ku, Incheon 406-130, South Korea 2) Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1, Gakuen-Cho, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
[Manuscript received February 17, 2006, in revised form May 29, 2006]

The eects of alloying elements on the as-cast microstructures and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile cast iron were investigated to develop press die material having high strength and high ductility. Measurements of ultimate tensile strength, 0.2% proof strength, elongation and unnotched Charpy impact energy are presented as a function of alloy amounts within 0.25 to 0.75 wt pct range. Hardness is measured on the broken tensile specimens. The small additions of Mo, Cu, Ni and Cr changed the as-cast mechanical properties owing to the dierent as-cast matrix microstructures. The ferrite matrix of Mo and Ni alloyed cast iron exhibits low strength and hardness as well as high elongation and impact energy. The increase in Mo and Ni contents developed some fractions of pearlite structures near the austenite eutectic cell boundaries, which caused the elongation and impact energy to drop in a small range. Adding Cu and Cr elements rapidly changed the ferrite matrix into pearlite matrix, so strength and hardness were signicantly increased. As more Mo and Cr were added, the size and fraction of primary carbides in the eutectic cell boundaries increased through the segregation of these elements into the intercellular boundaries. KEY WORDS: Heavy section ductile cast iron; Alloying elements; As-cast microstructures;
As-cast mechanical properties

1. Introduction Ductile cast iron exhibits good ductility and toughness because the graphite morphology is spherical. It has been reported that the strengthening and toughening of ductile cast iron result from the modication of the matrix structure when alloying elements[1] are added or heat treatment[2] is applied. The austempered ductile cast irons have been studied to replace the forged or cast steel in the structural parts, because they have many advantages such as high strength and toughness, high machinability and good corrosion resistance[36] . Recently, the heavy section drawing dies in pressing steel sheet for the automobile frame or panel are replaced by simple one body-type as-cast ductile cast iron, which yields low cost and shortened delivering time on producing press dies. The casting die is generally produced via a full mold process that uses the near-net shaped expanded polystyrene pattern replaced by the molten metal[7] . As-cast ductile cast iron should meet the requirements of material properties to be used in cold pressing dies including high strength and high ductility, but both mechanical properties are very dicult to obtain within the same casting material. Thus, the amounts of alloying elements are controlled to achieve as-cast heavy section ductile cast having high strength and ductility. The purpose of this paper is to obtain experimental data for optimum alloy design of heavy section ductile cast irons and to present the eects of alloying elements on the as-cast microstructures and mechanical properties for using cold press die material.
Ph.D., to whom correspondence should be addressed, E-mail: gscho@kitech.re.kr.

2. Experimental The chemical compositions of ductile cast irons used for this work are presented in Table 1. The main dierence lies on the Mo, Cu, Ni and Cr alloy contents. The nominal compositions of alloying element additions are given as 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 wt pct. The results are presented in terms of the nominal additions for convenience in discussion. The ductile irons were obtained by melting steel scrap, pig iron, graphite, Fe-75 wt pct Mn and Fe-75 wt pct Si in the high frequency induction furnace. Spheroidizing and inoculation practices were performed in a conventional sandwich method with 5.8 wt pct Mg-Fe-Si and 75 wt pct Si-Fe alloy, respectively. The metal was poured into furan resin molding sand molds to obtain Y-shaped 75 mm blocks. Tensile specimens with the dimensions shown in Fig.1 and

Fig.1 Y-shaped block and tensile specimen dimensions

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Table 1 Chemical compositions of ductile cast iron (wt pct) Melt A B C D E C 3.61 3.57 3.60 3.64 3.66 Si 2.36 2.37 2.40 2.35 2.31 Mn 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.30 0.33 P 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 S 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Mo 0.19/0.38/0.58 Cu 0.24/0.47/0.70 Ni 0.24/0.48/0.70 Cr 0.26/0.49 Mg 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06

Table 2 Typical characteristics of spherical graphite in ductile cast iron Melt A B C D E Area fraction/% 10.2 13.1 13.0 12.2 11.4 Nodule count/(Nmm2 ) 141.0 153.3 154.6 152.6 148.0 Nodularity/(%) 90.4 88.5 87.5 87.3 86.0 Ave. diameter/m 30.3 33.0 32.8 31.8 31.5

Fig.2 As-cast microstructure of melt A as a reference casting

unnotched Charpy specimens (55 mm10 mm10 mm) were machined from the bottom section of the Yblocks. Tensile specimens were taken from the bottom section of Y-blocks in order to minimize casting defects such as microporosity. Three tensile specimens were tested in a 250 kN hydraulic Instron universal testing machine using a constant cross-head travel speed of 4 mm/min. Unnotched Charpy specimens were tested in a standard impact testing machine. Hardness measurements were made on a standard Brinell hardness machine with a load of 3000 kg and 10 mm steel ball. Metallographic specimens were obtained from broken impact samples. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 As-cast microstructures of ductile cast iron Figure 2 shows the as-cast microstructure of melt A as a reference cast iron given in Table 1. The micrographs show that the matrix structure is fully ferrite structure with a small fraction of pearlite near the eutectic cell boundaries. The ferrite structures are selected to serve as a base material by minimizing Mn content in 75 mm heavy section Y-block. The spheroidal graphite nodules are well distributed within the ferrite matrix. Two types of graphite in size are observed microscopically, because of the slight hypereutectic chemical composition of the reference cast iron. The bigger graphites, about 50 m in diameter, are crystallized at the graphite+liquid region in the Fe-C system. The smaller ones, under 50 m, are

formed through eutectic solidication range. Image analysis of volume fraction, nodule count, nodularity and average diameter of graphite on the dierent alloyed ductile cast irons are given in Table 2. The characteristic values of graphites in the alloyed irons are very similar to that of reference cast iron. Figure 3 shows the as-cast microstructures of Mo alloyed cast iron. The Mo alloyed ductile cast iron of melt B exhibits substantial ferrite in the as-cast structure with some pearlite at intercellular regions. As more Mo is added, the matrix becomes fully ferrite and the area fraction of pearlite structure in the eutectic cell boundaries is slightly increased. The Ni alloyed ductile cast iron of melt D also has a mostly ferrite matrix having some pearlite structures in the cell boundaries. Adding up to 0.75 wt pct of Mo and Ni elements results in the same tendency on the formation of a ferrite matrix. The addition of Mo and Ni alloy will increase the hardenability of ductile cast iron by delaying the transformation of austenite to ferrite[8,9] . Also, the hardness of the ferrite matrix increased from about 169 HV to about 188 HV when more Mo was added. The Ni alloyed ductile cast iron also exhibited an increase in matrix hardness. This means that the addition of Mo and Ni strengthens the ferrite matrix via solid solution hardening. Figure 4 shows microstructures of the as-cast melt C ductile cast iron. As more Cu is added, the amount of ferrite structure is signicantly decreased with Cu content. For the melt C containing 0.5 wt pct Cu and more, the matrix was abruptly changed into pearlite

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Fig.3 Microstructures of the as-cast melt B ductile cast iron with dierent Mo contents: (a) 0.25 wt pct Mo, (b) 0.5 wt pct Mo, (c) 0.75 wt pct Mo

Fig.4 Microstructures of the as-cast melt C ductile cast iron with dierent Cu contents: (a) 0.25 wt pct Cu, (b) 0.5 wt pct Cu, (c) 0.75 wt pct Cu

Fig.5 Microstructures of the as-cast ductile cast irons with dierent alloying elements: (a) 0.75 wt pct Mo (b) 0.75 wt pct Cu, (c) 0.75 wt pct Ni, (d) 0.5 wt pct Cr

with a bull s-eye ferrite rim around the nodules. Figure 4 presents the ability of Cu to hinder the diusion of carbon into graphite at the graphite-austenite interface during the solid state transformation after solidication. The Cu will increase as-cast strength and hardness through increased pearlite formation[8] . Figure 5 shows the as-cast microstructures of ductile cast iron with dierent alloying elements. While

the 0.75 wt pct Mo and 0.75 wt pct Ni alloyed ductile cast irons exhibit a full ferrite matrix, the 0.75 wt pct Cu and 0.5 wt pct Cr added ductile cast irons exhibit a bull s-eye structure within the pearlite matrix. Carbide-like phases are observed in the middle of the eutectic cell boundaries of the 0.75 wt pct Mo and 0.5 wt pct Cr alloyed ductile cast iron. These phases are not observed at the intercellular regions of

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Fig.6 EDX line scan proles measured on as-cast ductile cast irons: (a) 0.75 wt pct Mo, (b) 0.5 wt pct Cr

Fig.7 Variation in tensile strength and elongation of as-cast ductile cast irons having dierent alloying contents: (a) tensile strength, (b) elongation

0.25 wt pct Mo and 0.25 wt pct Cr alloyed ductile cast iron. Figure 6 presents the EDX line scan proles measured on the as-cast ductile cast irons. Figure 6(a) shows the sharp increase in Mo peak at the eutectic cell boundary. This means that the segregation of Mo during solidication forms Mo-rich carbides in the cell boundaries[1012] . Figure 6(b) shows the segregated Cr-rich phase in the as-cast ductile cast iron. Mn was positively segregated in the cell boundaries but Si was negatively segregated[13] . The increased Mo and Mn levels in the intercellular boundary in the alloyed iron attributed to segregation caused considerable pearlite formation near the cell boundaries. Carbide formation will deteriorate the ductility of as-cast ductile cast iron[14,15] . Thus, the amount of Mo and Cr additions should be limited to a certain level considering the thickness of castings. 3.2 Mechanical properties of as-cast ductile cast iron Figure 7 shows the variation in tensile strength and elongation of as-cast ductile cast iron having different alloying contents. The trends in terms of tensile properties of Ni added ductile cast iron resemble that of Mo added ductile iron. With the increase in the amount of Mo and Ni additions, tensile strength is slightly increased while elongation is decreased. The strength of Mo and Ni alloyed ductile cast iron is mainly dependent on the solid solution hardening of ferrite matrix. It was also considered that the decrease in elongation was caused by the increase in pearlite formation in the cell boundaries. As more Cu element is added, tensile strength is steeply increased. The tensile strength of 0.5 wt pct Cu added ductile cast iron approaches at a maximum of 700 MPa, but elongation quickly decreases below 5%. The trends in terms of tensile properties of Cr added ductile iron

resemble that of Cu added ductile cast iron. Addition of up to 0.5 wt pct Cr could not reach a maximum of 700 MPa because of the formation of a large bull s-eye ferrite structure. It is conrmed that the tensile strength of as-cast ductile cast iron is strongly dependent on the area fraction of pearlite, while elongation is inversely proportional to the pearlite fraction in the as-cast microstructure[1618] . Figure 8 presents the SEM micrographs of the fractured surface of tensile specimens for comparing two typical fracture modes. Figure 8(a) shows the brittle fracture surface of 0.75 wt pct Cu alloyed iron having pearlite matrix with cleavage river patterns. The ductile fracture surface of 0.75 wt pct Ni alloyed iron is shown in Fig.8(b). Plastic deformation of ferrite around the boundary of graphite nodule is observed. Some cleavage brittle fracture area having a pearlite phase near the intercellular region is also shown. Figure 9 shows the variation in hardness and impact energy with dierent alloying additions. As more alloying contents are added, the Brinell hardness of Mo and Ni alloyed ductile cast iron is linearly increased, but that of Cu and Cr alloyed ductile cast iron increased very steeply. The Brinell hardness of ductile cast iron refers to the resistance of the matrix and graphite to plastic deformation. The variation in hardness with the alloying element is strongly determined by the as-cast microstructures. Generally, the hardness of cast iron is increased by the volume fraction of pearlite structure[19,20] . In this study, the addition of Mo and Ni slightly increased the matrix hardness via solid solution hardening. As more Cu and Cr element is added, the hardness increased signicantly owing to the high fraction of pearlite. The Charpy impact energy of Mo and Ni alloyed iron is gradually decreased, but that of the Cu and Cr

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Fig.8 SEM micrographs showing the fractured surface of tensile specimens: (a) 0.75 wt pct Cu, (b) 0.75 wt pct Ni