Metal Science and Heat Treatment

Vol. 50, Nos. 1 2, 2008

UDC 669.15-194.55

THE EFFECT OF COPPER ON THE STRUCTURE

AND PROPERTIES OF GRAPHITIZED STEEL
A. Yu. Yakovlev1 and I. P. Volchok2
Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 1, pp. 41 44, January, 2008.

The effect of copper on the structure, mechanical properties, heat resistance and thermal conductivity
of graphitized steel is investigated.

Parts operating under thermocyclic loads (metallic casting molds, molds for ferrous and nonferrous metals, glass
molds, etc.) are usually produced from gray and highstrength cast iron, whose advantages (high thermal conductivity and lack of sensitivity to stress concentrators), as well
as their disadvantages (low strength, plasticity, and crack resistance) are related to a high carbon content (2.5 4.5%)
and, accordingly, graphite content. In the context of raising
the strength of such products, it is interesting to consider
graphitized steel which contains 2 3 times less carbon and,
therefore, has better mechanical and service properties than
cast iron. One of the drawbacks of graphitized steels is their
relatively low thermal conductivity, which has a negative impact on the heat resistance of articles operating under cyclic
thermal loads.
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of copper on the structure, mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, and heat resistance of graphitized steels
used to make ingot molds for casting non-ferrous metals.

on a variable-thickness cylindrical sample with two mutually

perpendicular through holes [1] based on the number of thermal cycles (heating to 800C, cooling in water) that the sample withstood until fracture. Thermocyclic endurance Nt was
determined on a LO2-727-00-00SB device developed at the
A. G. Ivchenko Progress Zaporozhe Design Bureau taking
flat samples of section 5 10 mm in static tension under
stress sst = 25, 30, 40, and 45 MPa and dynamic bending
with the frequency of 207 233 Hz under sb = 4 MPa at the
temperature of 750C. Tests for resistance to scaling were
carried out on a gas-dynamic plant in the flow of the products of propane combustion in oxygen using flat samples of
size 50 100 2 mm. Samples fixed to a movable platform
(groups of 3 samples) were subjected to cyclic heating in
flame to 900C with 1 min exposure, natural cooling in air to
600C, 1 min exposure, and repeated heating to 900C. The
testing included 100 cycles. Resistance to scaling was determined based on the sample weight increment. Thermal conductivity of steel was measured with a ITEM-1M instrument
produced by the talon Aktyubinsk Works.

METHODS OF STUDY

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Steel was melted in an IST-120 induction furnace with

the base lining and had the following composition: 1.24% C,
1.41% Si, 0.46% Mn, 0.028% S, 0.022% P; the content of
copper varied from 0.02 to 3.1%. Ingots weighing 20 kg
were produced by fraction casting and subjected to graphitizing annealing for 4 h at 850 C; samples for analysis were
prepared from these ingots.
Strength and plasticity were determined on sets of five
samples 5 mm in diameter; heat resistance N was determined

The metallic base of the reference steel had the structure

of lamellar pearlite. As the content of copper increased to
3.1%, the quantity of ferrite increased (to about 25%). Ferrite
was located mainly in the form of edges around graphite inclusions, whose parameters are given in Table 1. The dependence of the mean sizes of graphite inclusions on copper
concentration has the form of a curve with a minimum at
0.6 1.2% Cu. A direct proportional relation exists between
the size and the inclusion shape parameter lg (the ratio of the
maximum size to the minimum sizes) (see Table 1). With
copper content up to 1.2%, graphite inclusions have a compact, nearly spherical shape; with 1.8% Cu part of inclusions

INTRODUCTION

1
2

Motor Sich JSC, Zaporozhe, Ukraine.

Zaporozhe National Technical University, Zaporozhe, Ukraine.

41
0026-0673/08/0102-0041 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

42

A. Yu. Yakovlev and I. P. Volchok

N, cycles
50
46
42
38
34

sr , P
600
550
500
450

DM, g

400

48

d, %

10

8
6

40

DM

32

lg

Fig. 1. Graphite inclusions in steels with different copper contents

( 450): a) 0.02% Cu; b) 0.6% Cu; c) 1.2% Cu; d ) 1.8% Cu; e) 2.3%
Cu; f ) 3.1% Cu.

(around 15%) represented vermicular graphite; with 3.1% Cu

vermicular graphite inclusions took about 50% of the total
amount (Table 1 and Fig. 1).
Increased copper content in the considered interval decreases the elongation of steel 2.4 times (Fig. 2), which can
be attributed to the unfavorable change of the graphite inclusion shape (the growth of the parameter lg ) and solid-solution hardening of the metal base. The latter factor contributed
to raising the temporary rupture strength by 45% (with 1.2%
Cu) and thermal resistance N by 35 40% for 1.2 1.8% Cu.
The decrease in sr and N as the copper concentration grows
further is due to the transformation of spheroid graphite into
its vermicular form (Fig. 1 and the Table 1).
TABLE 1. Effect of Copper Content in Graphitized Steel on the
Structure and Characteristics of Graphite
Structure
Copper
content,
%

pearlite,
%

ferrite,
%

0.02
0.6
1.2
1.8
2.3
3.1

100
98
95
90
85
75

0
2
5
10
15
25

Graphite
shape pamean
spheroid, vermicular,
rameter,
size, mm
%
%
lg

22
15
26
39
51
66

1.6
1.3
1.4
2.1
2.7
6.9

95
100
100
85
60
20

5
0
0
15
40
80

a, W/(m K)
lg

37.5
30.0

Cu, wt.%
Fig. 2. Properties of graphitized steel depending on copper content.

For copper content 0.6% we observe a certain decrease

in the thermal conductivity coefficient a (Fig. 2), presumably due to the crystal lattice distortions in solid-solution
hardening, which impedes the migration of conductance
electrons. At higher copper concentrations, thermal conductivity grows due to the formation of finely-disperse copper-bearing phases on the metal graphite interface and the
increased shape parameter of the graphite conclusions. According to published data [2 4], the solubility of copper in
cast iron and graphitized steel is 0.6 0.7%; if its concentration is higher, a copper-bearing e-phase is formed on the interface surfaces, which contributes to improving thermal
conductivity and oxidation resistance at high temperatures.
The results of the study have shown (Fig. 2) that as copper
content grows to 1.8%, the steel oxidation rates (the sample
mass increment DM ) decreases by about 40%. Further alloying with copper increases DM, presumably since the graphite
changes from spherical into vermicular form, which expands
the interface surfaces, along which high-temperatures oxidation processes penetrate into the metal depth.
The results of testing heat resistance Nt in a complex-stressed state indicate that microcracks mainly originate
at the graphite inclusions. As a rule, they propagate from one
inclusion to another (Fig. 3a and b ). Inclusions of the extended shape facilitate crack formation to a larger extent that
compact spheroid inclusions do. Under loading of samples,
the microcracks are opened, their surfaces are oxidized, and
the main macrocrack is formed (Fig. 3c and d ).

The Effect of Copper on the Structure and Properties of Graphitized Steel

43
Nt 10 6, cycles
25
6
5

30

4
3

35
2

40
1

45
c

Fig. 3. Thermal-fatigue cracks in graphitized steel ( 400):

a, b ) nucleation of cracks on graphite inclusions; c) macrocrack
apex; d ) macrocrack.

Cu, wt.%
Fig. 4. Thermal resistance Nt of graphitized steel at 750C depending on copper content. The numbers at the curves indicate sst
in MPa.

The data in Fig. 4 show that the maximum longevity Nt is

found in steel alloyed with copper in the amount ranging
from 1.2 to 1.8%. For all values of sst , alloying graphitized
steel with copper in the specified limits produces a
2.5 5-fold increase in the heat resistance parameter N.

4. The heat resistance of graphitized steel at service temperature 750 800C significantly increases after steel is alloyed with 1.2 1.8% copper.

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

1. As copper content in graphitized steel grows to 3.1%,

the amount of the ferrite component increases to about 25%,
the shape parameter and the main size of graphite inclusions
grow, while their shape changes from spherical to vermicular.
2. The dependence of temporary rupture strength and
heat resistance parameters N and Nt on copper content have
the form of curves with the maximum at 1.2 1.8% Cu.
3. With an increasing copper content, the elongation of
steel monotonically decreases and its thermal conductivity
grows. Scaling was minimal at 1.8% Cu.

1. A. B. Chernyak, O. B. Kolotilkin, and I. P. Volchok, Ukraine

Patent UA 53976A, MKI 7G0IN3/60. A sample for determining
thermal resistance, Byull. Izobr. Polezn. Modeli, No. 2 (2003).
2. A. A. Zhukov, V. P. Polovinchuk, and V. S. Churkin, Wear-resistant antifriction chromium-copper cast iron, Izv. Vuzov, Chern.
Metall., No. 4, 30 31 (1993).
3. V. P. Polovinchuk and A. A. Zhukov, Copper in low-alloyed cast
irons, Liteinoe Proizvod., No. 5, 43 44 (1992).
4. I. V. Akimov, Increase in Physicochemical Properties of Graphitized Steels, Authors Abstract of Candidates Thesis [in Russian], Zaporozhe National University, Zaporozhe (2004).