New developments in high quality grey cast irons

The paper reviews original data obtained by the present authors,revealed in recent separate publications,describing specific procedures for high quality grey irons,and reflecting the forecast needs of the worldwide iron foundry industry.High power,medium frequency coreless induction furnaces are commonly used in electric melting grey iron foundries.This has resulted in low sulphur(<0.05wt.%)and aluminium(<0.005wt.%)contents in the iron,with a potential for higher superheating(>1,500°C),contributing to unfavourable conditions for graphite nucleation.Thin wall castings are increasingly produced by these electric melt shops with a risk of greater eutectic undercooling during solidification.The paper focused on two groups of grey cast irons and their specific problems:carbides and graphite morphology control in lower carbon equivalent high strength irons(CE=3.4%-3.8%),and austenite dendrite promotion in eutectic and slightly hypereutectic irons(CE=4.1%-4.5%),in order to increase their strength characteristics.There are 3 stages and 3 steps involving graphite formation,iron chemistry and iron processing that appear to be important.The concept in the present paper sustains a threestage model for nucleating flake graphite[(Mn,X)S type nuclei].There are three important groups of elements(deoxidizer,Mn/S,and inoculant)and three technological stages in electric melting of iron(superheat,pre-conditioning of base iron,final inoculation).Attention is drawn to a control factor(%Mn)x(%S)ensuring it equals to 0.03–0.06,accompanied by 0.005wt.%–0.010wt.%Al and/or Zr content in inoculated irons.It was found that iron powder addition promotes austenite dendrite formation in eutectic and slightly eutectic,acting as reinforcement for the eutectic cells.But,there is an accompanying possible negative influence on the characteristics of the(Mn,X)S type graphite nuclei(change the morphology of nuclei from polygonal compact to irregular polygonal,and therefore promote chill tendency in treated irons).A double addition(iron powder+inoculant)appears to be an effective treatment to benefit both austenite and graphite nucleation,with positive effects on the final structure and chill tendency.

Electrical conductivity of hydrous silicate melts and aqueous fluids: Measurement and applications

The combination of magnetotelluric survey and laboratory measurements of electrical conductivity is a powerful approach for exploring the conditions of Earth's deep interior. Electrical conductivity of hydrous silicate melts and aqueous fluids is sensitive to composition, temperature, and pressure, making it useful for understanding partial melting and fluid activity at great depths. This study presents a review on the experimental studies of electrical conductivity of silicate melts and aqueous fluids, and introduces some important applications of experimental results. For silicate melts, electrical conductivity increases with increasing temperature but decreases with pressure. With a similar Na^+ concentration, along the calc-alkaline series electrical conductivity generally increases from basaltic to rhyolitic melt, accompanied by a decreasing activation enthalpy. Electrical conductivity of silicate melts is strongly enhanced with the incorporation of water due to promoted cation mobility. For aqueous fluids, research is focused on dilute electrolyte solutions. Electrical conductivity typically first increases and then decreases with increasing temperature, and increases with pressure before approaching a plateau value. The dissociation constant of electrolyte can be derived from conductivity data. To develop generally applicable quantitative models of electrical conductivity of melt/fluid addressing the dependences on temperature, pressure, and composition, it requires more electrical conductivity measurements of representative systems to be implemented in an extensive P-T range using up-to-date methods.