Development of thermal simulation system for heavy section ductile iron solidification

A new reliable thermal simulation system for studying solidification of heavy section ductile iron has been developed using computer feedback control and artificial intelligent methods. Results of idle test indicate that the temperature in the system responses exactly to the inputted control data and the temperature control error is less than ±0.5%. It is convenient to simulate solidification of heavy section ductile iron using this new system. Results of thermal simulation experiments show that the differences in nodularity and number of graphite nodule per unit area in the thermal simulation specimen and the actual heavy section block is less than 5% and 10%, respectively.

Effects of forced cooling on mechanical properties and fracture behavior of heavy section ductile iron

To develop materials suitable for spent-nuclear-fuel containers, the effect of forced cooling on mechanical properties and fracture toughness of heavy section ductile iron was investigated. Two cubic castings with different cooling processes were prepared: casting A was prepared in a totally sand mold, and casting B was prepared in a sand mold with two chilling blocks placed on the left and right sides of the mold. Three positions in each casting with different solidification cooling rates were chosen. In-situ SEM tensile experiment was used to observe the dynamic tensile process. Fracture analysis was conducted to study the influence of vermicular and slightly irregular spheroidal graphite on the fracture behavior of heavy section ductile iron. Results show that the tensile strength, elongation, impact toughness and fracture toughness at different positions of the two castings all decrease with decreasing cooling rate. With the increase of solidification time, the fracture mechanism of conventional casting A changes from ductile fracture to brittle fracture, and that of casting B with forced cooling changes from ductile fracture to a mixture of ductile-brittle fracture.

Effect of Ce-Mg-Si and Y-Mg-Si nodulizers on the microstructures and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile iron

Effect of Ce-Mg-Si （light RE） and Y-Mg-Si （heavy RE） nodulizers on the microstructures and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile iron was investigated to develop the material of spent-nuclear-fuel containers. Two as-casts were treated by the same quality percentage of light RE and heavy RE, respectively. Four positions were chosen to stand for different solidification cool-ing rates of specimens. The tensile strength, elongation and impact toughness of specimens treated by heavy RE were all higher than those of the specimens treated by light RE. With the decrease of cooling rate, the mechanical properties of two specimens decreased, and the fracture morphology changed from ductile fracture to brittle fracture. The improving effect of mechanical properties between heavy RE and light RE was obvious due to the better anti-degradation property of heavy RE. While the solidification process lasted for more than 250 min, the improving effect was not obvious due to serious spheroidalization decaying.

Effects of Alloying Elements on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Heavy Section Ductile Cast Iron

The effects 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 different 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 significantly 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.

Effect of Bi on graphite morphology and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile cast iron

To improve the mechanical properties of heavy section ductile cast iron, bismuth(Bi) was introduced into the iron. Five castings with different Bi content from 0 to 0.014 wt.% were prepared; and four positions in the casting from the edge to the center, with different solidifi cation cooling rates, were chosen for microstructure observation and mechanical properties test. The effect of the Bi content on the graphite morphology and mechanical properties of heavy section ductile cast iron were investigated. Results show that the tensile strength, elongation and impact toughness at different positions in the fi ve castings decrease with a decrease in cooling rate. With an increase in Bi content, the graphite morphology and the mechanical properties at the same position are improved, and the improvement of mechanical properties is obvious when the Bi content is no higher than 0.011wt.%. But when the Bi content is further increased to 0.014wt.%, the improvement of mechanical properties is not obvious due to the increase of chunky graphite number and the aggregation of chunky graphite. With an increase in Bi content, the tensile fracture mechanism is changed from brittle to mixture ductile-brittle fracture.

Chemical Compositions,Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Roll Core used Ductile Iron in Centrifugal Casting Composite Rolls

The industrial manufacture processes of three kinds of roll core used ductile irons have been investigated via systematical experiments. EfFects of the ratio of C/Si, pig iron, nodularizer and alloying method on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the heavy section ductile iron have been analyzed. It has been found that when treated with RE-Mg plus Sb, high quality nodular castings can be produced even if much anti spheroidizing alloy elements are included in the pig iron. The alloy element Sb played an important role in the control of graphite morphology.