An investigation of the effect of inoculants on the metal expansion penetration in grey iron

• The production of quality castings requires the casting surface to be clean and free fromdefects. In some grey cast iron components which are cast in sand moulds, the metalsometimes penetrates into the mould, producing difficulties in cleaning the components. Thedefect causes very high costs due to component rejection and increased fettling in the castingindustry. Most of the grey iron foundries around the world have problems with metalpenetration on applicable components.In this work the problem of metal penetration has been studied using a commercial castingcomponent. Eight castings were mounted on the pattern plate and five different inoculantswere investigated. The experiments show that the inoculation of grey cast iron will influencethe metal penetration in areas with late solidification times and where the melt is in contactwith the sand mould. In all experiments 0.14 % inoculant was added in the pouring ladle.The experiments show that the best results to reduce metal penetration have been obtainedwhen using the inoculant which contained silicon, aluminium and zirconium. Using thisinoculant, the average penetration area was only about 20 % of what was found using theworst inoculant. However, this inoculant also gave rise to a large tendency to formation sinks.The experiments also show two main classes of eutectic cell size. One class nucleated at thebeginning of the eutectic solidification and one at the end of the solidification.Two other inoculants, both containing Al and Si have about the same base composition. Fromthe measurements of penetration areas, one can draw the conclusion that the inoculant withthe smallest grain size gives nuclei with the shortest lifetime. The coarser grains give a longerdissolution time and this promotes the survival of the nuclei. At the end of solidification, a larger amount of graphite will precipitate at higher temperatures if new nuclei can beactivated. If the hot spot is located close to the metal surface, the metal will expand into themould; resulting in metal expansion penetration.The worst cases of metal penetration have been obtained using an inoculant containingtitanium. A large number of small eutectic cells and high volume of the small cells wereobserved, which leads to severe penetration.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Metallurgi och metalliska material (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Metallurgy and Metallic Materials (hsv//eng)

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