Ductile Iron Production Technology: A Review
Abstract
Ductile iron castings have proven to be the cost-effective materials of choice and/or potential alternatives to other competing materials (e.g. malleable iron, steel and aluminum castings) and manufacturing processes (forgings, fabrications, etc.) with either an improvement in service performance or lower production cost or both. The outstanding growth in the use of ductile iron castings in engineering applications including those in which the casting properties are critical to lower energy utilization, safe operations and in safety related components such as automobile steering knuckles and brake calipers, gears, valves, pumps, etc., has occurred because of the tremendous improvement in production capabilities resulting in quality consistency and freedom from imperfections, obtained through stringent microstructure control. This paper is a review of the production technology and development (in terms of the metallurgical, chemical composition, heat treatment, microstructure and mechanical properties and design parameters) of this unique class of engineering purpose cast irons and highlights niche applications where ductile irons excel over conventional materials.
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