Effect of sandwich structure on mechanical properties of gray cast iron plates

Abstract

Gray cast iron (GCI) was hot compressed by cylinder covered compression (CCC) process. GCI plates, with a sandwich structure of graphite and steel matrix, was obtained after more than 45% reduction hot compression. Mechanical properties of the GCI plates were tested on a Gleeble 3500 machine. The result shows that the strength and ductility of the compressed GCI were significantly increased. For the 80% hot-compressed GCI, the tensile strength varies from 117MPa to 249MPa and the total elongation from 0 to 5.2%. The tensile fracture surface presented ductility characters. The strength increase is caused by the decrease of the cutting effect of graphite flakes on the matrix. The ductility increase is caused by the delamination toughening of the sandwich structure.