Control of chilling tendency in grey cast Iron reuse

Abstract

In grey cast iron remelt and recycling, white iron can result in the cast product if careful control of the chilling tendency is not ensured. Many jobbing foundries are constrained in furnace types and available foundry additives that the operation always results in white irons. This study is towards ensuring grey iron is reproduced from cast iron scrap auto engine blocks, when using a diesel fired rotary furnace and a FeSi alloy for structural modification (inoculation). With varying addition rate of the FeSi alloy to the tapped molten metal, chill wedge tests were performed on two different wedge samples of type W (according to ASTM A367- wedge test) with cooling modulus of 0.45 cm (W 31/2) and 0.54 cm (W4). The carbon equivalents for the test casts were within hypoeutectic range (3.85 wt. (%) to 4.11 wt. (%)). In the W4 wedge sample, at 2.0 wt. (%) addition rate of the FeSi alloy, the relative clear chill was totally reduced to zero from 19.76%, while the relative mottled chill was brought down to 9.59% from 33.71%. The microstructure from the cast at this level of addition was free of carbidic phases; it shows randomly oriented graphite flakes evenly distributed in the iron matrix. Hardness assessment shows that increasing rate of FeSi addition results in decreasing hardness, with maximum effect at 2.0 wt. (%) addition. With equivalent aspect ratio (cooling modulus) in a target cast product, this addition rate for this FeSi alloy under this furnace condition will attain graphitized microstructure in the cast product.