Metall. Res. Technol.

117, 104 (2020)

© EDP Sciences, 2020 Metallurgical Research
https://doi.org/10.1051/metal/2019072 &
Technology
Available online at:
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REGULAR ARTICLE

The role of chromium during austempering of ductile iron

Arnoldo Bedolla-Jacuinde1, Román Angel Hernandez-Hernandez2, Francisco Vapeani Guerra1,3,*, and Ignacio Mejia1
1
Instituto de Investigación en Metalurgia y Materiales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán,
México
2
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, UAEH, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA

Received: 1 January 2019 / Accepted: 24 December 2019

Abstract. The present work analyzes the effect of small additions of chromium in the final structure of a
commercial Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI). The study is made with emphasis on the effect of this element on
the processing window. The results indicate that chromium addition decreases the stability of austenite
promoting the martensitic transformation during cooling which increases the hardness and reduces the
elongation. Likewise the increase in chromium addition delays the rate of transformation to ausferrite (stage I)
and accelerates the stage II reaction promoting the bainite formation narrowing the optimal processing window.
However, this effect is markedly reduced when the material is subjected to a long process of homogenization,
prior to austempering process. The results of this work are discussed in terms of the degree of chromium
segregation during solidification.
Keywords: austempered ductile iron / chromium effect / homogenization / processing window

1 Introduction Chemical composition must be adjusted to respond

Austempering heat treatment is an effective way to
improve the mechanical properties of ductile iron which
can vary in a wide range making ADI suitable for different
applications. High hardness and low ductility ADI has
proved be effective to ballistic applications [1] while high
hardness and toughness are desired for wear applications.
On the other hand, applications like connecting rods or
crankshafts require good fatigue properties, strength and
machinability [2] among many others. In the traditional
austempering process ductile iron is austenized in a range
between 850 and 950 °C during a certain time followed by a
rapid cooling in to a salt bath typically between 235 and
450 °C, where the work piece is maintained to allow the
isothermal transformation for a time that can range from
5 minutes to 4 h before being cooled to room temperature
[3–5]. A fully transformed microstructure known as
ausferrite which consists of a mixture of acicular ferrite
and high carbon enriched retained austenite is responsible
for the excellent combination of properties such as high
strength, ductility as well as good wear resistance. The
challenge to produce ADI lies in finding the appropriate
parameters and controlling the different variables to obtain
the desired results from the austempering process.
* e-mail: franciscovapeani@gmail.com
properly to the austempering heat treatment, through
the addition of alloying elements [4]. These additions
determine the as-cast microstructure which plays an
important role on the austempering process mainly due
to microsegregation [6] making these factors highly
important for heavy-section castings. On the other hand
processing variables such as austenitizing temperature,
austempering temperature and holding time [5,7] should be
properly selected and controlled increasing the complexity
for castings of different thickness.
A wide variety of studies have been conducted recently
to improve the mechanical properties of ADI through new
processes [8]. Two-step austempering processes to increase
the fracture toughness and yield strength [9], intercritical
heat treatments to improve ductility [10] or cryogenic
treatment to increase the wear resistance [11] are some of
recent and innovative processes. However, regardless of the
variations in the chosen processing route which can
improve the properties of the alloy for certain applications,
it is widely known that the best balance of properties are
obtained during the period of time known as the Optimal
Processing Window (OPW) [3,5,12] which is defined as the
austempering time interval between the end of the stage I
(g!g hc + a) and the start of the stage II (g hc!a + carbide
(Fe3C) bainitic reaction). A criterion to determine the end
and start of these stages has been defined by Yazdani and
Elliott [13] as the time required for the unstable austenite
2 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
volume to decrease to 3% (start of the window) and the
austempering time at which the volume of retained
austenite has decreased to 90% of its maximum value
(end of the window). A wide OPW is window is required in
order to get the complete transformation from austenite to
ausferrite along the thick section before the start of bainite
formation in the areas where the transformation is faster
[7]. The length of the OPW is highly influenced by alloying
additions required to increase hardenability of thick
sections and avoid the austenite decomposition during
cooling before the isothermal transformation takes place
[8,14,15]. As has been reported by different studies,
elements such as Cr, Mn, Mo, and V, tend to segregate
at the end of solidification to the cell boundaries regions
narrowing of the OPW which is highly influenced by
segregation of elements that slow down the austempering
reaction and increase the volume of unstable austenite
reducing impact properties due to the formation of
unstable austenite islands which transforms to martensite
[3,12,16–18]. In the same way, segregation of carbide
forming elements produce negative effects on the OPW
enhancing the bainitic transformation and promoting the
carbide formation at cell boundaries as has been reported
for high Mn and Mo additions [17,19] decreasing
machinability and reducing elongation and impact proper-
ties. However, small Mo additions accompanied with Ni
have been used to enlarge the OPW [20,21] although the start
of the transformation is displaced towards longer times,
increasing the processing time. Likewise, recent studies [7]
have shown that small boron additions can extend the
OPW towards shorter austempering times but the hardness
and wear resistance are considerably diminished [22].
Cr additions have been used to increase the yield and tensile
strength of ADI by increasing the ferrite strength and
hardenability but as has been reported by different
researchers [23–25] produces higher degrees of segregation
reducing the OPW. However, even when these studies agree
in the reduction of the OPW they report contradictory results
in regards to the displacement of the OPW, which are
attributed to different Cr effects suggesting the development
of a systematic study for different Cr additions over a time
range to clarify this controversy. In the first study,
Bartosiewicz et al. [23] analyzed a 0.5%Cr ADI and reported
that this addition reduces the ausferritic transformation
during the stage I of the reaction displacing the OPW to
longer times, whereas at longer time periods, Cr addition
helped in growth of more ferrite. Likewise, these researchers
also report that Cr produced more segregation which may
lead to the formation of carbides. Similar effects has been
reported for high manganese additions reducing the length
and displacing the beginning of the OPW to longer times due
to delay in the transformation originated by segregation
[26,27].
On the other hand, Rao et al. [24] reported in
opposition to previous studies that Cr displaces the
OPW to shorter austempering times and attributed this
effect to the fact that Cr is a strong ferrite stabilizer but no
systematic study over a time range was done and
the observations were only supported by fracture
toughness values and observations referenced from a
study conducted by Muralidhara et al. [25]. In the case of
the study performed by Muralidhara et al. [25] the effect
of Cr additions in the range of 0.2 to 0.68% was studied,
however, the results were only supported by the tensile
strength values therefore, the results could be affected by
the increase in ferrite strength produced with by Cr
addition or other effects due to the high carbon equivalent
content used in this study due that as has been reported
by Boneti et al. [28] for hypereutectic ADIs, the non-
uniform distribution of graphite nodules on the as-cast
structure results in transformation gradients between
intercellular areas and graphite-rich regions increasing
the segregation negative effects.
In the present work, the effect of small Cr additions on
the microstructure, mechanical properties and processing
window of ADI is analyzed. The metallographic obser-
vations are correlated with the retained austenite
quantification, hardness and tensile properties with and
without a homogenization process prior austempering
heat treatment.
2 Experimental procedure
Three different ductile iron melts were manufactured in an
induction furnace of 30 kg capacity using high purity raw
materials for chemical composition control. For noduliza-
tion Fe–Si–6%Mg was used applying the sandwich method.
An addition of 0.2%Ca–Si was done into the same ladle for
inoculation before pouring. The melts were poured into
25 mm thick T-Block green sand molds. Chill samples were
taken for chemical analysis during pouring.
Once solidified, samples were cut for as-cast charac-
terization as well as bars of 10 x 10 mm cross-section and
125 mm of length divided into two groups for heat
treatment. The first group was homogenized at 1050 °C
for 72 h and rapidly water quenched to avoid segregation.
Subsequently, both groups were austenized at 1000 °C for
40 minutes into a tubular furnace and then rapidly cooled
down to 350 °C into a salt bath where the samples were
isothermally transformed for 5, 10, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 and
150 minutes. Metallographic characterization was done
by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The
retained austenite volume fraction quantification was
undertaken by x-ray diffraction (XRD) in a SIEMENS
5000 diffractometer by using Cu-ka radiation in a 2u
range of 30–90 and calculating the integrated areas under
the austenite (100), (200), (211) and ferrite (111), (200),
(220) peaks following the procedure described by
Putatunda et al. [29]. Hardness measurements were
carried out in a Rockwell hardness tester with 150 kg
of load and tensile tests were performed according to
the ASTM standard E-8 [30] in a Zwick Roell universal
testing machine.
3 Results and discussion
Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the three
experimental irons, where it can be seen, the only
significant difference is the Cr content which is the element
subject to study, these differences were carefully controlled
and intended to evaluate the Cr effect in the range of 0 to
 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Table 1. Chemical composition of the experimental irons (wt.%).
Alloy C Si Mn Cr Mo
A 3.12 3.15 0.51 0.01 0.37
B 3.16 3.13 0.49 0.20 0.35
C 3.09 3.18 0.50 0.40 0.35
*: Carbon equivalent (CE = %C + 1/3%Si).
Fig. 1. 2%Nital etched microstructure of the as-cast ductile iron
castings. a: 0 wt.%Cr; b: 0.2 wt.%Cr; c: 0.4 wt.%Cr.
0.4 wt.%. Higher amounts were not used to avoid the
eutectic carbide formation as reported by Bartosiewicz
et al. [23].
3.1 As-cast characterization
Figure 1 shows the as-cast microstructure of the three
alloys after being etched with 2%Nital. The microstructure
is composed by graphite nodules embedded in a ferrite/
perilite matrix and there is no evidence of eutectic carbides
formed during solidification due to Cr additions from the
metallographic observations and only a slightly increase in
the pearlite volume content is observed with the increase in
Cr addition since this element is well known as a strong
carbide former [31] that promotes the pearlite formation.
Table 2 shows the shape factor (nodularity), number,
average diameter and volume of graphite nodules for the
different alloys.
As can be seen in Table 2, the graphite nodule
characteristics are not considerably affected by the Cr
addition and only a slight decrease in the graphite volume
content is observed. This decrease in the graphite content
can be explained by the fact that during cooling carbon
migrates to the nodules due the decrease in carbon
solubility of austenite slightly. This increases the graphite
volume content and leading to the ferrite formation in the
carbon impoverished areas around the nodules which gives
3
Ni Cu Mg S P CE*
0.02 0.46 0.07 0.01 0.03 4.17
0.03 0.48 0.06 0.03 0.03 4.20
0.02 0.45 0.06 0.01 0.02 4.15
rise to the structure known as bull’s eye. In the case of the
Cr added irons this effect is reduced due to the Cr capacity
to decrease the carbon diffusivity in austenite [32] and the
carbon diffusion to the nodules which also increases the
pearlite volume content due to the high C–Cr affinity.
Therefore, as shown in Table 2, the 0.4%Cr addition
produces a decrease of the graphite volume content from
10.6 to 8.6% while the pearlite content increases from 37.4
to 45.7%. This effect has also been reported for vermicular
irons [33] where a 0.75%Cr addition causes the complete
pearlitization of the matrix.
3.2 Microstructure after homogenization and
quenching
As long as the negative effects of Cr additions are
attributed to segregation a long homogenization process
was applied to analyze the Cr effect during the subsequent
austempering process and compare with the non-homoge-
nized irons. Segregation contributes to the shortening of
the processing window delaying the transformation from
austenite to ausferrite (stage I g! gr + a) and at the
same time accelerates the second stage of the reaction
(gr!a + (Fe3C) bainitic reaction) due to the formation of
microscopic carbides at high segregation zones. This
negative effect has been observed with high amounts of
manganese [15,18,34] and molybdenum [17], nevertheless,
alloying elements additions are necessary to improve
hardenability and in some cases these elements can also
be present in the steel scrap from the metal charge as
residual elements. Figure 2 shows the microstructure of the
three alloys after homogenization and quenching.
As can be seen in Figure 2, the microstructure of the
three alloys is composed by graphite nodules in a
martensitic matrix and there is no evidence of carbides
or other precipitated phases during holding at 1050 °C.
However, by comparing the microstructures, a thickening
of the martensite is observed with the increase in Cr. This is
attributed to the Cr capacity to increase the hardenability
[35]. A morphology transition from lath to lenticular is also
seen which is related to the decrease in the martensite start
temperature (Ms). This effect has been reported by
different researchers [36,37].
3.3 Microstructure of non-homogenized ADIs
Figure 3 shows a sequence of micrographs of the non-
homogenized irons austenized at 1000 °C for 40 minutes
and austempered for 10, 60 and 120 minutes. The first,
second and third columns corresponds to the 0%Cr iron, 0.2
and 0.4%Cr irons, respectively.
4 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Table 2. Summary of graphite nodules characteristics and phase quantification.
Iron alloy Nodularity Number of Average
nod/mm2 diameter (m)
A (no Cr) 90 327 21
B (0.2%Cr) 92 341 18
C (0.4%Cr) 87 351 20
Fig. 2. Microstructure of the ductile iron castings after
homogenization and quenching. a: 0 wt.%Cr; b: 0.2 wt.%Cr; c:
0.4 wt.%Cr.
By comparing the a, d and g micrographs of Figure 3, it
can be seen that at 10 minutes of austempering the increase
in Cr addition decreases the rate of transformation to
ausferrite and higher amounts of martensite are observed
which is attributed to the Cr capability to increase the
hardenability and decrease the carbon diffusivity. Like-
wise, it is well known that Cr is a highly segregating
element in ductile iron [23,24,38], segregation delays the
ausferritric transformation and increases the amount of
unstable austenite which transforms to martensite during
the subsequent cooling reducing the OPW and impact
properties [16–18,24,39].
As holding time increases, the transformation to
ausferrite proceeds decreasing the martensite content. In
the case of the base alloy an almost complete transforma-
tion was observed for 30 minutes of austempering. On the
other hand for the Cr added irons some martensite and
unreacted zones were still present for times up to
45 minutes. At 60 minutes of austempering, a fully
ausferritic matrix is observed in the three alloys (see Figs.
3b, 3e and 3h) however, a slight decrease in the retained
austenite areas is observed with the increase in Cr content.
It also can be seen that as the Cr addition increases the
retained austenite areas become more isolated. This is
attributed to Cr segregation effects which lead to different
rates of transformation during austempering depending on
the local concentration of elements.
For austempering times longer than 60 minutes the
microstructures do not show significant changes but as
Volume of Volume of Volume of
graphite (%) ferrite (%) pearlite (%)
10.6 52 37.4
9.2 49.1 41.7
8.6 45.7 45.7
mentioned before, if the holding time during austempering
exceeds the OPW length, the bainitic transformation takes
place. Figures 3c, 3f and 3i show the microstructure after
120 minutes of austempering, but due to the difficulty to
distinguish bainite by optical microscopy only a fully
transformed matrix is observed. However, it is well known
that Cr is a strong carbide former [32,40,41] which can
enhance the bainitic transformation due to its great affinity
to carbon and reduce the OPW. Therefore, as seen later;
the decrease in retained austenite volume fraction and
elongation as well as the increase in tensile strength and
hardness are clear indicatives of the beginning of the
bainitic reaction at this stage in the Cr added ADIs.
3.4 Microstructure of homogenized ADIs
Figure 4 shows the microstructure of the homogenized
irons for the different Cr contents austempered for 10, 60
and 120 minutes, respectively. The effect of the homogeni-
zation heat treatment onto the microstructure of the
experimental ADIs can be clearly in this sequence of
micrographs and by comparing with sequence of micro-
graphs shown in Figure 3 for the non-homogenized ADIs.
By analyzing the differences between Figures 3 and 4, it
can clearly be seen that the homogenization heat treatment
increases the rate of transformation to ausferrite reducing
the amount of martensite formed for short periods of
austempering. In the chromium added irons a slight delay
in the ausferritic transformation is observed which is
attributed to the decrease in carbon diffusivity that
increases the time required to saturate austenite with
carbon to be stable.
After 60 minutes of exposure time, a fully transformed
microstructure is obtained similarly to non-homogenized
irons, however in this case, a more uniform transformed
microstructure is observed and the differences become
more evident as the Cr content is increased. It also can be
seen that Cr addition produces a refining effect which is
attributed to its capability of decrease the carbon
diffusivity in austenite.
For austempering times longer than 60 minutes the
microstructure does not show significant changes with
the increase in holding time. Figures 4c, 4f and 4i show the
microstructure after 120 minutes of austempering where
only a slight reduction of the austenite content due to the
growth of the acicular ferrite plates and is observed. By
comparing with the non-homogenized irons, the difference in
the homogeneity of the microstructure at this time stage is
noticeable.
Based in the metallographic observations, a faster and
more uniform transformation occurs as a result of a better
element distribution after homogenization. The reduction
 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Fig. 3. Sequence of micrographs of the non-homogenized austempered irons. a–c: 0%Cr; d–f: 0.2%Cr; g–i: 0.4%Cr, austempered for 10,
60 and 120 minutes, respectively.
in the rate of transformation with the increase in the Cr
addition is still noticeable and it is attributed to the
decrease in carbon diffusivity, increasing the time required
to saturate austenite with carbon to be stable. The increase
in acicular ferrite also suggests that Cr reduces the stability
of austenite requiring a higher carbon content to be stable.
The above observations will be supported by the results
of retained austenite quantification, hardness and tensile
properties in the following sections.
3.5 Retained austenite volume fraction, hardness and
tensile properties (non-homogenized)
As mention in the previous section, there is no evidence of
carbide formation in the experimental irons, in agreement
with these observations Figure 5 shows the XRD pattern of
the 0.4%Cr ductile iron austempered for 150 minutes. Even
when at this time stage the bainitic transformation is
expected for this alloy, the small amount of carbide in the
bainite cannot be detected by XRD and only the ferrite and
austenite peaks are identified.
The intensities of these peaks vary with the holding
time of austempering and the integrated areas of these
peaks were used to calculate the retained austenite volume
5
fraction shown in the plot of Figure 6. Where the values
represent the volume fraction calculated from the iron
matrix and the remainder volume may be composed by
ferrite, martensite and/or bainite depending of the
austempering time.
In agreement with the metallographic observations,
for short austempering times only a small amount of
austenite is stabilized which increases the martensite
content due to the unstable austenite transformation
during cooling. This phenomenon has been widely
reported by several researchers [7,9,16] and the results
can be easily correlated with the low elongation and high
hardness values of Figure 7 and the tensile properties of
Figure 8 where the higher values of yield and tensile
strength are observed at this stage in the experimental
ADIs. In Figure 6, it also can be seen that the increase in
Cr content produced a decrease in the rate of transforma-
tion during the stage I of reaction requiring a longer time
to reach a full transformation. In the same way, the
austenite volume fraction is decreased with increasing the
Cr addition. As reported in the literature, Cr is classified
as an a-stabilizer [40] that raises the austenite transfor-
mation temperatures [33] and decreases the austenite
stability, therefore, a higher amount of ferrite needs to be
6 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Fig. 4. Sequence of micrographs of homogenized and austempered ADIs. a–c: 0 wt.%Cr; d–f: 0.2 wt.%Cr; g–i: 0.4 wt.%Cr,
austempered for 10, 60 and 120 minutes, respectively.
Fig. 5. XRD pattern of the 0.4 wt.%Cr ductile iron austempered
for 150 minutes.
formed to provide the austenite with enough carbon to be
stable decreasing the maximum austenite volume fraction
values.
In Figures 7 and 8, it also can be seen that for short
austempering times the increase in Cr addition increases
the hardness and strength values due to the decrease in
austenite stability and the lower volume transformed into
ausferrite producing the extensive martensite formation. In
the case of the 0.4%Cr ADI, a maximum tensile strength of
880 MPa is reached at 5 minutes of austempering which
also corresponds to the higher hardness and lower retained
austenite values observed.
As the holding time in austempering increases,
austenite is stabilized with the carbon from the growing
ferrite plates and suppresses the transformation to
martensite increasing the austenite volume fraction. The
increase in the volume transformed to ausferrite and the
reduction of the martensite content produces a decrease in
hardness, yield and tensile strength while at the same time
improving the elongation due to the increase in austenite
volume fraction.
As can be seen in Figure 6, in the case of the 0.4 wt.%Cr
added iron the maximum austenite volume content
corresponds to the 0.41 of the iron matrix which is reached
after 60 minutes of austempering compared with a 0.44 in
the base iron with the same holding time. This behavior can
 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020) 7

Fig. 6. Austenite volume fraction as a function of austempering

time for the non-homogenized ADIs.
Fig. 7. HRC hardness and elongation as a function of the
be explained by the fact that as long as austenite is austempering time for the non-homogenized ADIs.
stabilized with carbon from the growing ferrite plates and
the austenite stability decreases with the Cr addition, a
higher amount of ferrite formed during austempering is
required to provide to the austenite with enough carbon to
be stable decreasing the maximum austenite volume
content.
In the case of the base iron, the maximum austenite
values are reached between 30 and 150 minutes of
austempering with a difference of less than a 3.4% and
the hardness and tensile properties show no significant
differences during this time range, therefore, according
with the definition of Yazdani and Elliott [13] this period of
time falls into the OPW for this alloy. Previous studies and
others researchers have shown that this period of time can
be extended up to 180 minutes for the base iron.
On the other hand, for the 0.2%Cr iron the maximum
austenite volume contents are reached between 45 and
120 minutes, reducing the OPW to this time range since a
considerable decrease in austenite volume fraction and an Fig. 8. Ultimate tensile strength and yield strength as a function
increase in hardness and strength are observed at of the austempering time for the non-homogenized ADIs.
150 minutes of austempering. A considerable reduction
on length of the OPW is observed in the case of the 0.4%Cr the OPW to longer times and due to the high Cr–C affinity
iron. In Figure 6, it can be seen that austempering times as strong carbide former accelerates the beginning of the
slightly longer than 45 minutes are required to decrease the stage II reaction enhancing the bainitic transformation
unstable austenite volume content to less than 3% which producing a considerable reduction of the OPW length in
determines the end of the stage I (start of OPW) and at the non-homogenized ADIs.
90 minutes of austempering the austenite content decreases
to 91.5% of its maximum value which is close to the end of 3.6 Retained austenite volume fraction, hardness and
the OPW. For austempering times longer than 90 minutes tensile properties (homogenized)
a substantial reduction in austenite content and elongation
is observed accompanied by a slight increase in hardness, Figure 9 shows the results of the austenite volume fraction
yield and tensile strength. As mentioned before, these of the homogenized ADIs. As it can be seen, austenite
results are clear indicators of the bainitic reaction in which volume fractions between 0.36 and 0.4 are reached at only
the high carbon austenite transforms to bainite (a + Fe3C). 5 minutes of austempering which completely agrees with
This effect is attributed to the high Cr–C affinity that can the metallographic observations where an increase in the
promote the bainite formation in the higher Cr concentra- rate of transformation was observed in the three alloys and
tion areas due to segregation during solidification acceler- only a small delay is observed with the increase in Cr.
ating the stage II reaction of austempering. The increase in the austenite content over short periods
From above observations, Cr addition increases the of austempering compared with the non-homogenized
hardenability of the ADI and decreases the rate of ADIs can be explained by the fact that long periods of
transformation to ausferrite displacing the beginning of homogenization develop a complete austenization and a
8 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Fig. 9. Austenite volume fraction as a function of austempering
time for the homogenized ADIs.
uniform carbon distribution, then, the time required to reach
the maximum retained austenite volume fraction is reduced
increasing the austenite stability, these observations agree
with results obtained by other researchers [6,16].
In Figure 9, it also can be seen that the maximum
austenite values reached are close to the obtained without
homogenization. Different researchers have reported that
the maximum retained austenite volume fraction depends
of the carbon content dissolved in austenite [29,42,43],
which in this case is determined by the austenization
temperature therefore, the homogenization heat treatment
do not have influence on the maximum amount of retained
austenite that can be obtained but it modifies the time at
which these values are reached.
As seen in the non-homogenized irons, the maximum
austenite volume content is decreased with the increase in
Cr which was attributed to the decrease in austenite
stability requiring a higher volume of ferrite formed to
provide the austenite with enough carbon to be stable at
room temperature.
An important difference compared with the non-
homogenized ADIs is that in this case, the homogenization
heat treatment suppresses the sudden reduction of the
austenite volume fraction seen in the Cr added ADIs for
holding times longer than 60 minutes. As shown for the
non-homogenized irons and as reported by the literature,
the increase in Cr content accelerates the stage II of the
reaction due to a higher degree of segregation in the
interdendritic regions produced during solidification,
therefore, decreasing the local C–Cr concentration due
to a better element distribution after homogenization
produces a more uniform transformation extending the
OPW for longer periods of time.
Figure 10 shows the hardness and elongation results for
the homogenized irons, where a reduction in the hardness
values is observed compared with the non-homogenized
ADIs and these differences are more evident for short
austempering times. As shown in the austenite quantifica-
tion results and metallographic observations, the increase
in the rate of transformation and the higher austenite
volume fraction obtained at short austempering times
suppresses the extensive formation of martensite which
Fig. 10. HRC hardness and elongation as a function of the
austempering time for the homogenized ADIs.
decreases the hardness and increases the elongation values
extending the OPW for short austempering times
compared with the non-homogenized ADIs.
In the case of the Cr added irons, the decrease in carbon
diffusivity and austenite stability produced an increase in
the martensite content and the consequent hardness
increase for short austempering times with respect to the
base iron. However, these values are still considerably
lower compared with the non-homogenized ADIs.
For austempering times longer than 30 minutes there
are not significant differences in hardness with the increase
in holding time for the three irons but the overall hardness
values are increased with the increase in Cr addition which
is attributed to the finer microstructure obtained and the
Cr capacity to increase the ferrite hardness and strength
[23,44] and no evidence of the bainitic transformation is
observed. In support to these observations Figure 10 shows
that the elongation values are not drastically reduced after
long austempering times conversely to the behavior seen in
the Cr added non homogenized irons.
Figure 11 shows the tensile and yield strength values for
the homogenized ADS and as can be seen, these are
consistent with the austenite volume fraction, hardness
and elongation values shown previously.
It also can be seen that the increase in Cr addition only
produces a slight increase in yield and tensile strength due
to the increase in acicular ferrite but these values do not
show a substantial difference with respect to the
austempering time as shown in the non-homogenized irons
where the increase in hardness, yield and tensile strength
was accompanied by a decrease in elongation and austenite
volume fraction characteristic of the stage II of reaction in
the Cr added irons.
In accordance with different researchers [12,16–18,23,
24,39], Cr like Mn causes segregation to intercellular regions
which modifies the length of the OPW. Based in the results of
the present study, the increase in Cr addition substantially
reduces the length of the OPW by shifting the end and
beginning of the stage I and stage II reactions to longer and
 A. Bedolla-Jacuinde et al.: Metall. Res. Technol. 117, 104 (2020)
Fig. 11. Ultimate tensile strength and yield strength as a
function of the austempering time for the homogenized ADIs.
shorter austempering times respectively. Specifically in the
case of the 0.4%Cr added ADI which corresponds to the
higher Cr content in used the present study, the beginning
and end of the OPW is displaced to austempering times
slightly longer than 45 and 90 minutes, respectively. On
the other hand, homogenization heat treatment increases the
rate of transformation to ausferrite and suppresses the
negative Cr segregation effects, hence, only a slight delay in
the transformation is observed with the increase in Cr
addition as well as a hardening effect due to the increase in
acicular ferrite but no evidence of the bainitic transformation
is observed for holding times up to 150 minutes.
4 Conclusions
Nodularity, number and average diameter of graphite
nodules are not considerably affected by the Cr addition.
Only a small decrease in the graphite volume content with
the increase in Cr addition is observed and at the same time
the as-cast microstructure of the matrix experiences an
increment in pearlite volume content from 37.4% in the
base iron to 45.7% with the 0.4%Cr addition.
After homogenization and quenching the increase in Cr
addition produced a thickening effect on the martensite as
well as the transition from lath to lenticular attributed to
the Cr capacity of increase the hardenability and decrease
the Ms temperature.
The increase in Cr addition produced a delay in the rate
of transformation to ausferrite, retaining a higher amount
of unstable austenite which transforms to martensite under
the subsequent cooling shifting the beginning of the OPW
for later austempering times.
The maximum austenite volume fraction decreases
with the Cr addition due to the decrease in austenite
stability requiring a higher volume of ferrite formed to
provide enough carbon to be stable at room temperature.
The retained austenite quantification, hardness and
tensile properties showed that Cr accelerates the stage II
reaction promoting the formation of bainite and narrowing
the optimum processing window.
9
For the 0.4%Cr ADI the end of the stage I and
beginning of stage II are displaced to austempering times
slight longer than 45 and 90 minutes, respectively.
Yield and tensile strength values increased with Cr
addition due to the Cr capacity of increase the ferrite
strength and reduce the retained austenite volume fraction
increasing the acicular ferrite content.
Homogenization enlarges the OPW by increasing the
rate of transformation to ausferrite and suppressing the
extensive martensite formation for short austempering
times.
A more uniform transformed ausferritic microstructure
is observed with the homogenization heat treatment and
these microstructures are refined with the increase in Cr
addition.
For the homogenized Cr added ADIs only a slightly
delay in the first stage of transformation is produced with
the increase in Cr addition as well as a hardening effect due
to the increase in acicular ferrite and the refinement of the
microstructure.
Homogenization avoids the Cr segregation negative
effect extending the length of the OPW for longer
austempering times since no evidence of the bainitic
transformation was observed for holding times up to
150 minutes.
Acknowledgments. The authors acknowledge the CIC-UMSNH
grant: 019 and CONACyT grant: 057197 for the financial support
and FV. Guerra acknowledges CONACyT for the scholarship
during his postdoctoral stay at the University of Iowa.
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