ABLATION CASTING OF THIN-WALL DUCTILE IRON
E. Heidari, S. M. A. Boutorabi, and M. T. Honaramooz
School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
J. Campbell
School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston B152TT, UK
Copyright Ó 2021 American Foundry Society
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-021-00579-7
Abstract
An unalloyed thin-wall ductile cast iron with the chemical
composition of C = 3%, Si = 4.15%, Mn = 0.36%, Mg =
0.04%, and carbon equivalent of 4.39% was cast by both
conventional and ablation casting in sections of nominal
thickness 1, 2, 4, 8 mm. The effect of various commercial
inoculants (based on Zr, Sr, and Ba) on microstructure and
mechanical properties of the samples was investigated. In
the ablation casting, the mold is eroded away by water, and
the water becomes responsible for the heat transfer from
the casting. In our work, ablative cooling could not be
applied quickly enough to have any influence on the
Introduction
Nowadays, to reduce fuel consumption, lightweight com-
ponents with high strength are needed.1 This means either
using low-density alloys or reducing the thickness of the
component while maintaining its strength.2
Non-ferrous alloys such as aluminum and magnesium are
widely used to reduce the weight of the castings because of
their low density and high fluidity in the liquid state, which
makes them useful for castings with complex geometries.
However, the light alloys have drawbacks, including low
strength and poor corrosion resistance, and are limited to
low-temperature applications. Users, therefore, often favor
lower-cost alloys with higher density, offsetting the higher
density by thinning walls of castings.3 Among the present
low-cost casting alloys, ductile cast iron has exciting
potential. For instance, it can often replace forged steel.3
Received: 08 September 2020 / Accepted: 25 January 2021
International Journal of Metalcasting
microstructure of the 1 mm thick cast section. In the 2-mm-
thick specimen, ablation increased the nodule count from
497 to 1484 and graphite nodularity from 76 to 93%. In the
8 mm section, the tensile yield strength increased from 539
to 624 MPa and elongation was increased from 4.9 to
10.2%.
Keywords: ablation casting, thin-wall casting, ductile iron,
inoculation, tensile properties
Components, having a thickness of 1 to 6 mm have been
defined as thin-walled, although a more general consensus
tends to define less than 3 mm as thin-walled, even though
a thickness lower than 1 mm has been cited on
occasions.3,4
The thickness reduction of cast components naturally leads
to an increase in the solidification rate, leading in ductile
iron to the danger of carbide formation, reduction of the
volume fraction of graphite, and unfilled molds. Funda-
mental casting constraints, therefore, limit the use of dense
alloys, but there are clear benefits to the casting route if
strength can be improved, and if costs can be reduced by
improved processing.
It is noteworthy, therefore, in 2004, Grassi et al.5 invented
a new casting method called ’Ablation Casting’. This
technique was initially developed for light alloys but has
more recently been demonstrated as applicable to steels. In
ablation casting, a sand mold is prepared by routine
methods, but the sand is bonded with a water-soluble
binder. After the pouring of the metal, the mold is quickly
ablated away (a kind of erosion process) by jets of water.6
As the mold disappears, the water jets act directly on the
surface of the solidifying casting, significantly increasing
the rate of heat transfer. This contrasts with conventional
casting in a mold, in which heat transfer is significantly
reduced and controlled by the ’air gap’ between the casting
and mold. The air gap is a universal feature of conventional
casting methods, resulting from both the contraction of the
casting and the expansion of the mold.
Directly under the water jets, the heat of the casting is carried
away in the rapid flow of water. Thus, some parameters like
the water spray intensity and its velocity influence the
effective heat transfer coefficient, which can in principle be
experimentally calculated. In parts of the casting distant
from the immediate impact of the water sprays, the water is
evaporated on the surface of the solidifying specimen
because the temperature is higher than the boiling tempera-
ture of the water. In those regions, therefore, the heat transfer
is controlled by evaporation. These differences can be useful,
allowing temperature gradients in the casting to be manip-
ulated to provide directional feeding toward feeders. The
result can be high feeding efficiency.7,8
By ablation casting, excellent mechanical properties can be
achieved by rather simple facilities and relatively low cost
of production. The ablation process greatly increases the
solidification rate and, as a consequence, enhances the
mechanical properties9. So far, ablation has been applied to
low carbon steel and Al- and Mg-alloys.5,10,11
In this work, ductile iron strips having section thicknesses
1,2,4, and 8 mm were cast by conventional and ablation
casting. Because of the danger of carbide formation in cast
irons when rapidly solidified, it was essential to check the
effect of inoculants. Three commercially available inocu-
lants, containing three different major elements, Zr, Sr, and
Ba, were tested. Studies were carried out of the
microstructure, the volume fraction of phases, mechanical
properties, and fracture surfaces.
Experimental Procedure
In this work, an induction furnace with 500 kg capacity
rammed with silica-based refractory was charged with steel
scrap, low-sulfur oil coke, and ferrosilicon. The final
chemical composition was determined by optical spark
spectroscopy. The sample was taken from the melt.
Table 1. Chemical Composition of the Alloy Sampled from the Melt
Elements C% Si% S%
After spheroidization 3 4.13 0.002
For molding, the silica sand with a grain size of 171 (A.F.S.
grain fineness number) was used. Moreover, for ablation
casting, the soluble binder consisted of 95% sodium
polyphosphate, 3% dexterine, and 2% borax. After mold-
ing, the tip of the R-type thermocouple was placed at half-
height 50 mm along the 4 mm thickness specimen. Ther-
mocouple diameter was 0.2 mm and outer diameter of its
ceramic sheath was 4 mm. The tip of the thermocouple
joined without producing a bead. The exposed wires were
protected with ceramic wash. Data were carried out with
100 reading per seconds
The cast iron was modified by the sandwich method at
approximately 1480 °C. The chemical analysis of the melt,
after spheroidisation, is shown in Table 1. The melt was
ladle inoculated with 0.4% of inoculants at 1381 °C and
poured at 1345 °C. The casting design and chemical
composition of casting elements are shown in Figure 1 and
Table 2 respectively.
To study the microstructure, the samples were metallo-
graphically prepared and etched with 2% nital etchant.
They were examined by optical and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). Due to images extracted from the
optical microscopy images, ImageJ was utilized to char-
acterize properties of the material. To ensecure the data
such as particle size and nodularity, we used optimum
numbers of analysis. Thermal analysis, hardness test, and
tensile properties were measured, and fracture surfaces
were examined by SEM. The tensile samples were carried
out on longitudinal flat specimens cut from middle of the 4
mm thick strips. The test pieces were machined down to 3
mm / were abraded lightly with 4 um SiC paper to create a
smooth and uniform thickness which was measured by
micrometer. For macrohardness and microhardness, Brinell
and Vickers techniques were used. For better results, the
samples were tested 5 times.
Results and Discussion
Thermal Analysis
Figure 2 shows the cooling curves of both 4 mm thick
ablation and conventionally cast specimens inoculated with
the Ba-containing inoculant.
The cooling curves and the first derivative curves of each
specimen were investigated in an effort to extract the
Mg% Mn% C.E.% Fe%
0.04 0.36 4.39 Balance
International Journal of Metalcasting
 Figure 1. A schematic figure of the (a) mold and water jet; (b) position of the thermocouple in 4-mm-
thick specimen.

Table 2. Chemical Composition of Inoculants and Spheroidizers

Elements Si% Al% Ca% Ba% Sr% Zr% Mg% Ce% Fe%

Zirsinoc (Zr inoculant) 47 1.2 2 0 0 1.5 0 0 Balance

Superseed (Sr inoculant) 75 0.5 0.1 0 0.6-1 0.6-1 0 0 Balance
Barinoc (Ba inoculant) 73 1 1.5 2.5 0 0 0 0 Balance
Ferrosilico magnesium 46 0 1\ 0 0 0 5.5 1\ Balance

Figure 2. The cooling curve of the 4-mm specimens in both ablation and
conventional casting.

critical solidification parameters such as cooling rate, ini-
tiation and end times of solidification, and nucleation times
of graphite, austenite, and eutectic phases. However, it was
found the cooling rates were severely influenced by vari-
ations in the rate of cooling by the powerful cooling effect
of the water jets. Thus, reliable and repeatable cooling
curves were not found to be achievable with the 4 mm
casting section. A better result might have been achieved
for the 8 mm section, but in view of the potentially over-
powering influence of fluctuations in the water cooling, this
was not pursued.
For ablation casting, after pouring the liquid metal, it is
sometimes appropriate for a short delay before the appli-
cation of the ablating water. This allows time for the
initiation of some solidification before ablating away the
mold. This time effectively reduces the average solidifi-
cation rate. However, when the water reaches the sample,
the instantaneous cooling rate jumps to approximately 12
°C/s. Figure 3 illustrates the difference in the average
cooling rate.
Cooling rate was determined by dividing the temperature
of nucleation of graphite at hypereutectic temperature
down to nucleation of eutectic reaction to time interval of
this period. Grassi and Campbell et al.11 found out that in
ablation casting, the cooling rate of their aluminum alloy
down to 400 °C was between 2.8 and 5 °C/s. They attrib-
uted the enhancement of cooling rate in ablation casting to
the removal of the ’air gap.’

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 Figure 3. Comparison of the cooling rate: (a) cooling time, and (b) average cooling rate.
Microstructure
Microstructures in Both Conditions
The two main aspects of the microstructure which were
studied were (i) possible formation of inter-cellular car-
bides12 as a result of the segregation of elements like Cr,
Mn, and P in the matrix; and (ii) the size, nodularity, and
number of graphite nodules.
Figure 4 shows the microstructures of the range of thin
walls. Nodule count clearly appears to be increased by
increasing cooling rate from both (i) reduced thickness and
(ii) the ablation process. The most dramatic changes were
observed in the sample inoculated by the Ba-containing
inoculant and are therefore presented here.
Figure 5 illustrates the microstructural changes of the
specimens concerning specimen thickness, in all of the
casting methods. It was found that for all casting conditions,
by decreasing thickness, nodularity and carbide phases
increase while pearlite, ferrite, and graphite decrease.
These results match with numerous earlier studies. Cho et al.
found out that reducing the thickness of the inoculated spec-
imens leads to decreasing ferrite and increasing carbides13.
Volume Fraction of Graphite and Nodule Count
Figure 6 reveals the nodule count of the ablated and con-
ventional castings with different thicknesses. Not surpris-
ingly, the 1 mm section typically solidified before the water
jets could arrive, and so has solidified conventionally.
However, if by some means, ablation could be applied
more quickly, a modest extrapolation of the curves indi-
cates that extremely high nodule counts would then be
expected, perhaps exceeding 2000 per mm2.
Figure 6 illustrates the impressive response of nodule count
to the combined effects of ablation reinforced by good
inoculation.
The higher nodule count is most likely the result of the
increased number of nuclei activated by undercooling,
assuming a nucleation and growth model for nodule for-
mation. Adding to this effect is also, of course, the reduced
time available for both growth and coarsening of nodules.14
The highest nodule count of 1470 nodule/mm2 in the 2 mm
section is achieved by combining ablation casting with the
Ba-containing inoculant.
The reason for the Ba-containing inoculant having the most
influence on improving nodule count seems likely to be
associated with its content of 2.5 wt.% Ba.
We can speculate that barium sulfides may be formed and
may act as preferred sites for the nucleation of nodules.15
Nodularity
The mechanical properties of thin-wall ductile cast iron,
especially strength and toughness, are directly related to
the nodularity and nodule count.16
Figure 7 presents nodularity data, showing the powerful
mutual reinforcement of the effects of inoculation together
with ablation in thinner sections. The highest nodularity of
the 8, 4, and 2 mm ablation castings inoculated with the
Ba-containing inoculant is 84, 91, and 96%, respectively.
Once again, the 1 mm section has escaped ablation treat-
ment, but the short extrapolations of the curves show that at
least for the Ba-containing inoculant, 100% nodularity may
be possible for sections close to 1 mm if ablation can be
applied sufficiently quickly.
International Journal of Metalcasting
 Figure 4. Unetched microstructures of castings inoculated with the Ba-containing inoculant.

Figure 8 shows the unetched microstructures of the un-
inoculated and Ba-inoculated castings for 4 mm in both
casting conditions.
Conventional received wisdom would consider nodularity
to be important because high nodularity is thought to
indicate that stress concentration sites in the graphite–fer-
rite interface have been removed so that the strength and
ductility both benefit. The results of Alghanmi et al. on the
effect of nodularity on the strength of the ductile iron are
typical of those quoted to support this claim.17

International Journal of Metalcasting

 Figure 5. The optical microstructure of the etched samples inoculated with the Ba-containing
inoculant.

In terms of the new concepts involving the presence of
bifilms in suspension in the liquid iron, the bifilm is a
favored substrate for the growth of graphite.18 If, therefore,
a growing nodule contacts a bifilm, its growth is likely to
change from spherical advance to a linear (or rather,
planar) advance along the surface of the bifilm. The spread
of the graphite over its surface straightens or flattens the
bifilm, converting it from a fairly harmless convoluted,
compact inclusion into the semblance of an engineering
crack. The presence of invisible bifilms is indicated by a

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Figure 6. Nodule count as a function of section thick-
ness, inoculant, and ablation.
Figure 7. Nodularity as a function of section thickness,
inoculant, and ablation.
lack of nodularity, and the presence of the bifilms is
responsible for the associated loss of properties.7
The loss of nodularity with increase in section size shown
in Figure 7 is the result of the evolution of the structure of
the bifilms. Immediately following pouring the bifilms are
Figure 8. Optical microstructure of the 4-mm specimens which were inoculated with the Ba-
containing inoculant: (a) ablation, (b) conventional.
International Journal of Metalcasting
raveled into compact, convoluted forms by turbulence in
the liquid. The liquid is fairly free from bifilms therefore as
a result of their compact form. However, once turbulence is
over, and the liquid becomes relatively still, the bifilms
now slowly open, a fold at a time, usually taking a minute
or more to straighten out to their original full area. Some of
the driving force for straightening comes from the precip-
itation of gases such as hydrogen or carbon monoxide in
the bifilm, tending to inflate it. Shrinkage expands the
volume of the bifilm in a similar way, but sucking from the
outside as a result of the falling pressure driven by
shrinkage, rather than pressurizing from the inside as a
result of gas pressure. Contact with nodules can also
straighten the bifilm because the growth of the graphite
nodule now prefers to take place by lengthwise extension
over the bifilm’s outer surface, nodule growth now trans-
formed to graphite flake growth. The nodule has now
become mis-shapen, and nodularity and properties have
fallen.
(As an aside, although the metallurgist could report that the
bifilm has much to answer for, the founder can take com-
fort that he can eliminate the bifilms by good casting
practice.)
Nodule Average Diameter
Figure 9 reveals nodule size distribution in conventional
and ablation cast specimens. The nodule size is reduced
with casting thickness, good inoculation, and ablation. It is
interesting to note the relative contributions of each factor
can be discerned with careful study, but the important and
clear result is that all three factors are important, and all are
additive.
It is interesting to note that the nodule size has reduced
uniformly (not crowded near the cast surface, for instance,
where cooling might be assumed to be highest), and
inoculation further reduces size but also has a strong effect
on nodularity. Overall, the result is an excellently uniform
microstructure.
 nodule as the local carbon sink is a relatively short diffu-
sion distance creating the ferrite shell. However, in regions
further from the nodule, the high level of retained carbon in
the matrix encourages the formation of pearlite.

The shell structure is renowned for its excellent properties.

These seem to be the result of the favorable combination of
the soft ferrite around the nodules and the surrounding
framework of strong pearlite.18,19

Mechanical Properties

Tensile Properties
Figure 9. Mean diameter of nodules in all conditions.
The tensile test data are shown in Figures 11, 12.
Matrix Phases
Ablation is clearly useful for tensile properties, increasing
both strength and toughness. However, interestingly, of all
Figure 10 shows two types of ferrites. First, a ferrite shell
the inoculants, the Ba containing variety performs best,
surrounding the nodule, and second as a ’free’ or inter-
especially when used in conjunction with ablation. These
dendritic phase. Clearly, in ablation castings, the ferrite
findings apply to both the 4 and 8 mm thick sections.
around the graphite is the dominant phase, generally
Table 3 summarizes the differences between conventional
resulting in higher elongation after fracture but lower
and ablated 4 mm thick castings.
strength.19 In conventional casting, interdendritic ferrite,
pearlite, and carbide are the dominant phases. In addition,
According to small size of the shells in microstructure all
at the lower cooling rate, carbon has more time to diffuse
indents necessarily positioned exactly on each phase, so
out of the austenite, forming more graphite.20
each indent would not influence nearby phases. Therefore
applied Hv 0.05 for 15s on surface of each specimen. An
The shell microstructure of ferrite halos in a pearlite matrix
essential factor improving the mechanical properties is the
is created by the higher cooling rate. The reduced time for
formation of shell microstructure. As has been shown in
the general diffusion of carbon out of the matrix to the

Figure 10. The optical image and SEM micrograph of 4-mm specimen which is inoculated by the Ba-
containing inoculant in: (a), (c) ablation and (b), (d) conventional condition.

International Journal of Metalcasting

 Figure 11. Tensile properties of 4-mm-thick specimen.

Figure 12. Tensile properties of 8-mm-thick specimen.

many studies, this microstructure leads typically to 36%
enhancement in tensile properties in specimens over those
structures which have the same kind and number of nod-
ules but have free-ferrite microstructure.19 Additionally, a
reduction in ferrite hardness (see Table 3) favors elonga-
tion, as confirmed by Al-ghonamy et al.17
Another parameter affecting the mechanical properties is
fine pearlite. Finer pearlite enjoys the benefit of enhanced
constraint between its layered phases so that dislocation
movement is limited, and strength is raised.
In general, it is well known that the refinement of the
SDAS (secondary dendrite arm spacing) of cast alloys

International Journal of Metalcasting

Table 3. Comparison of the Properties in 4-mm-thick Specimen Conventional and Ablation Casting Methods
Employing the Ba-containing Inoculant Throughout

Conventional Ablation

Cooling rate (°C/sec) 3.21 9.32

Solidification time (s) 64 21
Solidification range (°C) 243 228
Number of spherical graphite (nod/mm-2) 410 1050
Nodularity (%) 73 91
Ferrite (%) 23 (free) 45 (shell ferrite)
Pearlite (%) 68 55
Pearlite spacing center Thick Thin
Pearlite hardness (HV0.05) 336±9 386±9
Ferrite hardness (HV0.05) 290±8 (free) 215±8 (shell)
SDASa (lm) 12.1 7.9
Phases Coarse pearlite, interdendritic ferrite, carbide Fine pearlite, shell ferrite
a
Secondary dendrite arm spacing

increases strength. In this study, taking the 4-mm- thick
specimen as a single example, ablation has reduced the
SDAS from 12.1 to 7.9 lm. for each specimens, SDAS
measured for 6 times.
Fractography
sharp knife edges demonstrate the extreme ductility of the
matrix, which has, microscopically, necked down perfectly
to 100% R.A. (reduction in area).
Figure 13a contrasts with the slower freezing conditions of
the conventional casting shown in Figure 13b. This unique
structure is appraised in detail in the Discussion.

The fracture surfaces of the tensile samples are examined
by SEM.
In Figure 13a, the ductile dimple pattern is typical of
ductile failure in an alloy with a population of decohering
or fracturing phases. It seems the nodules decohere from
the matrix, so with the continuing strain, the matrix
between nodules subsequently neck down, shearing on
45-degree maximum shear planes. The planes shuffle to
form steep slopes, terminating in knife-edge arets where
they meet the shear slope from the neighboring nodule. The
Figure 14 shows the decohesion of some nodules during the
fracture process. It is assumed that those that are not
completely detached and lost will still be present on the
opposite half of the fracture21,22.
Hardness
Figure 15 reveals the Brinell hardness of the Ba-inoculated
specimen. The hardness has not changed in 1-mm-thick
specimens representing ablation cast specimens.

Figure 13. The fracture surface of 4-mm specimen which is inoculated by the Ba-
containing inoculant in: (a) ablation and (b) conventional freezing.

International Journal of Metalcasting


Figure 14. Fracture surface showing ferrite shells
devoid of their incumbent nodules (Ba-inoculated and
ablated 4-mm specimen).
Figure 15. Brinell hardness of conventional and ablation
cast specimen.
The precipitous fall of hardness as thickness increases
appears to be the result of the reduction in carbides18. It is
interesting how ablation is only partly able to arrest this
dramatic fall: There are clear limitations to how rapidly
heat can flow in ferrous alloys.
Discussion
It is worth giving at least some cursory consideration to the
expected population of bifilms in the experimental iron
from the start. The reader’s patience is requested for what
might appear to be a temporary diversion, but it is hoped it
will provide better clarity of the factors raised in this study.
International Journal of Metalcasting
Turning first to think of gray cast irons, flake iron melts need
their bifilm population, formed of folded-over SiO2, because
during solidification, graphite precipitates on the bifilms,
encouraging the bifilms to become rather flat. However, if
magnesium is added, the SiO2 bifilms are immediately
destroyed, the silica being reduced to silica, which enters
solution in the iron, and MgO, which forms the basis of nuclei
(together with other impurities, notably sulfur) for spherical
growth. Gray iron owes its brittleness to its population of
bifilms as cracks. Conversely, ductile iron owns its ductility to
a clean matrix free from bifilms. (The nodules have little
contribution.) Unfortunately, however, if the ductile iron is
stirred vigorously and/or poured badly, it can reap a whole
new crop of bifilms, this time from the Mg-rich oxide film on
the surface of the liquid.18 There is evidence that this new
population of bifilms is present in this work.
The fact that the nodularity is not 100% is a signal that
bifilms are likely to be present. Interestingly, it seems
probable that it is not the lack of nodularity which is the
cause of degraded properties; the mis-shaped nodules are
tiny and irrelevant. It is the fact that they signal the pres-
ence of bifilms which are usually extensive, invisible
cracks; highly injurious to mechanical properties.18
However, there is more evidence in the fracture surfaces.
Figure 13b from an unablated casting shows almost com-
plete coverage of quasi-cleavage fracture. To the authors’
knowledge, no-one seems ever to have explained quasi-
cleavage morphology in any logical way. One of the authors
surmizes that quasi-cleavage seems to be the fracture surface
exhibited by fracture through bifilms. The fracture path
preferentially follows the unbonded interface between the
double layers of the bifilm. In the normal, slower, cooling
conditions, the bifilms have had time to straighten out,
greatly facilitating the progress of the fracture.
Minute amounts of hydrogen gas, or slight shrinkage
conditions (the castings are not fed), together with some
dendrite pushing, all contribute to the straightening pro-
cesses of bifilms.18
However, the quantity of bifilms revealed by Figure 13b is
sobering. In view of this, the research team has decided to
review its melting and casting techniques in an effort to
achieve lower bifilm contents in the future, with a view to
improving the strength and toughness of their cast products.
In complete contrast, Figure 13a from an ablated sample
demonstrates that its matrix is rather free from bifilms, as
evidenced by the knife-edge arets, which can only achieve
such perfection of 100% R.A. if the matrix is relatively
defect-free. It seems likely that the bifilms have been
cleared from the structure by the ablation process. Bifilms
will be expected to be pushed ahead of the advancing
solidification front. This process will be unusually effective
because the structure of the front as a dense, planar array of
dendrite tips is a result of the extremely steep temperature
gradients provided by ablation. The direction of pushing
might lead to bifilms being crammed against a face of the
casting, leaving the central matrix clean. Alternatively,
bifilms may be pushed longitudinally along the casting.
Lengthwise segregation may explain how two similarly
ablated samples display apparently opposite results. Fig-
ure 13a appears to be relatively free from bifilms. The
reason may be that some ablation conditions may be
especially useful in segregating bifilms. It seems possible
that regions of the casting at the start of ablative cooling
may be cleared of bifilms, whereas later regions will
experience the arrival of new populations, concentrated by
being pushed ahead of the advancing front. These specu-
lations require to be tested in future work.
Conclusions
The ablation process can be applied to ductile iron castings
with significant benefits to structure and strength. The effects
of reducing section thickness, good inoculation, and water
cooling are all additive. Over the range from 8 down to 2 mm
thickness, no problems were uncovered. However, the 1 mm
section thickness froze quicker than ablation could be applied
in this work. If ablation could be applied sufficiently quickly
to the 1 mm section, even higher properties are predicted.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Iran University of
Science and Technology .The authors would like to
thank Yeganeh Esmaeili from the Iran University of
Science and Technology for her valuable contributions
for casting process and microstructure and mechanical
analysis. (yeganehesmaili22@gmail.com)
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