LESSON 9

CAST IRONS
 Sub CP Mata Kuliah
 Mahasiswa mampu menjelaskan jenis-jenis besi cor
(cast iron)

Indikator Sub CP Mata Kuliah

 Ketepatan menjelaskan jenis-jenis besi cor: white
cast iron, gray cast iron, ductile cast iron, compacted
graphite cast iron, malleable cast iron.
 Materi Pembelajaran:
 Jenis-jenis besi cor: white cast iron, gray cast iron,
ductile cast iron, compacted graphite cast iron,
malleable cast iron.
OVERVIEW

Cast irons primarily are iron alloys that contain between 2% and 6.67%
carbon and from 1% to 3% silicon.

Wide variations in properties can be achieved by varying the balance

between carbon and silicon, by alloying with various metallic elements,
and by varying melting, casting, and heat treating practices.

The ductility of cast iron is very low, and it cannot be rolled, drawn,
or worked at room temperature.

Most of the cast irons are not malleable at any temperature.

However, they melt readily and can be cast into complicated shapes
which are usually machined to final dimensions.

Since casting is the only suitable process applied to these alloys,

they are known as cast iron.
OVERVIEW

The best method of classifying cast iron is according to metallographic

structure.

The five types of commercial cast iron are gray, ductile, malleable,
compacted graphite, and white iron.

With the exception of a white cast iron, all cast irons have in common a micro-
structure that consists of graphite phase in a matrix that may be ferritic, pearlitic,
bainitic, tempered martensitic, or combinations thereof.
WHITE CAST IRONS

White iron is formed when the carbon in solution in the molten iron does not
form graphite on solidification but remains combined with the iron, often in
the form of massive carbides.

White cast irons are hard and brittle and produce white, crystalline fracture
surface.

White cast irons have high compressive strength and good retention of
strength and hardness at elevated temperature, but they are most often
used for their excellent resistance to wear and abrasion.

The massive carbides in the microstructure are chiefly responsible for

these properties.
WHITE CAST IRONS
GRAY CAST IRONS

When the composition of the iron and the cooling rate at solidification are
suitable, a substantial portion of the carbon content separates out of the
liquid to form graphite flakes.

When a piece of the solidified alloy is broken, the fracture path follows the
graphite flakes, and the fracture surfaces appear gray because of the
predominance of exposed graphite.

Gray cast iron has several unique properties that are derived from the
existence of flake graphite in the microstructure.

Gray iron can be machined easily at hardnesses conducive to good wear

resistance.

It has outstanding properties for applications involving vibrational damping

or moderate thermal shock.
GRAY CAST IRONS
DUCTILE CAST IRONS

Ductile iron, which is also known as nodular iron or spheroidal graphite cast
iron, is very similar to gray iron in composition, but during casting of ductile
iron the graphite is caused to nucleate as spherical particles, or spherulites,
rather than as flakes.

This is accomplished through the addition of a very small but definite amount
of magnesium and/or cerium to the molten iron in a process step called
nodulizing.

Ductile iron is produced from the same types of raw material as gray iron,
but usually requires slightly higher purity, especially in regard to sulfur. Casting
properties of ductile iron, such as fluidity, are comparable to those of gray iron.

The chief advantage of ductile iron over gray iron is its combination of high
strength and ductility — up to 18% minimum elongation for ferritic ductile iron
with a tensile strength of 415 MPa (60 ksi) as opposed to only about 0.6%
elongation for a gray iron of comparable strength.
DUCTILE CAST IRONS
COMPACTED GRAPHITE CAST IRONS

Compacted graphite (CG) cast iron, also known as vermicular graphite

cast iron, is characterized by graphite that is interconnected within eutectic
cells as is the flake graphite in gray iron.
COMPACTED GRAPHITE CAST IRONS

Compared with the graphite in gray iron, however, the graphite in CG iron is
coarser and more rounded.

The structure can be considered intermediate between those of gray iron and
ductile iron.

Individual properties can also be considered intermediate between those of gray

and ductile irons, but the unique combinations of properties obtainable in CG
irons make them superior to either gray or ductile iron in applications such
as disc-brake rotors and diesel-engine heads.
COMPACTED GRAPHITE CAST IRONS

Compacted graphite cast iron can be obtained by very carefully controlling the
amount of magnesium added as an inoculant in a process very similar to the
process used to make ductile iron.

Current commercial production of CG iron is accomplished by inoculation

with magnesium to give a residual content of 50 to 600 ppm in the presence of
0.15 to 0.5% titanium and 10 to 150 ppm of rare earths, such as cerium.

In effect, the process is one in which the nodulizing reaction due to the addition
of magnesium is poisoned by the presence of a controlled amount of titanium,
and in which cerium is added to eliminate a need to control sulfur at a low
concentration.
MALLEABLE CAST IRONS
Malleable iron is a type of cast iron that has most of its carbon in the form of
irregularly shaped graphite nodules instead of flakes, as in gray cast iron, or
small graphite spherulites, as in ductile cast iron.
MALLEABLE CAST IRONS

This form of graphite is produced by the heat treatment of white cast iron,
which does not contain graphite, but does contain a high percentage of
cementite.

When a white cast iron is heated for an extended period of time (about 60
h) at a temperature of 960 °C, the cementite decomposes into austenite
and graphite.

By slow cooling from 960°C, the austenite transforms into ferrite or pearlite,
depending on the cooling rate and the diffusion rate of carbon.

The ductility and toughness of malleable iron falls between that of ductile cast
iron and gray cast iron.

Because white iron can only be produced in cast sections up to about 100 mm
thick, malleable iron is limited in section size.

In recent years, malleable irons have been replaced by the more economically
processed ductile irons for many applications.