Material for May 7th 2010

Welding of Cast Irons

Dr. Jippei Suzuki

I think (or condent) that the cast iron should not be welded, because it is the material for castings. The weldability of the cast iron is very poor, because its carbon content is very high.

Fig.K1
Fig.K1 is Fe-C system dual equilibrium diagram, which demonstrates two states. In iron matrix, carbon exists in two types of state; one is Fe3 C and another is graphite. The Fe3 C is the compound of Fe and C, of which the carbon concentration is 6.67mass% and graphite is 100mass%C (free carbon), of which the crystalline structure is hexagonal. The state of Fe3 C is meta-stable and that of graphite is truely stable. Therefore, there are two phase diagrams, one is Fe-Fe3 C system (broken curve) and Fe-graphite system (solid curve). Some curves and a line is only solid, because the graphote dose not exists. Usually, the steels remain in the mata-stable state, because the barrier from Fe3 C to graphite is very high. The Fe-C alloy containing carbon of 2.14 6.67mass% (red arrow in Fig.K1)). There are some types cast irons according to the stability of Fe-Fe3 C/graphite.

Fig.K2 White cast iron (white pig iron)

Carbon exists in the form of Fe-Fe3 C. Therefore, a large amoint of Fe-Fe3 C decreases the toughness of the material remarkably.

Mottled cast iron

Mottled cast iron is the mixture of white cast iron and gray cast iron.

Gray cast iron

Graphite particles in gray cast iron. Gray cast irons are divided according to the microstructure of matrix; 1) pearlite, 2) ferrite/pearlite and 3) ferrite gray cast iron. In pearlite and ferrite/pearlite cast irons, Fe-Fe3 C exists in pearlite in the matrix. Graphite becomes stable with increasing the cabon and silicon contents, and with slow cooling rate. Therefore, mata-stable Fe-Fe3 C is produced in the thin cross-section of the castings.

Fig.K3
The eect of silicon is evaluated by the carbon equivalent; C.E. or the carbon saturation; Sc .

C.E. = T.C. +

1 (%Si + %P) 3

T.C. : carbon content

Silicon has the similar inuence as carbon for stabilization of graphite. Therefore, the carbon equivalent is calculated from carbon and silicon contents. Phosphrus has the same action as silicon.

Sc =

T.C. 4.3 0.3 %Si

The carbon content of eutectic point in Fe-C system is 4.32mass%. This point is shifted by addition of silicon. The Sc expresses the position of the cast iron against the eutectic point. That is, it is hypo eutectic when SC < 1, eutectic when SC 1 and hyper eutectic when SC > 1.

Fig.K4
Fig.K4 is Maurer structural diagram. In this case, the cast iron is heated to 1400 , and then cast into the dry sand mold of 75mm in diameter. The microstructure chabges from meta-stable to stable state with increasing carbon and silicon contents.

Fig.K5
Fig.K5 is Greiner-Klingenstein diagram. The microstructure changes from meta stable(white cast iron) to stable (ferrite+graphite) with incresing the thickness, because the cooling rate become slow.

Fig.K6
Cast irons are classied according to some methods.

By luster of fracture surface Gray cast iron graphite ake, White cast iron ledeburite+primary Fe3C or austenite, Mottled cast iron By Morphology of graphite A. Flake graphite, B. Lump graphite, C. Spheroidal graphite By compositions Low carbon cast iron, High carbon cast iron, High silicon cast iron, Alloy cast iron By the microstructure of matrix Ferrite cast iron, Pearlite cast iron, Austenite cast iron, Bainite cast iron(acicular cast iron) By mechnical properties Normal cast iron(lower 300MPa), Tough cast iron(over 300MPa)

 Fig.K7
Fig.K7 shows the morphology of ake graphite. Usually, the graphite in gray casy iron is shown in gure A.

Fig.K8
Spheroidal graphite is formed by adding cesium (Ce) or magnesium (or magnesium ally). Flake graphite changes spherical shape. By the change in shape of graphite, the toughness is improved and the forging can be applied. It is called as ductile cast iron.

Fig.K9
Malleable cast iron is made from white cast iron by heat treatment. The heat treatment for making black heart malleable cast iron is devided into two steps. In the rst step, the cementite in ledebrite is decomposed to lump graphite, and the cementite in pearlite is done during the second step. If without the second step, the pearlitic malleable cast iron can be made.

Fig.K10
White heart malleable cast iron is also made from white cast iron. The product made from white cast iron is heated in 900 1000 for long time with oxidant or oxide. The surface of the casting is decarburized and the microstructure is ferrite. Interior portion of the casting, cementite is decomposed to graphite.

Table K1
Generally it is dicult for cast iron to be welded because of its high carbon content and low ductility. When the cast iron is melted and cooled rapidly, graphite is decomposed into molten iron and large amount of cementite is formed during cooling process. That is, all cast iron change to brittle white cast iron by rapid cooling. Next, in the case of repairing the casting, oil remains in a gap between graphite and matrix. Since this oil disturbs the welding, we should burn the surface of casting before welding. The ductility of cast iron is very poor. Thus, it is easy to occur the crack due to welding thermal stress. Two methods are useful to prevent the cracl; peening and pre-heating. Table K1 shows the weldability of cast irons.

Fig.K11
There are two ideas to weld the cast iron. One is the method with small heat input to reduce the thermal stress. Another is the method with the preheating at high temperature and the very slow cooling. In either event, the welding of cast iron is dicult.