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Inoculation of Cast Irons Practice and Developments Jan 08 Web
Inoculation of Cast Irons Practice and Developments Jan 08 Web
Fig. 1. Effect of inoculation on eutectic cell size and chill depth in wedge samples
(schematic). (a) before inoculation (b) immediately after inoculation (c) fading due
to holding time after inoculation before pouring(2)
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Technical Paper
Inoculant materials
Foundries are often confused by the extensive range of
both inoculants and nodularising agents that are available
from the ferroalloy producers. Examples of some typical
compositions are listed in Table 1. Most inoculants are
based on ferrosilicons containing about 70-75% Silicon, or
on ferrosilicon - graphite mixtures. In flake irons the normal
levels of inoculant ladle addition raise the silicon content
by about 0.2%, whereas in ductile irons larger additions
are used, raising Si level by around 0.5%. Inoculant grades
containing around 45-50% Si are also used where pick up of
Si must be limited. Research into understanding the effects
of inoculation, and into the development of more potent
ferrosilicon compositions, has been continuing since the
early 1960s. Important observations from some of this
work (4-10) can be summarised as follows:
The effect of silicon on eutectic graphite nucleation and
chill reduction is much more marked if the silicon is added
as an inoculant than if it were just added to the furnace
charge.
The relationship between graphite nucleation and chill
reduction is not simple one in that inoculants giving the
finest eutectic cells (high cell counts) do not always give
the greatest chill reduction.
For ferrosilicon to be an effective inoculant then it
must contain small amounts of minor elements such
as calcium, aluminium, zirconium, cerium, barium,
manganese and strontium.
Lack of control in the use of inoculants can give rise to
other problems such as shrinkage defects caused by
excessive mould dilation, pinholes due to Al pick up,
and inclusions of undissolved inoculant and slag.
The rates of fading of inoculation treatments are most
rapid during the first few minutes after treatment and
the effects of the treatment are halved after about five
minutes of holding.
Barium containing ferrosilicons tend to be more
persistent and can show a reduced tendency to fade in
ductile irons.
Graphitic carbons with suitable crystal structures can
inoculate flake irons but not ductile irons. Amorphous
carbons do not act as inoculants.
It is difficult to effectively inoculate grey irons with
sulphur contents below 0.05%, especially below 0.03%,
using conventional ferrosilicon inoculants.
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Technical Paper
Table 1: Approximate compositions of some typical Ferrosilicon based inoculant materials, in each case the balance is Iron
The FeSi-RE type can also contain small controlled amounts of Oxygen and Sulphur to boost nucleation where high
nodule numbers are needed in producing ferritic ductile iron.
Magnesium ferrosilicons used as nodularising agents normally contain around 45%Si and have a range of Mg levels
from 3 10%, some grades may contain up to 3%Ca, 1%Al, and 3%RE.
Nodularising agents and inoculants are supplied in controlled size ranges to suit their intended modes of application e.g.
3-25mm for MgFeSi, 2-6mm for ladle inoculant, and 0.2-0.6 for late in stream inoculant.
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Technical Paper
3-10%Mg, 44-50%Si, with up to 2.5%Ca, and
up to 2.5% RE (Ce, La, etc.). Calcium reduces
reactivity increasing Mg recovery and provides
some inoculation effect. The rare earths (RE)
neutralise deleterious trace elements, assist in
nodularization, and like Ca, reduce reactivity and
provide some inoculation. The lower Mg content
ferrosilicons can be used very effectively, via flow
through reaction chambers, tundish type ladles,
or in the mould treatments, giving high levels of
Mg recovery (due to low reactivity) together with
some inoculation effect.
Regardless of the form of Mg treatment
employed, the treated iron must inoculated
with a suitable inoculant to prevent eutectic
carbides and to encourage a uniform distribution
of well formed graphite nodules throughout
the structure, the amount of inoculant used
depending on the nature of the prior Mg
treatment. For example, treatment with pure Mg
or Ni-Mg type alloys requires the use of larger
inoculant additions for effective nucleation.
As mentioned earlier, treated iron must be
poured into moulds as soon as possible after
treatment so that the effects of both Mg loss
and inoculant fade are minimised. There are
a number of post-ladle or late inoculation
treatment systems that have been developed
to avoid these fading problems. These include
metering measured amounts of controlled size
inoculant from a dispensing unit to the pouring
stream as it enters the mould, and the use of
inoculant containing cored wire in a fed-wire
arrangement, the latter being used particularly
in automatic pouring systems. Cored steel wires
from 5 -13mm in diameter are used to transport
powdered treatment alloy or inoculant into the
iron at the pouring station. Experience in the use
of such systems has shown that they can replace
all or part of the ladle inoculation resulting
in savings in the amount of inoculant used
and reduced Si increments in the iron. These
treatments are consistent and reproducible but it
must be remembered that they can only back up
or replace ladle inoculation if there is sufficient
residual Mg left in the iron. If Mg treatment
has been ineffective (e.g. too high a treatment
temperature giving low recovery) or if too much
Mg has been lost because of delays in pouring
then good nodularity cannot be obtained even if
the degree of nucleation is high.
An alternative approach is to use in the
mould inoculation where the inoculant is placed
in the pouring bush or in a cavity in the runner
system, this latter technique also being used for
Mg treatment. In this case a specially designed
treatment chamber is incorporated into the filling
system to make sure that the treatment alloy (Mg
alloy +inoculant) dissolves uniformly, treating
consistently all the metal that enters the mould.
Ceramic filters are also used in the system such
that only clean, correctly treated metal enters
the casting cavity. Each mould is a separate
treatment and this can present greater inspection
problems than ladle treatment. The in the mould
type treatment is most suitable for long runs
of simple shaped castings where automatic
assessment of nodularity can be easily made.
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Technical Paper
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