HIGH TEMPERATURE MATERIALS

SIMO

Advanced materials shaping the future

OUTLINE
Why make high
temperature materials

Market development
and typical products

Alternative routes
(SiMo, SiMoCr and NI
resist)

SiMo SiMoCr Ni Resist

Composition Composition Composition

microstructure microstructure microstructure

Elkem products Elkem products Elkem products

treatment & inoculation treatment & inoculation treatment & inoculation

Typical problems and Typical problems and Typical problems and

defects defects defects

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WHY MAKE HIGH TEMP MATERIALS ?
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO CONSIDER ?
• High cyclic temperatures cause • Design and production considerations
• Oxidation • Design and Flow Characteristics
• Thermal mechanical fatigue due to • Minimize Hot Spots
• thermal expansion and mechanical constraint • Minimize Thermal Strains
• cyclic thermal stress • Mounting Strategy

• Example application • Engine Test Parameters

• Peak Temperature
• Turbo charger
• Time at Peak Temperature
• Length of Test
• Cooling Cycle
• Materials Selection
• Material Properties
• Oxidation Resistance
• Microstructure Stability
• Foundry Processes/Materials
• Quality, Raw Materials
• Quality, Systems & Procedures

Left side Right side

Hot exhausts Inlet of air
(High Temp Cast Iron) (Al-housing)

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MARKET DEVELOPMENT, TRENDS AND PRODUCTS
Trend: Turbo charge increase
• Growth due to boosting of both diesel and gasoline
engines.
• Shift towards Ni-Resist and Stainless Steel due to
Manifold higher gas temperatures,

Classic Cast iron manifolds –decrease due to:

• Increase in Asian automakers using

fabricated exhaust manifolds.
• Introduction of engines with integrated Turbo Turbo manifold
20.0
manifolds into the aluminum head.
• Less cylinders per engine - fewer and 15.0
smaller manifolds. Gas NiResist
10.0
Diesel NiResist
• Increased exhaust temperatures beyond
5.0 Diesel SiMoCr
typical cast iron endurance. May increase
Diesel SiMo
Ni-Resist and stainless steel manifolds. -
• Electric vehicles – no manifolds. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
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SIMO NODULAR & SIMO CGI

• Standard SiMo
• SiMo (nodular and CGI)
• Si :4.0%
• C 3.2 to 3.4%
• Mo : 0.4-1%
• Low cost compared to other options
• May not be sufficient for high performance and long Nodular SiMo
durability
• High Silicon SiMo (nodular and CGI)
• Silicon range of 4.2-4.8%
• Increased oxidation resistance
• Increased austenite transformation temperature
(AC1)

CGI SiMo

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INDUSTRY RESEARCH: SIMO AND MOLYBDENUM REPLACEMENT

• Several attempts/patents to replace Mo

• Nb, V, W substitution
• Mo forms a carbide and a unique Mo Rich phase
at the grain boundaries
• V and W forms towards grain boundary region like
Mo but slightly less with different shapes or
morphologies
• Nb tends to form carbides, within grains, and has
minimal impact on creep resistance

• Successful replacement of Mo has been

limited.

Mo Rich phase and Mo Carbides,

located at the grain boundaries

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RESEARCH: SIMO ALUMINUM ADDITIONS

• R&D in adding Al (0.5 to 6% Al), several patents

+ Increase the austenite transformation temperature (AC1)
+ Increased oxidation resistance
- Does not increase mechanical properties of the base metal
- Challenging to distribute Al evenly throughout the melt and castings
- Creates dross stringers which acts as crack propagation tracks
- Recycling of returns is a challenge

• For these reasons and the added costs and potential quality
issues, large scale commercialization is unlikely

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SIMO PRODUCTION CONSIDERATIONS

• SiMo has many different grades and
specifications, depending upon the
standard and/or OEM.
• Higher Si, lower C
• Less graphite available for late expansion
(-ve)
• Lower fluidity (-ve)
• Si lowers Carbide Eutectic and hence
Carbide tendency (+ve)
• CE generally higher than normal ductile,
CE=4.4-4.8%, hypereutectic side.
• Reduces carbide tendency (+ve)
• Wider freezing range, making it more
difficult to feed heavy section through thin
walls. (-ve)
• Higher Tapping/Pouring Temps due to
long feeding distances and thinner
walls.
• 2760 F or 1515 C is not uncommon for
some operations.. (-ve) impact on Mg
Recovery.
• Reduce primary Iron Carbide tendency
(+ve)
• Mo ties up C and promotes late
formation of a Mo-rich phase. This
requires slow cooling (+ve).
• SiMo can be brittle near Room
temperature due to higher Silicon and to
a lower extent, Mo. Handle with care.(-
ve)

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TREATMENT & INOCULATION – STANDARD SIMO

• Treatment options
• Low Mg, High Rare Earths
• High Mg, mid to low Rare earths.
• Cored wire, with RE in wire or separately.
• Mg Convertor
• Inoculation
• Added late to minimized fade and help with avoiding iron carbides.
• FG FeSi may be adequate, for many foundries, if sufficient RE’s is present
but many other inoculants are also used.

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IFC PAPER - CHUNKY GRAPHITE IN SIMO
Raw materials [%] Nodularizer Inoculation Chemical Composition Final Iron [%]
Addition Addition
Case Return Scrap Pig Composition [wt%] Type [wt%] C Si CE Mg TRE S
1 50 40 10 Mg5.5%+TRE 1% 2% Ca 1% + Al 1% + Ce 1,75% 0.20 % 3.1 4.32 4.53 0.034 0.03 0.009
Step 1: Ba+Bi 0.15%
2 50 50 0 Mg 7% + TRE 1.5% 1% Step 2: ZrMn 0.1% 3.2 4.43 4.68 0.033 0.012 0.009
3 no datano data
no data Mg 6% + TRE 1% 1.50 % Ca 1.5% +Al 1% +TRE 0.6% 0.50 % 2.7 4.72 4.29 0.038 0.014 0.008
Step 1: Al 4% + Zr 4% 0.15%
Step 2: Ba 2.5% + Ca 1.5% + Al 1.0% 0.3%
4 60 40 0 Mg 6% + TRE 0.5% 1.10 % Step 3: Ce 1.75% + Ca 1.0% + Al 1.0% 0.08% 3.1 4.44 4.53 0.035 0.007 0.007

• Conclusion
• Keeping RE down improves the structure

Case 1 - Chunky Case 2 - Chunky

Case 4 - Good structure Typical component

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RECOMMENDATIONS TO AVOID CHUNKY IN SIMO
• Keep RE in final iron below 0.010 %. • Well nucleated iron is less prone to chunky
• Sections thicker than 15 mm, use nodularizer graphite.
with low TRE<1.0 % • Improve nucleation potential by combining
• Consider RE in returns preconditioning, MgFeSi treatment and
inoculation.
• High Si and CE make SiMo iron more
susceptible to chunky graphite in general and • Keep carbon and silicon as low as possible
lowers the tolerance level for rare earths. to make SiMo less susceptible to chunky
graphite.
• Poor nucleation potential will allow the rare
earths and silicon to segregate more and
causing chunky graphite in thinner sections
than expected and at lower rare earth levels
than expected.

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TYPICAL PROBLEMS WITH SIMO IRON
• Oxidation
• The picture shows the influence of
oxidation, leading to crack initiation and
propagation in a SiMo iron
• Thermal fatigue due to
• Thermal ratcheting (cycling)
• Poor design
• Inappropriate material choice

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SUMMARY

Price, raw material and production

Production difficulties

is t
R es
Ni

r
oC
M
Si

o
M
Si

Performance, oxidation
resistance, stability etc

Advanced materials shaping the future