Cie ee oo or ant : Engineering Materials CAST IRON Cast iron is produced by remelting crude pig iron and making certain adjustments to its composition while in the molten state. These adjustments are mainly concerned with removing impurities, reducing the carbon content, and improving the fluidity of the iron Properties of cast iron + Cast iron is strong in Gompositfon but weak in tengion.)Out of 4 to 5% of total carbon, at least 0.8 to. 1.2 % should be in the combined state to impart the necessary tensile strength, The remaining of _-sathon is inthe graphite form. ~~ (2 Cast iron is brittle and does not absorb shocks. It does alleability. _# Ht-can not be rolled, welded or forged like steel. ‘© The shrinkage of cast iron is very important property which influences its casting into various shapes. It varies from 1 fo 3%. © Cast iron has lower melting temperature(1200° C) than steel(1380° C). ‘© It contains free graphite which acts as a lubricant to reduce friction between sliding surfaces. ‘© Ithas ability to damp down vibrations occurring in running machinery. ‘© Cast iron has a very low cost of production and can be cast to any convenient shape easily. Composition of cast iron «Iron and Carbon- cast iron contains about 92 to 95 % of iron, 3 to 4 % of carbon and up to 3 % silicon, and the rest are sulphur, phosphorus, and manganese in very small percentages. ess the properties of ductility and * Combined carbon-carbon: plays very important role in cast iron. Pure or free iron is ferrite, Fe, and is soft. Ferrite occurs in combination with carbon as cementite (FeyC) and for 15 parts of iron there is one part of carbon, i.e, cementite contains 6.67 % carbon. Pearlite is another. combination where ferrite and cementite ogeur together, * * Free carbon(Graphite)-When molten pig iron is cooled down, graphite is separated in the form of irregular flakes. The size of these flakes, their uniformity of distribution and their quantity influences the properties of cast iron. To the formation of graphite, and to have a uniform distribution of it in iron, the molten pig iron has to be superheated which enables the graphite to dissolve in iron. © Silicon and Aluminium- Their presence prevents the graphite to remain in the dissolved condition in irot! by causing its precipitatian. The séparation of graphite from iron solution increases with the ‘POST 8OKWO7,2 WO FLOOR, SULTAN TOWERS, ROORKEE - 24047 UTTARANCHAL P1332) 26628 Enal:peounen@hotmalcom 1 TOTAL PAGES: 15ents the formation of cementite. Silicon is present in cast iron to the extent of 1.2 to 3.0%. * * 7 =F ‘ # Others- Manganese and chromium help to stabilize cementite in the molten metal. Sulphur makes cast iron weak. The desirable quantity of sulphur is taken as 0.3 to 0.5 %. » Classification of cast iron © Grey Cast Iron-92% iron; graphite carbon 3.5%;combined carbon less than 0.5%;silicon 3.5%. The gray colour is due to graphite carbon. Grey cast iron has a low tensile strength, It can be easily, ‘maintained due to softness of ferrite and the graphite coming out in the form of flakes. ‘© White Cast Iron-94% iron; graphite iron 05%,combined carbon 3.0%,silicon 0.5 to,1.0.%. The white colour is due té cementite.-This Variety of cast iron contains more of cementite and pearlite and very much less of graphite. It has high tensile strength. It is hard and brittle and could not be easily machined. © Mottled Cast Iron-This is a mixture of grey and white cast irons in composition, colour and general properties. WROUGHT IRON ‘Wrought iron is made from pig iron by remelting it in the puddling furnace. It is the purest form of iron. During the process of making wrought iron, inanganese could be removed completely and the percentages of silicon, sulphur, and phosphorus could only be reduced to a minimum. The carbon contents could be brought down to less than 0.15%. As a'resilt of this the cast iron which was brittle and could not be bént either hot or cold, is converted into wrought iron which is very ductile. ‘ Properties of wrought iron Heat tests and bending tests are used to distinguish cast iron, wrought iron and steel. Cast iron can not be bent ‘when cold while wrought iron could be bent very easily, and steel could be bent with difficulty. Cait iron gets rotten and breaks very quickly when heated, while steel could bend easily when hot. But wrought iron pasty and yery plastio at red heat and could be easily forged at about 900° C. But it cannot be cast into moulds, ‘Wrought iron is very malleable and ductile. The tensile strength of wrought iron varies from 320 to 420 Nimmm? Itis stronger in compression by about 25 %. However itis not so strong as steel. MALLEABLE CAST IRON ‘This may be produced by heat treatment of white cast iron castings. This treatment increase the tensile strength of the casting and improves its ductility and malleability. Malleable iron is less brittle than gray cast iron and is widely used in producing good quality castings for motor vehicles and tractor parts, gas and pipe fittings and electrical switchgear castings. BNO, 2 ND FLOOR, SULTAN TOWERS, ROORKEE 284 UTARANCHAL PH 011226578 Enal:peousesGhoimalicom 2AMIE() Coreen In the heat treatment(white heart process) w white cast iron casting is packed with iron ore. It is hedted slowly toa temperature of 950°,C to 1000” C and soaked at that temperature. fot a period of 4 to 5 days before allowing to ‘cool slowly. This treatment breaks down the cementite ,and some of the carbon’in the surface layer: of the casting. is. absorbed by the iron ore. The free. carbon in the core of casting takes a spherical shape which is stronger form than the long and narrow graphite flakes imgrey cast iron. The fracture of a white heart casting shows a grayish white rim at the surface. This is almost pure iron and has good resistance to corrosion. Malleable iron castings have a tensile strength of about 380 N/mm? and elongation up to 13%, PLAIN CARBON STEELS: Pisin carbon steel i an alloy of pure iron(ferite) sid arbor upto about 1.49%. Some other elements sich as, silicor, afphiit, phosphioras, eté* may be‘ present in’ trade’. ‘The ‘Garboi ‘in steel occurs in its combined ‘otin(ententte). None of the carbon may be preset in fred frin(graphite). ‘The structure ofthe metal changes as its carbon content increages from 0 to 1.4.9. When no carbon is present, the metal is pure iron called ferrite. As carbon is added, cementite(FesC)is formed. A new grain appears made up of alternate layers of ferrite and cementite; this new grain is called pearlite(FeyC+Fé):The amount of peatlite ingreases:with the carbon content until at:0.83 % carbon, all the metal is in the form of pearlite(Fe+Fe;C). Ferrite 18 a soft’ and ductile ‘materil;’ while’ Cemiéntite is hid’ and brittle . As the carbon content and the proportion of cemeniite increased} the steel Becomes harder and less ductile. Pearlite is strong materiat and the steel will have maximum strength when its structure is wholly pearlite at 0.83% carbon. ; Classification of plain carbon:steets (LY Léw Carbon Steel(carbon' up to 0:3) g i (2) Meditim Carbon Stee|(carbon up to 0.3 to 0.6%) (3) High Carbon Steel(carbon up to 0.6 to 1.4%) Low Carbon. Steels The lawer the quantity of carbon, the more the tamer ‘ehaves like. pure iron, These sess have moderste strength,in tension, compression and shear, and good properties,of ductility and toughness. This group is widely used fog, general engineering components where stresses are not very high. This steels, cart be hot and cold worked, and are easy to machine, and weld. The surface hardness of low. carbon steels can be improved by case hardening. Steels with carbon content between 0.15 and 0.30 % are called mild steel. Medium Carbon Steels Foran oma GIR et 7 ae This range of steels has a greater carbon content than low carbon steel i.e. between 0.3 and 0.6 %. These steels are harder than low carbon steels and have high strength and toughness, but are ductile, The properties of these steels can be modified or improved by heat treatment. They can be hot and cold worked and are widely used for high strength forgings. WATT, 2 NO LOOR, SULTAN TOWERS ROORKEE"D(ET UTTARANCHAL Pe fz) 2628 nal: pepurven@hotmalicom 3