A complete qualitative characterization of the isothermal coarsening process in hypoeutectic lamellar cast iron is presented for the first time in this work. Interrupted solidification experiments were used to study the evolution of the dendritic austenite network under long term isothermal conditions. Cylindrical samples were re-melted and isothermally coarsened for times from 2 minutes to 6 days at 1175°C after dendritic coherence was reached. Micrographs from horizontal and vertical sections of the coarsened samples are presented. Complete fragmentation of the dendrite network and further rearrangement of the solid phase are reported as new behaviors in the coarsening process in lamellar cast iron. A linear increase in secondary dendrite arm spacing in agreement with the literature is observed in the first several samples confirming qualitative observations. A new model is proposed which describes the entire coarsening process observed in this investigation.

The morphological evolution of primary austenite in an industrial hypoeutectic lamellar cast iron was studied under isothermal conditions for coarsening times varying from 0 min to 96 h. The dendritic austenite structure formed during the primary solidification suffered major morphological changes during the isothermal coarsening process. After a sufficient coarsening time, dendrite fragmentation, globularization, and coalescence of austenite were studied using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. This study confirmed that the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) is an inappropriate length scale to describe the primary austenite coarsening process for longer times. The application of shape independent quantitative parameters confirmed the reduction of the total interfacial area during microstructural coarsening. The modulus of the primary austenite, Mγ, which represents the volume-surface ratio for the austenite phase, and the spatial distribution of the austenite particles, measured as the nearest distance between the center of gravity of neighboring particles, Dγ, followed a linear relation with the cube root of coarsening time during the whole coarsening process. The mean curvature of the austenite interface, characterized through stereological relations, showed a linear relation to Mγ and Dγ, allowing the quantitative characterization and modeling of the complete coarsening process of primary austenite.

This paper presents an unconventional etching technique to reveal the microstructure in a hypoeutectic lamellar graphite iron that has been quenched after isothermal heat treatment in the proeutectic semi-solid temperature region. A technique for quantifying the dendrite microstructure using the aforementioned etching technique involving a combination of a raster graphics editor and an image analysis software is outlined. The agreement between this quantification technique with regard to volume fraction and surface area per unit volume of the dendritic austenite and corresponding point counting and line intercept techniques is analyzed. The etching technique was found useful but sporadic tinting of martensite was problematic. Some measurements showed significant systematic disagreement which correlated with the coarseness of the measured dendrites. Most systematic disagreement is attributed to difficulties in defining the dendrite boundary in the analogues and much of the random disagreement to easily identified discrepancies between the analogue and the micrograph.

The narrow production window for compacted graphite iron material (CGI) drastically reduces the possibilities to produce it in small batches outside an industrial environment. This fact hinders laboratory-scale investigations on CGI solidification. This work presents a solution to that issue by introducing an experimental technique to produce graphitic cast iron of the main three families. Samples of a base hypereutectic spheroidal graphite iron (SGI) were re-melted in a resistance furnace under Ar atmosphere. Varying the holding time at 1723 K (1450 °C), graphitic irons ranging from spheroidal to lamellar were produced. Characterization of the graphite morphology evolution, in terms of nodularity as a function of holding time, is presented. The nodularity decay for the SGI region suggests a linear correlation with the holding time. In the CGI region, nodularity deterioration shows a slower rate, concluding with the sudden appearance of lamellar graphite. The fading process of magnesium, showing agreement with previous researchers, is described by means of empirical relations as a function of holding time and nodularity. The results on nodularity fade and number of nodules per unit area fade suggest that both phenomena occur simultaneously during the fading process of magnesium.

It is widely accepted that in most commercial hypoeutectic alloys, both static mechanicalproperties and feeding characteristics during solidification, are extremely linked to the coarseness ofthe primary phase. It is therefore of critical importance to provide tools to control and predict thecoarsening process of the dendritic phase present in hypoeutectic melts. The characterization of theprimary phase, a product of the primary solidification, has traditionally been neglected whencompared to the eutectic solidification characterization in cast iron investigations. This workpresents the morphological evolution of the primary austenite present in a hypoeutectic compactedgraphite cast iron (CGI) under isothermal conditions. To that purpose, a base spheroidal graphitecast iron (SGI) material with high Mg content is re-melted in a controlled atmosphere and reversedinto a CGI melt by controlling the Mg fading. An experimental isothermal profile is applied to thesolidification process of the experimental alloy to promote an isothermal coarsening process of theprimary austenite dendrite network during solid and liquid coexistence. Through interruptedsolidification experiments, the primary austenite is preserved and observed at room temperature. Byapplication of stereological relations, the primary phase and its isothermal coarsening process arecharacterized as a function of the coarsening time applied. The microstructural evolution observedin the primary austenite in CGI and the measured morphological parameters show a similar trend tothat observed for lamellar graphite cast iron (LGI) in previous investigations. The modulus of theprimary austenite, Mγ, and the nearest distance between the centre of gravity of neighbouringaustenite particles, Dγ, followed a linear relation with the cube root of coarsening time.

The evolution of primary austenite morphology during isothermal coarsening has been studied in the three main Fe–C–Si alloys used in industry, LGI, CGI, and SGI. The dendritic microstructure increases length scale during coarsening accompanied by fragmentation and coalescence of austenite crystals. The morphological parameters, SDAS, Mγ, D^hyd_ID, and Dγ show a linear relation with the cube root of coarsening time, t1/3, with similar rates for the three different Fe–C–Si alloys. The eutectic microstructures after coarsening of primary austenite in CGI and SGI alloys are not significantly affected by the surface area of primary austenite and the size of the interdendritic regions. Fraction, nodularity, shape distribution of graphite particles and the number of nodules and eutectic cells are similar when studied as a function of coarsening time. These results suggest that the nucleation frequency in CGI and SGI, and the growth of eutectic microstructures in CGI, are not significantly influenced by the morphology of primary austenite.

The effect of primary austenite morphology on the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of hypoeutectic compacted graphite Fe-C-Si alloys (CGI) is studied by isothermal coarsening experiments. Secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and the morphological characteristics related to the surface area of primary austenite, M γ and D ID Hyd , increase with the cube root of coarsening time. UTS decreases linearly with increasing coarseness of primary austenite. The eutectic and eutectoid microstructures are unaffected by the primary austenite morphology. These observations demonstrate the strong influence of primary austenite morphology on the mechanical properties of hypoeutectic CGI alloys.

An SGI was machined into 400 g cylindrical pieces and remelted in an electrical resistance furnace protected by Ar gas to produce materials ranging from SGI to CGI. The graphite morphology was controlled by varying the holding time at 1723 K (1450 °C) between 10 and 60 minutes. The discrete sectional size distribution of nodules by number density was measured on cross sections of the specimens and translated to volumetric distribution by volume fraction. Subpopulations of nodules were distinguished by fitting Gaussian distribution functions to the measured distribution. Primary and eutectic graphite, were found to account for most of the volume of nodular graphite in all cases. For holding times of 40 minutes and greater, corresponding to nodularity roughly below 40 pct, the primary subpopulation was very small and difficult to distinguish, leaving eutectic nodules as the dominant subpopulation. The mode and standard deviation of the two subpopulations were roughly independent of nodularity. Moreover, the nodular and vermicular graphite were segregated in the microstructure. In conclusion, the results suggest that the parallel development of the vermicular eutectic had small influence on the size distribution of eutectic graphite nodules.

The growth mechanism of graphite nodules in ductile iron was experimentally investigated using high-resolution 3D tomography of an individual graphite nodule in a near-eutectic ductile iron. The dual beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) technique was used for this purpose. Iron particles elongated in the radial direction were observed inside a graphite nodule. Some micro-voids were detected inside the nodule, mostly located at the end of the iron particles. These observations were compared with established theories about the growth of graphite nodules and iron entrapment/engulfment in between the graphite sectors during solidification of ductile iron.