Investigation on the Effect of Water Quenching to Microstructure, Crystal Structure, Hardness, and Wear of Gray Iron

Abstract:

Gray cast iron has been one of the most widely used engineering materials since a long time ago. However, the development of casting techniques and methods to produce various models of cast iron products for the domestic market is not followed by improvements in product quality. The intriguing aspect of gray iron products is the diverse morphologies that graphite can assume, leading to distinct variations in mechanical and physical properties. Quenching is a typical heat treatment procedure performed to improve the mechanical properties of a material that entails the rapid cooling of the material from a high temperature to a low temperature. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of water quenching effects on microstructure, crystal structure, hardness, and wear of gray iron, which undergoes quenching from the austenitizing temperature. Gray cast iron was obtained from the local foundry industry, then thermally treated at 900°C, held for 15 minutes, and rapidly quenched by water. The quenching procedure induces a significant alteration in the overall microstructure, where transition of most dendrite arms to the eutectic phase microstructure is observed. Moreover, the quenching process is attributed to the reduction of crystal size and growth of carbon crystal. The average crystal size of the sample was reduced from 47.833 nm to 17.97 nm, hence improving the hardness from 16.375 HRC to 48.04 HRC, which in turn improved wear resistance under high loading condition from 0.014 g/sec to 0.00042 g/sec.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1138)
• Pages: 3-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-FtE624
• Online since: December 2024
• Authors: Abdul Munir Hidayat Syah Lubis*, Agung Setyo Darmawan, Agus Dwi Anggono, Ngafwan Ngafwan, Aldo Cahya Putra, Krisnandita Akbar Ramadani
• Keywords: Crystalline, Gray Cast Iron, Microstructure, Quenching, Wear

References

[1] William D. Callister, David G. Rethwisch, Applications and Processing of Metal Alloys, in: Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction, 10th ed., 2020: p.347–405.

[2] C.F. Walton, Introduction to Heat Treating of Cast Irons, in: ASM Handbook Vol 4: Heat Treating, 1991.

[3] M. Eyriboyun, H. Baycik, F. Koltuk, Criteria of shape recognition for cast iron, International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 48 (2014) 248.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2014.059034

[4] C.H. Navarro-Mesa, M. Gómez-Botero, M. Montoya-Mejía, O. Ríos-Diez, R. Aristizábal-Sierra, Wear resistance of austempered grey iron under dry and wet conditions, Journal of Materials Research and Technology 21 (2022) 4174–4183.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.11.025

[5] T. Sarkar, P.K. Bose, G. Sutradhar, Effect of the Time and Temperature of Isothermal Quenching on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Bainitic Gray Cast Iron, Metal Science and Heat Treatment 61 (2020) 552–558.

DOI: 10.1007/s11041-020-00460-0

[6] M. Gorny, E. Tyrała, Effect of Cooling Rate on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Thin-Walled Ductile Iron Castings, J Mater Eng Perform 22 (2013) 300–305.

DOI: 10.1007/s11665-012-0233-0

[7] A. Yulianto, R. Soenoko, W. Suprapto, A. Sonief, A.S. Darmawan, M.D. Setiawan, Microstructure and Hardness of Gray Cast Iron as a Product of Solidification in Permanent Mold, Materials Science Forum 991 (2020) 37–43.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.991.37

[8] M.K. Dubey, S. Das, S. Datta, R. Mahapatra, A. Harinarain, D. Saxena, Determination of Effect of Quenching Parameters on Mechanical Properties of Industrial Steels by Experimental and Simulation Analysis, SAE Int J Adv Curr Pract Mobil 3 (2021) 2021-28–0005.

DOI: 10.4271/2021-28-0005

[9] Y. Li, P.-X. Zhu, C. Tang, Z. Sun, Effects of Quenching Medium on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of High Chromium Cast Iron, Crystals (Basel) 12 (2022) 1332.

DOI: 10.3390/cryst12101332

[10] M.M.J. Behnam, P. Davami, N. Varahrama, Effect of cooling rate on microstructure and mechanical properties of gray cast iron, Materials Science and Engineering A 528 (2010) 583–588.

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2010.09.087

[11] M.V. Kumar, S.A. Kumar, P. Madalli, Experimental Evaluation of Mechanical and Metallurgical Properties of Gray Cast Iron, in: R.K. Garg, R.P. Singh, R. Trehan, R. Singh (Eds.), Modern Manufacturing Systems: Trends and Developments, Apple Academic Press Inc., 2023: p.87–97.

DOI: 10.1201/9781003284024-7

[12] InstaNANO, XRD Crystallite (grain) Size Calculator (Scherrer Equation), (n.d.). https://instanano.com/all/characterization/xrd/crystallite-size/ (accessed May 29, 2024).

[13] ASTM, ASTM G77-17: Standard Test Method for Ranking Resistance of Materials to Sliding Wear Using Block-on-Ring Wear Test, 2017.

DOI: 10.1520/g0077-05

[14] ASTM, ASTM A247-19 Standard Test Method for Evaluating the Microstructure of Graphite in Iron Castings, 2019.

DOI: 10.1520/A0247-19

[15] American Society For Metals, Atlas of Microstructures Industrial Alloys, in: Metals Handbook Vol 7., 8th ed., American Society For Metals, 1972: p.81–83.

[16] G.Vander. Voort, Microstructure of Ferrous Alloys, Solutions for Materials Preparation, Testing and Analysis 3 (2015).

[17] Doru M. Stefanescu, Classification and Basic Metallurgy of Cast Iron, in: Doru M. Stefanescu (Ed.), ASM Handbook, Volume 1A, Cast Iron Science and Technology, ASM International, 1990: p.3–11.

DOI: 10.2172/841620

[18] B. Domeij, A. Diószegi, A Review of Dendritic Austenite in Cast Irons, International Journal of Metalcasting (2024).

DOI: 10.1007/s40962-023-01239-8

[19] G.L. Rivera, R.E. Boeri, J.A. Sikora, Solidification of gray cast iron, Scr Mater 50 (2004) 331–335.

DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2003.10.019

[20] T. Ungár, Microstructural parameters from X-ray diffraction peak broadening, Scr Mater 51 (2004) 777–781.

DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2004.05.007

[21] C.F. Holder, R.E. Schaak, Tutorial on Powder X-ray Diffraction for Characterizing Nanoscale Materials, ACS Nano 13 (2019) 7359–7365.

DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b05157