Cast Iron – Microstructure and Properties

• Cast Iron is an alloy of iron and carbon with a carbon percentage of between 2wt% to 6.67 wt
%.
• Cast Iron is considered as a metal-matric composite material with carbon particles embedded
in an iron matrix.
• Distribution of precipitates and morphology of precipitates determines properties and
usability of cast iron.

Properties of cast iron

• There are various grades of cast iron with little variation of the heat treatment cycle.
• Cast Iron is being used in a wide area of industry i.e. boilers, water conduit pipes in Oil and Gas
Industry.

• This wide application of cast iron types is mainly due to following three reasons;

• The ease of Production with Cupola Furnace

• Lower melting temperature than steel
• Molten cast iron has excellent fluidity for complex shapes
Cast Iron microstructure development

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Phase diagram of Fe-Fe3C.
• carbon percentage in between 2wt% to 6.67 wt%.

Liquid Region
• solution is homogenous
• iron and carbon completely miscible in each other.

Solid plus Liquid region

• cross the solidus line in S1 region,
• the formation of Gamma iron.
• When temperature decreases, transformations follow two important lines.
• One line is showing carbon increase in liquid region.
• Other is showing increase of carbon in gamma iron.

• As temperature goes down, more and more gamma iron is nucleated which causes in increase in carbon
percentage.
• Increase in carbon percentage continues till eutectic line when carbon in liquid reaches 4.30 wt% and
temperature is 1147 C.
Eutectic cast iron microstructure reaction
• eutectic reaction line observable at 4.3 wt % carbon.
• eutectic reaction : liquid into two solids

• carbon in interstitial space in Gamma FCC iron at eutectic point upto 2wt%.
• carbon in liquid reaches 4.30 wt% (1147 C)
• eutectic reaction all liquid gives us coarse globules of iron carbide and gamma iron
(Ledeburite).

Gamma plus eutectic region

• This region determines the properties of cast iron for a specific composition.
• There are a large number of variations for single compositions.
• For a specific application, heat treatment in this region is carried out to achieve specific
properties.
Four important lines.
• Eutectic line,
• Eutectoid line,
• K1 line depicting the decrease in carbon,
• K2 depicting eutectoid transformation.
After crossing eutectoid line
• Pre-eutectic gamma iron coarse grains
• Eutectic globules of gamma iron (fine grains)
• Euectic iron carbide structure

• Gamma iron grains will transform into pearlite after crossing the eutectoid line. (following K1 line).
• Carbon in gamma iron is getting decreased ultimately reaching 0.8 wt% (768 C),
• Gamma iron undergoes a eutectoid transformation. (colony type pearlite containing plates of Fe 3C and alpha
iron).

Two gamma iron or austenite phases.

• pre-eutectic coarse austenite grains.
• austenite globules formed as a result of the eutectic reaction.
• Pearlite formed from lediburtie austenite are called transformed lediburite.
• pearlite formed from pre-eutectic austenite is called simple pearlite.
Nucleation of graphite flakes.
• When the temperature lowers from 1147 C, carbon diffuses out of austenite in form of graphite
flakes.
• Carbon nucleation and morpology of flakes determines cast iron type.
With understanding of microstructure development, we can estimate cast iron types based on
• alloying elements,
• cooling mechanism and
• post-casting heat treatments.

Cast iron types

• White Cast Iron

• Grey Cast Iron
• Malleable Cast Iron
• White Heart Cast Iron
• Black Heart Cast iron
• Nodular Cast Iron/Ductile Cast Iron
• Chilled Cast Iron
• Alloy Cast Iron
Grey Cast Iron
• graphite flakes in ferritic or Pearlitic matrix.
• developed by equilibrium or slow cooling.
• 2.4% to 4% carbon, 1% to 3% silicon, and small amount of magnesium with range in-between 0.1% to 0.2%.

Why it’s called Grey cast iron?

• graphite flakes are embedded in Pearlitic and ferritic matrix.

• Grey fracture surface makes equilibrium casting grey cast iron.

Role of Inoculants

• flakes are source of brittle fracture due to ineligibility of energy absorption.

• Strength comes from Pearlitic and ferritic matrix.
• The graphite flakes are needed to be fine and small to improve strength of cast iron types.

ASTM A-48 specification

• tensile strength ranging from 20 to 60 Ksi tensile strength.
• Above 40 Ksi of tensile strength, cast iron are called high strength iron.
 Microstructure of Grey Cast Iron

flakes of carbon are present in matrix of ferrite.

Microstructure of Grey Cast iron

Types of flake graphite according to ASTM A247

A B C

D
E
Best way to reduce size is by
inoculation Addition of Ca, Al, Ti, Zr
just before casting liquid metal
 Inoculation
Inoculation is the term used to describe the process of increasing the numbers of nucleating sites from
which eutectic graphite can grow during the solidification of flake, nodular and compacted graphite irons.

aim of inoculation:
• to minimize the degree of under cooling of liquid iron during eutectic solidification, and hence to make
sure that the resultant cast microstructures are completely free from eutectic carbides.
• control of eutectic graphite morphology and distribution, and
• control of the levels of pearlite and ferrite in matrix structures.

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
Approximate compositions of some typical Ferrosilicon based inoculant materials, in each case the
balance is Iron
Important observations about inoculation 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.
• effective ferrosilicon inoculant 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.
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%,
• 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.

• 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 modularizing 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.

• Modularizing 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.
Advantages of Grey Cast Iron

• Cheap
• Low melting point
• Fluid – easy to cast especially in large
complex shapes
• Excellent machinability
• Excellent bearing properties
• Excellent damping properties
• Excellent wear resistance (high carbon)
• Cab be heat treated (surface hardened etc.)
• Can be alloyed
Malleable Cast Iron
graphite particles are present in form of irregular shaped nodules (temper carbon) rather than flakes.
developed by heat treatment of white cast iron.

Importance of Malleable Cast Iron types

• Iron carbide appears to be metastable state
• transforme into iron and carbon due to heat treatment.

The process of malleableization

• to convert all combined carbon into Iron and Carbon.

two annealing cycles

• first annealing above 900 °C and
• second annealing below this temperature.
• annealing time almost 72 hours.
• graphite nodules are form which has more ductility than graphite flakes.

Higher ductility of graphite nodules and strength of matrix make malleable cast iron better than grey cast iron in
terms of strength and ductility.
Types of Malleable cast iron
After annealing stages, process of cooling can divide malleable iron into three
grades;

Ferritic malleable iron

After annealing, extreme slow cooling results in ferritic matrix with graphite
nodules.

Pearlitic malleable iron

After annealing process, equilibrium cooling results in Pearlitic matrix.

Martensitic malleable iron

With nodules formation during tempering or heat treatment process, extreme
fast cooling results in formation of martensite matrix from Austenitizing The microstructure of Malleable cast iron
temperature, generating martensitic malleable iron. types containing black irregular carbon and
White Heart Cast Iron white matrix
In oxidizing atmosphere, all graphite will be oxidized. With annealing at 900 °C, all iron carbide is decomposed into iron and
carbon.
This nodular iron from surface will be oxidized by removing carbon from surface.

Black Heart Cast Iron

Cast iron types developed in Cupola contains interspersed graphite nodules with ferritic matrix.
This type of cast iron has low strength and ductility and it is used for pipe fittings.
 Chilled Cast Iron
• During solidification, certain area of grey cast iron is cooled rapidly,
this results in white cast iron region within casting of grey cast iron.
• Chill casting is produced by inserting metal plate inside the sand mold
for extracting fast heat from a composition containing a high amount
of silicon to cause graphitization in the rest of iron.
• This results in a white shell and grey core containing high hardness
and toughness.

• By adjusting the carbon composition, normal cooling rate on surface

of white cast iron is enough to produce white cast iron.
• Chilled region where white cast iron is formed has certain depth
which is dependent of carbon composition.
• With increase in carbon, tendency to develop chilled region within
grey cast iron increases i.e. depth of chilled region increases.
• Chilled region on surface causes high hardness and abrasion
resistance on surface of cast iron.
The microstructure of chilled cast iron
• High hardness on surface due to white cast iron and high strength due
to grey iron in center of casting is major advantage of chilled cast iron.

• The most common application of Chill casting is a hammer used in Coal crushing and cement crushing.
• Depth depends on composition
• C, Si decrease chill depth
• Carbide forming elements like Cr, Mo increase chill depth

Applications: Railway car wheels, crushing rolls, heavy machinery

Ductile Cast Iron
• graphite appears as balls or nodules.
• spherical nodules in matrix results in high strength and toughness.

Microstructural development in Ductile Cast iron

• The development of these nodules is very similar to graphite flakes nucleated in grey cast iron.
• All casting proceedings are similar to grey cast iron with addition of minor alloying elements like Magnesium and
Cerium which will reduce surface tension of graphite flake and generating spheroidal graphite.
• Spheroidal cast iron can be developed with addition of as low as 0.02 to 0.1% magnesium, and only 0.02 to
0.04% cerium which will act as nucleating site for graphite.
• These nucleating sites provide the surface for graphite nucleation.

• Usage of Nodular or spheroidal cast iron:

• industrial applications ranging from agriculture tractors, and oil well pumps.
Micrograph of a hypo eutectic SG cast iron specimen with 2.5 –
3.5%C,
• white region depicts ferrite and
• lamellar region depicts pearlite and
• dark black portion shows carbon nodules.

• This structure has higher hardness than grey cast iron while
higher ductility than white cast iron.

• Major breakthrough in SG iron is development of bainitic

matrix which is developed by isothermal transformation of
austenite.

Microstructure of Nodular cast iron

Pearlite matrix (Heat Treatment) Ferrite Matrix

Austempered Ductile Cast Iron

• The chemical composition of the cast iron is Fe-3.52C-2.51Si-0.49Mn-0.15Mo-0.31Cu wt%.

• Austenitised at 950°C, austempered at 350°C for 60 min.

crankshaft for the TVR sports car

White Cast Iron
At the eutectic solidification line,
• Cementite and Austenite in the microstructure.

• equilibrium
graphite flakes in a matrix with carbon getting decreased in austenite
• Higher cooling rate ( fast enough to prevent nucleation of graphite flakes)
austenite with 2wt% carbon gets converted into pearlite and austenite without a graphite flakes
formation in a matrix.
microstructure comprising of Pearlite and Cementite called White cast iron.

carbon present in the form of carbide.

Why it’s called White cast iron?

• White cast iron consists of carbides and pearlite.

• Carbides are extremely hard and brittle.

• When a crack appears, due to brittle nature, it flows straight through the material.
• No secondary or minor cracks appear due to the brittle nature of carbides which results in light reflection from
the fracture surface.
• This results in white cast iron.
• These carbides are a reason for high compressive strength, high hardness, and high-temperature properties.
White Cast Iron – Types, Microstructure and Applications
• The most common abrasion-resistant ferrous materials having carbon greater than 2wt% in the form of
cementite is called white cast iron.
• White faceted fracture due to the presence of cementite is of main characteristics of white cast iron.

White Cast Iron Microstructure Development

• Cooling or directional solidification has a huge impact on microstructure of White cast iron.
• If fast cooling is only allowed on the surface than chill cast iron is developed which contains grey
structure (graphite flakes) within the center region.

Carbon equivalent (CE).

along with Carbon, Silicon increases the graphitization process and increases the probability of graphite
nucleation.
That’s_ why silicon is also considered along with carbon to determine the final Cast Iron type.
Phase diagram of solidification
• Below the solidus line, dendrites of austenite start appearing in a molten pool of iron and carbon.
• Around these dendrites, a region of molten pool is enriched in carbon.
• Due to high carbon concentration and various oxide phases, carbon precipitates in form of flakes rather
than cementite which is formed by the eutectic reaction.
• This nucleation of graphite flakes increases as temperature drops resultantly giving grey cast iron.

• To reduce carbon activity and prevent graphite flakes nucleation, following few steps are normally taken;

• Increase Mn, Cr, and Mo/Si ratio:

• Increase in alloying elements prevents carbon activity in the liquid pool and also restricts precipitation
of flakes. This promotes carbide formation.
• Fast cooling:
• This results in a supercool of the liquid pool.
• With fast cooling, the temperature drops suddenly and lowers the activity of carbon.
• Carbon does not get enough time to nucleate out of the molten pool.
• So, after passing from the eutectic line, lediburite (eutectic mixture of austenite and cementite) forms
directly from a liquid pool of iron and carbon.
• Pressure:
• Pressure increase is always accompanied by carbon flakes nucleation.
• Application of pressure control may create a chilling effect in thick castings to prevent grey cast iron
formation.
Microstructure of White cast Iron

white cast iron with 3-3.5 wt% C.

two phases
• The white phase is Cementite (Fe3C) and
• the black phase depicts pearlite. A typical microstructure of White cast iron with
Pearlite consists of ferrite and cementite. composition in Hypo-eutectic region is shown below;
White Iron Types
alloying, extreme fast cooling, and pressure can produce white cast iron microstructure.

Effect of Alloying elements

Carbon: With the increase in carbon percentage, the percentage of carbide formation increases resultantly
giving more hardness.

Nickel:
• Nickel promotes martensitic and bainitic transformation in a matrix of white iron.
• With the addition of Nickel, the graphite field increases resultantly suppressing Pearlitic formation giving a
high percentage of Martensite.
• If the Amount of nickel is high, more retained austenite will be formed which results in lower hardness.
• Optimum Nickel content is essential for optimum abrasion resistance and hardness of white cast iron.

Chromium:
• Chromium is added in cast iron types to develop chromium carbide.
• This chromium carbide increases strength, depth of chill, and wear and abrasion resistance.
• Chromium addition suppresses the graphitization process initiated due to the addition of Nickel and carbon.
• Chromium also improves corrosion resistant
• Chromium to Nickel ratio is usually kept at 1:2 or 1:2.5.

• Alloy cast iron where high abrasion and wear resistance are essential especially in applications like crushing
and grinding, Chromium is essential alloying addition.
Silicone:
• increases melt fluidity and also removes absorbed oxygen in the melt.
• acts as an oxidizer and removes all absorbed oxygen thereby removing important casting defects, but it is also
a strong graphitized.
• Increases graphite flakes formation and, thereby, reducing abrasion resistance of white cast iron.
• should be added to a minimal level to let silicon perform its casting duties and prevent it to be flakes promoter.
Manganese:
• Manganese addition improves deoxidation and also the hardenability of white cast iron.
• Improvement in hardenability is not on par with Nickel but still, it delivers the result. It should be added up to a
minimal level of 0.5%.
Molybdenum:
• It is added to overall improve martensitic formation in the center of casting along with Nickel.
• It exists mostly with carbide phases and helps in hardening the structure in the center of the casting.
• This alloying element is added in cast iron to improve certain important mechanical properties like fatigue
strength, heat resistance, harness and tensile strength.
Copper:
• Copper is one of major alloying element added in cast iron to decompose massive cementite and strengthens
matrix.
• Hardenability is also improved by copper addition, but improvement is only half as good as Nickel.
• It may also embrittle white iron due to the formation of needle-like precipitates after reacting with oxygen.

Sulfur and Phosphorus: They also reduce the abrasion resistance and should be kept to a minimal level.
Alloy Cast Iron
In alloy cast iron, certain alloying elements are added to improve mechanical and physical properties of cast iron.

Most common alloy cast iron types;

• Low Alloy iron: Cast iron with alloy content less than 4%
• High alloy iron: Cast Iron with alloy content greater than 4%
• High silicon cast iron
• High chromium (Ni-hard) cast iron
• High nickel (Ni-resist) cast iron

• Low Alloy Iron

• This is also called pearlitic white cast iron.
• with relatively faster cooling, it is possible to prevent the nucleation of carbon flakes.

• The pearlitic structure can, also, be possible with a high concentration of alloy.
• With a variation of solidification processes and composition, microhardness and microstructure of Pearlitic white
cast iron may vary.

• Hardness achieved in conventional sand mold and low alloy cast iron is 350 HV.
• If metal mold is used instead of sand, the chilling effect increases and Pearlitic strips appear finer increasing hardness
up to 500 HV.

• It is used in the agriculture industry due to low cost and high hardness.
High Alloy Iron
• High Alloy cast iron is a term commonly used for white cast irons having alloy content greater than 4%.
• The casting of such ferrous material is carried out for high abrasion resistant materials like parts needed in
machinery for cutting and grinding.

Microstructure of High Alloy iron

• Needle-like matrix depicts martensite.
• The region next to needle-like martensite is
retained austenite.
• Continuous network showing above matrix is
of metal carbides.
• These carbides can be of chromium,
Vanadium or Iron.
Martensitic nickel white iron (Nickel Hard)
• ASTM A532-I is a class of martensitic nickel white iron.
• In low-alloy white iron, a matrix is made of pearlite (a relatively soft and has low wear resistance
phase).
• To increase the wear resistance of white cast iron, the Pearlitic matrix is shifted to martensite by
introducing Nickel and Chromium in it.
• Nickel is added in between 5-8wt%.
• Nickel does not take part in carbide formation; it just delays the formation of pearlite and
extends the austenitic field and reducing the chances of Pearlitic formation.
• The final microstructure contains, carbide phases embedded in martensitic and retained austenite
matrix.

• This type of microstructure has a Vicker hardness of 550HV.

• By tempering at a temperature of 275 ͦC, retained austenite breaks into lower bainite increasing the
hardness of microstructure further by 100HV.
• With using metal mold instead of the sand mold, the finer martensitic microstructure is produced
with 50HV Vicker hardness higher than conventional ones.

Composition of Nickel hard iron is as follow;

C Mn Si Mo Cr Ni
Min % 2.4 1.33 3.3
Max % 3.6 2 0.8 4 1.4 5
Martensitic chromium White iron

• Added chromium content increases carbide concentrations thereby increases hardness. They have the
highest hardness among all the white cast iron.
• Molybednum added improves hardenability of matrix thereby improving abrasion resistance.
Chromium content variation and heat treatment can be used to adjust the mechanical properties as
there is a trade-off between wear resistance and toughness of cast iron.
• High chromium white cast iron is the best combination of abrasion resistance and toughness.

• ASTM A 532 standard has two set standards for compositions and hardness. ASTM A 532 class – II
covers chromium-molybdenum irons.

• Applications where high abrasion resistance is required, like grinding mills, milling machine liners,
brick molds, shot blasting mold and equipment, shot blasting grits, slurry pumps, and mining
equipment, use of high chromium white cast iron is employed.

Chromium white cast iron composition Composition of high chrome white iron is as follow;
C Mn Si Mo Cr C Mn Si Mo Cr
Min % 2.7 14 Min % 2.5 23
Max % 3.3 1.3 1 3.5 17 Max % 3.3 1 1.5 2.1 28
Structure of Alloy White Cast Iron
Final microstructure of white cast iron looks like below;
 chromium alloy
Nickel hard white cast iron high chrome white iron
iron
Density (g/cm3) 7.6 – 7.8 7.6 – 7.8 7.6
Thermal conductivity (W/mK) 15 – 30 15 – 30 15 – 30
Coefficient of thermal expansion 8 – 8.1 13 13
Melting Temperature (F) 2300 F 2300 F 2300 F
Modulus of Elasticity (GPa) 169 – 183 938 938
Transverse strength (MPa) 500 – 620
Tensile Strength As-cast (MPa) 280 – 350
Hardness (HV) 450 – 550 450 – 550 450 – 550
Hardness (afer hardnening step) (HV) 600 – 650 600 – 650
Applications of White Cast Iron

Common applications are;

• Dredge pumping
• Oil sand Applications
• Mining crusher parts
• Ball mill liners
• Roller crusher
• Crusher liners
• Grit blasting grates
• Lifting bars
Cupola Furnace
• Cupola furnace is a melting device.
• Cast Iron, Bronze, and other alloying elements are melted.
• This is a very old device we used in manufacturing for melting because this system produces cast iron from Pig
Iron.
• The shape of this device is cylindrical but others size is also available.
• While choosing a cupola furnace
• Melting Point Temperature,
• Shapes and many more.

• The diameter of this shell ranges from 1.5 to 13 feet, depending on the furnace’s size
• the cupola is a refractory-lined steel stack 20 to 35 feet (6 to 11 m) high, resting on a cast iron base plate with
four steel legs.

Construction of Cupola Furnace:

The Cupola Furnace is consists of:
• Legs • Melting Zone
• Slag Hole • Charging Door
• Sand Bed • Brick lining
• Tuyers • Spark Arrester
• Preheating Zone
Production of Cast Iron
Cupola furnace

Here is the Schematic Diagram of Cupola Furnace:

Legs:
Legs are provided for supporting purposes.
Slag Hole or Slag spout:
The slag hole is used for removing or extracting the slag from the melting iron.
Sand Bed:
This is in taper form and from this, the melted iron comes out easily.
Tuyeres:
By tuyeres, we enter the gas to the proper burn of fuel.
Preheating Zone:
In the Preheating zone, the heating process started and heats the metal charge about 1090 degrees Celsius.
Melting Zone:
In the melting zone, we do not provide much heat to melt the metal charge because it’s already melted in the
preheating zone with a temperature of about 1090 degrees Celsius.
Charging door:
From here we supply the charge to the furnace. The various charges are for the cupola furnace are Pig Iron, Coke
and limestone.
Brick lining and Steel shell:
The shell of the cupola furnace is being usually made of steel and it’s called a steel shell.
Spark Arrester:
This device used in the system for preventing the emission from the fireplace.
Working Principle of Cupola Furnace:
• we generate heat from burning coke to melt the metal.

• The charge:
• pig iron, scrap (Steel and cast iron rejections) casting rejection, coke, and flux.
• Coke is the fuel and
• limestone are added as a flux to remove undesirable materials like ash and dirt.

• The working of Cupola furnace:

• Over the sand Bottom, Coke in charged extending up to a predetermined height (coke bed for
combustion).

• Cupola operation:
• Ignition: igniting the coke bed at its bottom.
• Charging: After the Coke bed is properly Ignited, alternate charges of limestone, pig iron, and coke are
charged until the level of the charging Door.
• Turning on air blast:

• Within 5 to 10 minutes after the blast is turned on the first molten cast iron appears at the tap hole.
• the first iron which comes out will be too cold to pour into sand molds.
• During the cupola operation, molten metal may be tracked every 10 minutes depending on the melting
rate and the capacity.
• The chemical reaction in coke bed:
C + O2 (from the air) → CO2 + Heat

• an exothermic reaction.
• The temperature in this zone varies from 1550 to 1850 degree Celsius.
• hot gases consisting (Nitrogen and carbon dioxide) moved upward from the combustion zone (1650 C).

• The portion of the coke bed in the combustion zone is reducing zone.
• some scrap is reduced by the following reaction.

FeO + CO → Fe + CO2

• an endothermic reaction.

• The first layer of iron above the reducing zone is the melting zone.
• A significant portion of the carbon is picked up by the metal also takes place in this zone.

• The hot gas is passed upward from the reducing and melting zones into the preheating zone which includes
all layers of charge above the melting zone up to the charging Door (1090 C).
Advantages of Cupola Furnace:

• simple and economical device.

• A wide range of materials can be melt.
• This device used for removing the slag present in the Iron.
• Comparison of electric furnace This is very less harmful.
• This is having high melting heat i.e 100 tones/hr.
• The floor space required is less
• Very skilled operators are not required.
• Low cost of operation.
• Low cost of maintenance.
• Low cost of construction

Disadvantages of Cupola Furnace:

• The main disadvantage is that sometimes it is very hard to control the temperature in this furnace.
• Metal elements are converted to their oxide, which is not suitable for casting.

Applications of Cupola Furnace

• It is mainly used to convert pig irons to molten irons.

• More types of cast irons are produced from this furnace-like malleable and grey cast iron.
• The copper base alloy is also manufactured by this device.
 Schematic illustration of the presence of stable and metastable Fe - C phase diagrams cooling
curves for inoculated and not inoculated irons
SG/Nodular Cast Iron Production

Classification of Mg-treatment alloys and treatment methods

currently used for ductile iron castings
A schematic diagram of plunging process (Pure Mg)
A schematic diagram of sealed pressure ladle (Pure Mg)
Schematic diagram of the treatment converter illustrating the treatment sequence (Pure Mg)
A schematic diagram of cored wire treatment process used
for horizontal continuous casting of ductile iron (Pure Mg)
A schematic diagram of sandwich process
Schematic diagrams of the tundish
ladle with fixed cover:
a) old design
b) new design
A schematic diagram of two-chamber tundish ladle with removable cover
Schematic diagrams of the teapot tundish ladles:
a) single spout design
b) double spout design
A schematic diagram of the tundish ladle with lifting covers
A schematic diagram of tundish-converter for Mg-treatment of iron
A schematic diagram of in-mold process
Reaction chamber containing treatment and located in a pouring basin
Pouring basin with
a) anchored and
b) filtration inoculants block
Hollow cylindrical inoculants located in the sprue
Reaction container in in-mold inoculation
A Schematic diagram of an inoculation process utilizing electromagnetic force
Flow through magnesium treatment process
A schematic diagram of in-mold process employing ceramic filter for slag trapping
In-mold inoculation and filtration: inoculant is placed on the surface of filter