The paper proposes a methodology useful in verification of results of dilatometric tests aimed at determination of temperatures defining

the start and the end of eutectoid transformation in the course of ductile cast iron cooling, based on quenching techniques and

metallographic examination. For an industrial melt of ductile cast iron, the effect of the rate of cooling after austenitization at temperature

900°C carried out for 30 minutes on temperatures TAr1

start and TAr1

end was determined. The heating rates applied in the study were the

same as the cooling rates and equaled 30, 60, 90, 150, and 300°C/h. It has been found that with increasing cooling rate, values of

temperatures TAr1

start and TAr1

end decrease by several dozen degrees.

The objective of the research was to determine the influence of boron on the crystallization process and microstructure of ductile cast iron.

In the case of ductile cast iron it is a vital issue because even as little as trace presence of boron changes the properties of ductile cast iron

in a significant way. With the use of a new ATD-4 (TDA) tester and CRYSTALDIGRPAH converter it was possible to measure the

crystallization process parameters of the same alloy with four different contents of boron in one mould. Four samples with different boron

contents were extracted, their microhardness was measured and quantitative analysis of microstructure was conducted. Obtained results

allowed to state that with increasing content of boron the amount of graphite precipitates decreases, the amount of pearlite precipitates

increases, the shape of graphite precipitates deteriorates and hardness increases. It is also planned to perform additional testings with boron

contents between previously tested values.

The paper deals with the issue of potential for improvement of resistance of wood chip fine grinders to abrasive wear by providing them with WCCoCr coating applied with the use of atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The study focused on establishing parameters of the technological process of spraying a 250–270 μm thick coating onto surface of ductile cast iron castings used to date as grinder linings. The presented data include results of microstructure examination, chemical composition analysis, HV hardness measurements, and scratch tests for both previous and new variant of linings. The obtained scratch test results indicate that the material of the coating is characterized with definitely lower susceptibility to scratching. The scratch made on coating was 75–84 μm wide and 7.2–8.2 μm deep, while the scratch on cast iron was distinctly wider (200–220 μm) and deeper (8.5–12.8 μm). In case of cast iron, the range of variability in scratch width and depth was definitely larger. This can be explained with large difference in hardness of individual components of microstructure of cast iron and significantly larger plastic deformation of cast iron compared to the coating revealed in the course of indenter motion over surfaces of the two materials. It has been found that application of WCCoCr coating offered better resistance of lining surfaces to scratching which can be considered a rationale for undertaking in-service tests.

This article deals with the technology and principles of the laser cutting of ductile cast iron. The properties of the CO2laser beam, input parameters of the laser cutting, assist gases, the interaction of cut material and the stability of cutting process are described. The commonly used material (nodular cast iron - share of about 25% of all castings on the market) and the method of the laser cutting of that material, including the technological parameters that influence the cutting edge, are characterized. Next, the application and use of this method in mechanical engineering practice is described, focusing on fixing and renovation of mechanical components such as removing the inflow gate from castings with the desired quality of the cut, without the further using of the chip machining technology. Experimental samples from the nodular cast iron were created by using different technological parameters of laser cutting. The heat affected zone (HAZ), its width, microstructure and roughness parameter Pt was monitored on the experimental samples (of thickness t = 13 mm). The technological parameters that were varied during the experiments included the type of assist gases (N2and O2), to be more specific the ratio of gases, and the cutting speed, which ranged from 1.6 m/min to 0.32 m/min. Both parameters were changed until the desired properties were achieved.

The article describes the detection of a defect in a cast iron casting. It analyzes the cause of the crack in the Turbine Component casting. In this article, we are focusing on a particular turbine casting that is commonly used in automobiles as one of the components for turbochargers. The turbine is a casting made of ductile cast iron with a visible crack on the naked eye. The formation of cracks in castings is a common but undesirable phenomenon in the foundry practice. It is important to identify the errors, but also to know the cause of defects in castings. The solution is a detailed error analysis. In this paper I used metallographic analysis and magnetic powder method. The crack formation is due to tension in the casting, which results in tensile, shear, or shear forces. The crack formation kinetics is difficult because it is still very low during hardening and shortly after the casting is overloaded. The crack is most often due to core resistance or shrinkage molds that begin after the surface layer is tightened when the strength of the material is negligible to the end of the crystallisation.

The goal of this article is non-destructive ultrasonic testing of internal castings defects. Our task was to cast several samples with defects like porosity and cavities (where belongs mostly shrinkages) and then pass these samples under ultrasonic testing. The characteristics of ultrasonic control of castings are presented in the theoretical part of this article. Ultrasonic control is a volume non-destructive method that can detect internal defects in controlled materials without damaging the construction. It is one of the most widely used methods of volume non-destructive testing. For experimental control were made several cylindrical samples from ferritic grey and ductile cast iron. Because of the form and dispersion of graphite of grey cast iron it was not possible to make ultrasonic records on this casting with probe we used, so we worked only with ductile cast iron. Ultrasonic records of casting control are shown and described in the experimental part. The evaluation of the measurement results and the reliability of the ultrasonic method in castings control is listed at the end of this article.

The paper presents the results of experimental-simulation tests of expansion-shrinkage phenomena occurring in cast iron castings. The

tests were based on the standard test for inspecting the tendency of steel-carbon alloys to create compacted discontinuities of the pipe

shrinkage type. The cast alloy was a high-silicone ductile iron of GJS - 600 - 10 grade. The validation regarding correctness of prognoses

of the shrinkage defects was applied mostly to the simulation code (system) NovaFlow & Solid CV (NFS CV). The obtained results were

referred to the results obtained using the Procast system (macro- and micromodel). The analysis of sensitivity of the modules responsible

for predicting the shrinkage discontinuities on selected pre-processing parameters was performed, focusing mostly on critical fractions

concerning the feeding flows (mass and capillary) and variation of initial temperature of the alloy in the mould and heat transfer

coefficient (HTC) on the casting - chill interface.

The results of studies on the use of magnesium alloy in modern Tundish for production of vermicular graphite cast irons were described. This paper describes the results of using a low-magnesium ferrosilicon alloy for the production of vermicular graphite cast irons. The paper presents a vermicular (and nodular) graphite in different walled castings. The results of trials have shown that the magnesium Tundish process can produce high quality vermicular graphite irons under the specific industrial conditions of Foundries - Odlewnie Polskie S.A. in Starachowice. In this work describes too preliminary studies on the oxygen state in cast iron and their effect on graphite crystallization.

The study presented in this paper concerned the possibility to apply a heat treatment process to ductile cast-iron thin-walled castings in order to remove excessive quantities of pearlite and eutectic cementite precipitates and thus meet the customer’s requirements. After determining the rates of heating a casting up to and cooling down from 900°C feasible in the used production heat treatment furnace (vh = 300°C/h and vc = 200°C/h, respectively), dilatometric tests were carried out to evaluate temperatures Tgr, TAc1start, TAc1end, TAr1start, and TAr1end. The newly acquired knowledge was the base on which conditions for a single-step ferritizing heat treatment securing disintegration of pearlite were developed as well as those of a two-step ferritization process guaranteeing complete disintegration of cementite and arriving at the required ferrite and pearlite content. A purely ferritic matrix and hardness of 119 HB was secured by the treatment scheme: 920°C for 2 hours / vc = 60°C/h / 720°C for 4 hours. A matrix containing 20–45% of pearlite and hardness of 180–182 HB was obtained by applying: 920°C for 2 hours or 4 hours / vc = 200°C/h to 650°C / ambient air.

The article presents research on solid particle erosive wear resistance of ductile cast iron after laser surface melting. This surface treatment technology enables improvement of wear resistance of ductile cast iron surface. For the test ductile cast iron EN GJS-350-22 surface was processed by high power diode laser HPDL Rofin Sinar DL020. For the research single pass and multi pass laser melted surface layers were made. The macrostructure and microstructure of multi pass surface layers were analysed. The Vickers microhardness tests were proceeded for single pass and multi pass surface layers. The solid particle erosive test according to standard ASTM G76 – 04 with 30°, 60° and 90° impact angle was made for each multi pass surface layer. As a reference material in erosive test, base material EN GJS-350-22 was used. After the erosive test, worn surfaces observations were carried out on the Scanning Electron Microscope. Laser surface melting process of tested ductile cast iron resulted in maximum 3.7 times hardness increase caused by microstructure change. This caused the increase of erosive resistance in comparison to the base material.

This article is a description of the progress of research and development in the area of massive large-scale castings - slag ladles implemented in cooperation with the Faculty of Foundry Engineering of UST in Krakow. Slag ladles are the one of the major castings that has been developed by the Krakodlew (massive castings foundry) for many years. Quality requirements are constantly increasing in relation to the slag ladles. Slag ladles are an integral tool in the logistics of enterprises in the metallurgical industry in the process of well-organized slag management and other by-products and input materials. The need to increase the volume of slag ladles is still growing. Metallurgical production is expected to be achieved in Poland by 2022 at the level of 9.4 million Mg/year for the baseline scenario - 2016 - 9 million Mg/year. This article describes the research work carried out to date in the field of technology for the production of massive slag ladles of ductile cast iron and cast steel.

This paper presents the problems related to smelting gray and ductile cast iron. Special attention is paid to the metallurgical quality of cast iron. It depends on the type of furnace, charge materials and the special combination of charge, overheating and holding temperature, melting time, modification and spheroidization method. The evaluation of metallurgical quality has been performed by using derivativethermal analysis (DTA). During the smelting process and secondary metallurgy, the ITACA system was used allowing to obtain information on alloy characteristic temperatures (Tliquidus, TeMin, TeMax, Tsolidus), VPS value, recalescence value, IGQ coefficient, nucleation gauge, porosity etc. The results of investigations and calculations are displayed in the form of graphs and dependencies. It has been shown that the derivative-thermal analysis (DTA) is an effective complement of chemical analysis and it has been found that both the increase in temperature and metal holding time have a negative impact on the metallurgical quality of liquid metal. The metallurgical quality can be improved by using proper composition of charge materials and modifiers.