Engineers from Wayne State University and Ford Motor Co. presented “Low-Temperature Austempering of Ductile Cast Iron,” at the ASM International Heat Treat 2019 conference in Detroit. Austempered ductile cast iron (ADI) has emerged as very important engineering material in recent years because of its excellent combination of mechanical properties. These include high yield strength, good fatigue strength, high fracture toughness, and high wear resistance. Excellent properties are developed in ADI as a result of a unique microstructure consisting of bainitic ferrite and high-carbon austenite, with graphite nodules dispersed in the matrix.
Ductile cast iron austempering is traditionally carried out in the temperature range of 260 to 400°C temperature range. In this investigation, ductile cast iron was austempered in the low temperature range of 180 to 240°C, with an objective of producing nanoscale microstructures in the material. The influence of low temperature austempering on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ADI was presented in this paper.
Title: Low-Temperature Austempering of Ductile Cast Iron
Authors: Prof. Susil Putatunda, Mr. Deepak Joshi, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. James Boileau, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan.
