610

J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.17 No.6, 2001

Shrinkage Behaviour of Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron in Green and Dry Sand Molds for the Benchmarking of Solidi cation Simulation
Wenzhen LIl and Baicheng LIU
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China _

Jiarong LI
Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing 100095, China _
. , [ Manuscript received September 11, 2000, in revised form October 30, 2000]

The effects of metallurgical and processing parameters on the formation of shrinkage cavities and porosities in spheroidal graphite cast iron have been studied, considering the parameters of carbon equivalent, inoculation, casting modulus, mold (type (green or dry) and pouring temperature within specific ranges of these variables. Based on the orthogonal experiments, the metallurgical and processing parameters of the minimum casting shrinkage and the maximum casting shrinkage were obtained, and the effects of metallurgical and processing parameters on the formation of shrinkage cavities and porosities in spheroidal graphite cast iron castings were discussed. Finally, two regression equations relating these variables to the formation of shrinkage porosity were derived based upon the orthogonal experiments conducted._ A >

1. Introduction
A principle concern in the production of ductile iron castings (or spheroidal graphite iron castings) de rives from the shrinkage behavior and the formation of shrinkage cavity and macroporosity, particularly as it develops in green or dry sand molds. Since ductile iron castings become more and more important especially in automobile and metallurgical industries, study of shrinkage behavior and prediction of shrinkage cavity and macroporosity of ductile iron castings by numer ical simulation is of important signi cance. A lot of research has been done on both the shrinkage behav ior and the formation of shrinkage cavity and porosity in ductile ironl1"10l. In general, the previous studies have concluded that shrinkage behavior andporosity formation during the freezing of ductile iron can be affected by a number of metallurgical and processing variables, such as pouring temperature, carbon equiv alent, inoculation, modulus and the hardness of green sand mold. However, few investigators have compre hensively studied this subject and complete clarity as to the signi cant control factors has not been well de termined. The objective "of this work is to provide further information whereby the formation of the shrinkage cavity and porosity in ductile iron occurs so that this concept can be included in computer simulation of so lidi cation and the data obtained can be used for the benchmarking of solidi cation modeling.
T To whom correspondence should be addressed E mail: zqqlwz@tsinghua.edu.cn

2. Experimental

It is well recognized that the following factors are associated with the development of shrinkage in duc tile iron castings: 4 (1) composition: carbon equivalent value (2) inoculation, or post inoculation (3) casting geometry: section modulus and feeding

paths

(4) molding medium: mold hardness and stability These factors are not all inclusive, and it is recog nized that other parameters also in uence shrinkage cavity formation (e.g., trace elements, pouring tem perature etc). However, in this work these four fac tors, examined at three levels, were selected in order to study their effect on the shrinkage behavior . and shrinkage cavity formation in ductile iron cast into green sand molds as listed in Table 1, and the same factors and levels were selected into dry sand molds. The sample castings selected for this study were T shaped castings as shownin Fig.1. Carbon equivalent (CE) values for the castings are presented in Table 1, with other composition values within the ranges shown as follows: ~ 0.15 ~ 0.35% Mn 0.045 ~ 0.050% Mg 0.0054 ~ 0.015% RE < 0.05% P < 0.03% S

Green sand molds were prepared with the mold hard ness within the following ranges: 45/~50, 60~65 and 75/~80. It is apparent that high mold hardness values, characteristic of more stable green sand molds, were not included in this study, e.g., >90. Dry sand molds were prepared with the mold hardness of green sand molds within the range 85~92.

J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.1? No.6, 2001

611

Table 1 Experimental factors and factor levels Factor ~ level 1 2 3 . Carbon equivalent /wt pct ' ' 4.94 4.65 3.92 i Inoculation /wt pct 1.4 1.1 0.8 Modulus /cm 2.70 T 1.95 1.20 Green sand mold hardness 75~80 . 60~65 45~50 Section width, T /mm 94.39 56.97 31.67

Table 2 Chemical composition (wt pct)

Heats
2. 3 5

C
3.16 3.66 4.31

Si
2.28 2.97 1.88

C+Si/3
3.92 4.65 4.94

C+Si/7
3.49 4.08 4.58

'Mn
0.27 0.16 0.34

P
0.040 0.037 0.046

S
0.027 0.029 0.009

RE
0.011 0.013 0.007

Mg
0.045 0.050 0.040

Dissection posit ion

* _' :_~ __1 sf v '

I. N
Cope 3 _

W5

Fig.1 Construction and dimensions of sample casting

I Depression / First shrinkage cavity

listed in Table 2 and all the experimental results are shown in Table 3. The sample casting number as shown in Table 3 consists of three digits, the rst number refers to the heat, the second one refers to the mold type and last one refers to the casting mod ulus. As shown in Fig.1 and Table 3, Vd is the total volume of all depressions or surface sinks, V is the nominal volume of the casting assuming no shrinkage or porosity, V1 is the volume of the primary shrink age cavity and l/ is the volume of the secondary and other shrinkage cavities. Then, VP indicates the total shrinkage volume consisting of the sum of Vd, V1 and l/ in the casting. All shrinkage volumes were mea sured from the dissected castings as shown in Fig.1. All the rubbings taken of dissected sample castings to illustrate shrinkage cavity are shown in Fig.3 for the green sand molds and in Fig.4 for the dry sand molds. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Shrinkage porosity percent The shrinkage porosity percent Y=Vp / V used in Table 3 is de ned as total shrinkage of the casting, while V1 / V represents the shrinkage porosity percent of the primary cavities and V2 / V indicates the per cent of the secondary cavities. Based on the results of orthogonal experiments, the range analysis of the effects of all the factorson the shrinkage porosity per cent, VP / V, is presented in Table 4 and K1, K2 and K3 are de ned as follows: KJ.:_
00 I
QMQ

G
Depression

/ Depression Second shrinkage cavity = I

Fig.2 Location of shrinkage cavities and surface depres sions on sample castings ,

Heats wereiprepared using induction furnace in a commercial foundry where I liquid iron were held at 1520C for 5 to 8 min prior to treatment with 1.5% Mg FeSi alloy containing 5%Mg and little rare earths. This was followed by inoculation with a total of 0.8% FeSi alloy added during tapping, the post inoculations were performed separately with 0, 0.3% and 0.6% FeSi alloy added during transfer to the pouring la dles. Pouring temperatures were measured and ther mal, analyses of selected sample castings were deter mined. Chemical compositions of all heats were ana lyzed, the volumes of shrinkage cavities were recorded, and the densities of the castings were documented by using buoyancy measurements. g The chemical compositions of the three heats are

:<..
k:

/3

|I

\_/

i oa

where i the factor level (i.e., i=1, 2, 3), ' j the experiment when the factor level is 2'
(i.e., j=1, 2, 3),

Y, , Y(Y=Vp/V) of the experiment j when _ the factor level is 2'. _ _ _ Since the range, R, ofia certain factor 1nd1cates the in uence of that factor at the selected factor level on the shrinkage porosity of the casting, the order of the effects of the different factors on the shrinkage cav ity of the casting in green sand molds is: 1) casting modulus, 2) mold hardness, 3) inoculation, and 4)

612
' Heats

J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.17 No.6, 2001

Table 3 Density and porosity percent of sample. castings Mold type green ~ 2 dry Casting number 213 212 211 223 222 221 313 312 311 323 322 321 513 512 511 523 522 521 Density g/cm3 Vd/ V %

green 3 dry

green 5 dry

7.0776 0.714 7.1659 0.673 7.1388 0.034 7.1823 0.187 7.1714 0.418 7.1315 0.028 O 7.0306 7.0083 1 0.183 7.0131 0.047 Q 7.0298 Q 7.0130 iji 7.0374 6.9951 0.305 Q 6.9933 iji 6.9927 7.0250 0.088 Fl 6.9860 1: 6.9775
3J

V1/V % 0 0.067 2.893 0 0.144 1.558 0.447 2.360 1.652 0 0.137 0 0.759 1.908 1.909 0 0.404 0.399

V2/V

Y=v,,/v
%
1.400 1.832 3.173 0.306 1.178 1.586 1.137 2.543 1.699 0.074 0.137 0 1.108 1.908 1.909 0.088 0.404 0.399

%
0.686

l\JiI

1.072 0.246 0.119 616

P

lul
F\

0.690 l_,|
7"

1::

0.074
1 I 0

0.044
lb!

(:2 _)

lkl

(:2 v)

(:)

Table 4 Range analysis of the porosity percent of sample castings Factor K1 ~ K2 K3 Range R Mold type green dry green dry green dry green dry Carbon equivalent /wt pct. Inoculation /wt pct 1.951 0.281 2.073 0.688 1.546 0.422 0.527 0.407 Modulus /cm 2.260 0.662 2.094 0.573 1.215 0.156 1.045 0.506 1.626 1.669 2.275 0.649 Mold hardness

1.642 0.297 1.793 0.070 2.135 1.023

0.493 0.953

.!..L..L
212 211 311 511

Fig.3 Rubbings taken of dissected sample castings to il lustrate shrinkage formation (green sand mold)

Fig.4 Rubbings taken of dissected sample castings to il lustrate shrinkage formation (dry sand mold

carbon equivalent. In addition, in dry sand molds the order of the effects of the different factors on the shrinkage cavity of the casting is: 1) carbon equiva lent, 2) casting modulus, and 3) inoculation. 3.2 Effect of carbon equivalent (CE) The in uence of carbon equivalent on the shrink age porosity percent of the castings is shown in Fig.5.

For green sand molds, the shrinkage porosity percent decreases with higher CE which is in agreement with that of Wallace et al.[3l. For dry sand molds, it 1S evident that porosity percent decreases and then in creases with increased carbon equivalent, with a min imum value at 4.65% carbon equivalent. 3.3 E ect of inoculation The effect of the degree of inoculation (total addi

J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.17 No.6, 2001

613

2.5
OGreen Sand Mold
' ODry Sand Mold

3.0
OGreen Sand Mold
2_5 ODry Sand Mold . O

o oi '0 ty ! %ent rosc per Po

U1

percen

<99

Poros tytl% Carbon equivalentl %

Q.'.* !~>011 o U*
.

'30 4.0 4.2 4.4: 4.6 4.8 5.0

0.0

12

16

20

24

28

Modulus/cm
Fig.7 Effect of casting modulus on the porosity percent of sample castings I

Fig.5 Effect of carbon equivalent on the porosity per cent of sample castings

2.4 3.0
4

j
OGreen Sand Mold ODiy Sand Mold

2.21
O

.8

O
yp rcentl t N..011 ros (J1 O UU 0 Po % e
0.

%entl \ .6 perc
= .4 .2 .0 40

Poros'ty 0.8 1.0 1.2 Inoculation! % 1.4 1 1.6

(0.6

50 60 70 Hardness of green sand mold

80

Fig.6 Effect of inoculation on the porosity percent of sample castings '

Fig.8 Effect of green sand mold hardness on the porosity percent of sample castings

tion of 75% FeSi) is shown in Fig.6. The typical amount of inoculant addition is about 0.3 to 1.0% FeSi alloy containing 75%Si, and the higher amounts of inoculantwere used here only to illustrate the ef fect of inoculation on the shrinkage porosity percent. It is evident that shrinkage porosity increases and then decreases with the increase of inoculation, with a maximum value of porosity percent at 1.1% inocu lation. Wallace et al.l3l showed that higher inocula tion resulted in higher nodule counts, which resulted in increased shrinkage cavity volumes, while Raol5l reported that the formation of shrinkage cavity and porosity with increased inoculation was mysterious. Takamori's study showed that the shrinkage volume of casting was decreased when inoculation was increased when using a rigid moldlgl. It is apparent that the in uence of inoculation on shrinkage porosity is dependent upon other factors, as well as those studied, and that the metallurgical and processing aspects of the ductile iron can cause varied results. Certainly, this is related to the solidi cation mode and to the stability of the mold cavity as solidi cation occurs. 3.4 E ect of the casting geometry (modulus) The in uence of casting modulus on the shrinkage

porosity percent of the castings is illustrated in Fig.7. With an increase in casting modulus there is an in crease in the shrinkage porosity, again con rming the results of Wallace et a.l.l3l. 3.5 E ect of molding medium As is readily apparent from the data presented in Fig.8, the mold hardness has a signi cant effect on the porosity percent of the castings in green sand molds. The porosity percent decreases with an increase of green sand mold hardness. In order to further study this effect, a special heat of 3.73% C and 2.60% Si was produced using a pouring temperature between 1250 and l260C. The results are presented in Table 5, where it is noted that, even with such a low pouring temperature, a sound casting could not be produced (without the use of a riser) in green sand mold. 3.6 Comprehensive effects of metallurgical and pro cessing parameters When considering the variables of carbon equiva
Table 5 "Effect of mold conditions on the porosity percent of sample castings Casting No. 1 13 1 12
111

Factor level Y(%) Hardness Modulus Inoculation 3 3 3 0.0026 2 2 2 0.9355

1 1 1 1.4650

614

J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.17 No.6, 2001

Table 6 In uences of factors on the porosity percent of sample castings Factor Varying range Factor values of Ymax & Ymin AY/% Mold type green dry green dry green dry Carbon equivalent Inoculation /wt pct Modulus /cm Pouring temperature/ C Mold hardness

3.49~4.53 3.49~4.53 3.49, 4.53 3.49, 4.53

0.606 0.969

0.3~1.4 0.3~1.4 0.3, 1.1 1.1, 1.4 0.537 0.334

1.135 \ 2.717 1.213~2.705 1.135, 2.717 1.213, 2.705 1.147 0.569

1230~1320 1230~1320 1230, 1320 1230, 1320 0.357 0.015

45~75 45, 75 0.593

lent, inoculation, casting modulus, green sand mold hardness and pouring temperature, the following re gression equations were obtained: For green sand mold

Y(%) = 0.0064131}, 0.55608CE + 10.6450321

46597262? + 2.711647M 0.51565M2 0.1629126}! + 0.00119179H2 7.35724 (2)
For dry sand mold

Y(%) = 0.000377},

16.068CE + 1.904(CE)2 (3)

+7.7691 3.61912 + 1.891M 0.386M2 + 27.405

where CE = C% + 1/7Si%. In the above equations, Y refers to porosity percent, T0 to pouring tempera ture, CE to carbon equivalent, I to inoculation, H to green sand mold hardness and M to casting modulus. Using these regression equations, the effects of each experimental parameter on the formation of shrinkage porosity are summarized in Table 6. Over the range of variables considered, in green sand molds the decreasing order of these effects is: casting modu lus, carbon equivalent, green sand mold hardness, in oculation and pouring temperature, with the effect of casting modulus being the most signi cant and pour ing temperature having least signi cance. While in dry sand molds, the decreasing order of the effects of metallurgical and processing factors is: carbon equiv alent, casting modulus, inoculation and pouring tem perature, with the effect of carbon equivalent being the most signi cant and pouring temperature having least signi cance. 4. Conclusions (1) The effects of metallurgical and processing pa rameters on the formation of the solidi cation shrink age cavity and macroporosity in ductile iron have been studied, considering the parameters of carbon equiva lent, inoculation, casting modulus, mold hardness in cluding dry and green molds and pouring temperature within speci c ranges of these variables. (2) In green sand molds, casting modulus is the most important factor in shrinkage formation. In creased carbon equivalent results in a decrease in

shrinkage formation as well as in the casting density. Mold hardness is also important, and a shrinkage free casting could not be obtained even with an extremely low pouring temperature. (3) In dry sand molds, carbon equivalent is the most important factor in shrinkage formation. It is evident that porosity percent decreases and then in creases with increasing carbon equivalent, with a min imum value at 4.65% carbon equivalent. It is obvious that porosity percent increalses and then decreases with the increase of inoculation, with a maximum value of porosity percent at 1.1% inoculation. With an increase in casting modulus there is an increase in the shrinkage porosity. (4) The regression equations relating these vari ables to the formation of the shrinkage cavity and macroporosity were derived based upon the orthogo nal experiments conducted. (5) The results obtained in this work can be used for the benchmarking of solidi cation modeling of S.G. cast iron.
Acknowledgement The paper was nancially supported by the Na tional Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 59235102). The authors would like to thank senior en gineers H.B. Xian.g, H.J. Tong and Y.T.Xie for providing experimental assistance and Shougang General Machinery Plant (China) for providing the laboratory facilities.

REFERENCES
1 _ C.E.Bates and B.Patterson: AFS Trans., 1979, 87, 323. 2: S.I.Karsay: Ductile Iron: Gating and Risering, QIT Feret Titane, 1981. 3: J.F.Wallace and P.K.Samal: AFS Trans., 1984, 92, 765 4: K.C.Su, I.Ohnaka, I.Yainauchi and T.Fukusako: Imono, 1986, 58(10), 702. (in Japanese) 5: M.S.C.Rao and M.N.Srinivasan: AFS Trans., 1988, 96, 551. 6: S.Takamori, E.Niyama and K.Ikawa: Imono, 1989, 61(12), 906. (in Japanese) 7 if S.Takamori: Proc. of Cast Iron IV, MRS, 1990, 455. 8 Y.Yang and J.Alhainen: AFS Trans, 1992, 100, 129. 9 g S.Takarnori and E.Niyama: Imono, 1992, 64(5), 338. (in Japanese) [10 S.Takarnori and E.Niyama: Imono, 1993, 65(1), 31. t (in Japanese)