The Distinction of Steel and Cast Iron and How to Distinguish

The essential difference between cast iron and cast steel lies in the

difference of chemical composition. In engineering, it is generally

believed that it is iron if containing over 2% carbon and it is steel if

containing below the same volume. Because of difference in volume of

elements causes differences of structure property. Generally speaking,

the plasticity and toughness of steel is better, which shows in the

elongation, cross-section shrinkage and impact toughness. While iron is

hard and brittle.

Cast iron contains more than 2% Carbon. Industrial cast iron generally

contains 2%-4% of Carbon. Carbon exists with the form of graphite in the

cast iron in and sometimes exists in the form of cementite. Apart from

Carbon, cast iron also contains 1% to 3% of Silicon, Manganese,

Phosphorus, Sulfur and other elements. Alloy cast iron also contains

Nickel, Chromium, Molybdenum, Aluminum, Copper, Boron, Vanadium

and other elements. Carbon and Silicon are the main elements that

affect the microstructure and properties of cast iron.

Cast iron can be divided into three kinds. The first kind is gray cast iron

with high volume of carbon (2.7% -4.0%), mainly in the form of flake

graphite, which shortly is named as gray iron because its fracture surface

is grey. It has low melting point (1145 ~ 1250 ), small solidification

shrinkage, tensile strength and hardness close to carbon steel, with good

shock absorption. The second is white cast iron, which contains less

Carbon (mainly in the form of cementite) and Silicon, with silver-white

fracture surface. It has good solidification shrinkage, which easily results

in shrinkage, cracks. Besides it is too brittle with high hardness to bear

the impact load. The third is malleable cast iron made from white cast

iron after annealing treatment. Its graphite exists in flocculent

distribution. It is briefly called tough iron, with uniform structure

property, wear resistance, good plasticity and toughness.

Cast steel china is used for casting cast steel, a kind of cast alloy. Cast

steel is divided into cast carbon steel, casting low alloy steel and casting

special steel.
For Cast carbon steel, Carbon is the main alloying element with a small

amount of other elements. If containing below 0.2% of Carbon, it is low

carbon cast steel; if containing 0.2% - 0.5% of Carbon, it is middle carbon

cast steel; if containing over 0.5% of Carbon, it is high carbon cast steel.

With the increase of carbon content, the strength of cast carbon steel

increases and so does its hardness. Cast carbon steel has much higher

strength, plasticity and toughness and its cost is low so that it is widely

used for making heavy-loaded parts for heavy machinery

For low alloy cast steel, it contains Manganese, Chromium, Copper and

other alloy elements (generally less than 5%) with greater impact

toughness. It can get better mechanical properties by heat treatment.

Casting low-alloy steel has better usage performance than carbon steel,

which can reduce the weight of part and increase service life of parts.
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