SURFACE J125

REAF.
MAY88
VEHICLE
400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001
INFORMATION Issued 1969-09
REPORT Reaffirmed 1988-05

Superseding J125 SEP69

An American National Standard

ELEVATED TEMPERATURE PROPERTIES OF CAST IRONS

Foreword—This Document has not changed other than to put it into the new SAE Technical Standards Board
format.

This document is currently under revision.

1. Scope—The purpose of this SAE Information Report is to provide automotive engineers and designers with a
concise statement of the basic characteristics of cast iron under elevated temperature conditions. As such,
the report concentrates on general statements regarding these properties with limited illustrative data,
anticipating that those who may be interested in more detail will want to use the bibliography provided at the
conclusion of the report.

2. References

2.1 Related Publications—The following publications are provided for information purposes only and are not a
required part of this document.

2.1.1 OTHER PUBLICATIONS

1. "Mechanical Properties of Metals and Alloys." U.S. Dept. of Commerce Circular C-447, National
Bureau of Standards, 1943.
2. Kattus and McPherson, "Properties of Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures." ASTM Special Technical
Publication No. 248.
3. Malleable Iron Casting Handbook. Malleable Founders Society, 1960.
4. Gray Iron Castings Handbook. Gray Iron Founders' Society, Inc., 1958.
5. Cast Metals Handbook. American Foundrymens Society, 1957.
6. Colin J. Smithell, "Metals Reference Book." Washington Butterworths, 1962.
7. Metals Handbook, 8th Edition. American Society for Metals, 1961.
8. "Engineering Properties of Ductile Ni-Resist Austenitic Irons." International Nickel Co., 1955.
9. Schelleng and Eash, "Effect of Composition on the Elevated-Temperature Properties of Ductile Iron."
Proceedings of ASTM, Vol. 57, 1957.
10. Greene and Sefing, "Cast Irons in High Temperature Service." Corrosion, Vol. 11, No. 7, July 1955.
11. Turnbull and Wallace, "Molybdenum Effect on Gray Iron Elevated Temperature Properties."
Transactions AFS, Vol. 67, 1959.
12. F. B. Foley, "Mechanical Properties at Temperature of Ductile Cast Iron." Preprint No. 55-A-204,
ASME, 1955.
13. Engineering Properties of Ni-Resist Ductile Irons." International Nickel Co., 1958.

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All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

14. Elevated Temperature Properties of Ductile Cast Irons." ASM Transactions, Vol. 47, 1955.
15. Scholz, Doane, and Timmons, "Effects of Molybdenum on Stability and High Temperature Properties
of Pearlitic Malleable Iron." AFS Transactions, Vol. 63, 1955.
16. D. A. Pearson, "Stress-Rupture and Elongation of Malleable Iron at Elevated Temperatures." AFS
Transactions, Vol. 74, 1966.
17. W. L. Collins, "Fatigue and Static Load Tests of an Austenitic Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures."
ASTM Proceedings, Vol. 48, 1948.

3. Introduction—Cast irons, like steels and other metals, lose strength as operating temperatures increase.
Composition is of importance not only because of its effect on the basic properties of materials at elevated
temperatures, but also because in cast irons it influences growth resulting from oxidation and microstructural
changes. Irons may be used in most atmospheres at temperatures up to 750 °F without growth being a serious
factor. Beyond 900 °F graphitization can cause growth and above 1200 °F internal oxidation can cause growth
unless sufficient alloy is present to prevent it.

Deterioration of properties at high temperatures is in general time-dependent as well as temperature-

dependent. Even at temperatures where strength has been greatly reduced, many useful hours of life can be
obtained from a structure if proper allowances are made in the initial design. Where applications involve
sustained stress at high temperature, the most valuable information for the designer is the creep rate at the
temperature and stress involved. However, creep rate data generally involve long time tests and as a
consequence complete information has not been generated for all materials under all conditions. Instead, it
has been the practice for many years to compare materials in shorter duration tests. Such tests are called
stress-to-rupture tests or more simply stress-rupture tests. These are conducted in the temperature ranges of
interest but usually at much greater loads than any realistic design. In general, materials showing superior
stress-rupture life have the lowest creep rates. This type of information has been used primarily for material
development work. It can be used by the designer, however, to select better material on a comparison basis.

Several types of iron are included in this section to show trends; they are representative of broad classes of
irons used commercially, and for which thermal data are available in the literature.

4. Effect of Elevated Temperature on Mechanical Properties

4.1 Tensile Strength—The tensile strength of ferrous materials generally shows small changes from room
temperature up to 600–800 °F, at higher temperature the strengths usually fall rather rapidly. The presence of
alloying elements which affect the stability of the higher strength microstructures tends to delay this effect or
raise the temperature at which rapid loss of strength occurs. In some ferrous alloys, changes in microstructure
occur at temperatures between room temperature and 800 °F which may cause small changes in strength and,
in fact, may cause reversals in the strength versus temperature curve. In Figure 1, examples of tensile strength
versus temperature for some typical cast irons are illustrated in comparison with the behavior of low carbon
steel. Generally, the changes in structure which occur over this temperature range are associated with
tempering after hardening. These changes are irreversible.

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FIGURE 1—ELEVATED TEMPERATURE TENSILE STRENGTH

TABLE 1—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION FOR CAST IRONS SHOWN IN FIGURES 1–7

Material Alloying, %

T.C. C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Mo Mg
Alloy gray cast iron (ASTM A 48, No. 60) 3.06 — 1.79 0.70 0.04 0.09 0.61 0.04 0.84 —
(1)
(2)
Alloy gray cast iron (SAE G4500) (2) 3.31 — 1.56 0.68 0.19 0.114 0.08 0.08 0.73 —
Gray cast iron SAE G4000 (2) 3.27 — 1.74 0.72 0.26 0.156 0.08 0.15 0.07 —
Ferritic malleable (3) (Creep and stress 2.16 — 1.01 0.29 0.11 0.074 0.017 — — —
rupture data) 2.29 1.17 0.38 0.148 0.095 0.000
Pearlitic malleable (3) 2.27 — 1.01 0.89 0.135 0.098 0.019 — — —
2.29 1.15 0.75 0.110 0.086 0.000
Ferritic malleable (3) (Elevated temperature 2.30 — 0.98 0.30 0.162 0.078 — — — —
tensile strength data) 2.33 1.05 0.34 0.168 0.084
Gray cast iron SAE G4500 (4) 2.84 — 1.52 1.05 0.07 0.124 0.31 0.20 — —

Ferritic ductile iron (4) 3.7 — 2.6 0.40 — — — 1.0 — —

Low carbon steel (7) — 0.08 0.25 0.30 0.045 0.060 — — — —
0.20 0.80
Austenitic ductile + Cr and Mo (9) 2.38 — 1.99 0.62 — — 3.05 30.18 0.95 0.13
Austenitic ductile + Cr (9) 2.98 — 2.20 1.15 — — 2.36 20.48 — 0.085
Ferritic ductile iron (4) 3.64 — 2.66 0.46 0.032 0.014 — 0.66 — 0.076
Austenitic cast iron (17) 2.63 — 2.14 1.23 0.16 0.059 2.09 14.9 — —
1. Parenthetical numbers indicate source of data in 2.2.

4.2 Stress Rupture Properties—Where metals are required to sustain loads over long periods of time at elevated
temperatures, the stress-rupture test is used as an indication of the relative load-carrying ability at the test
temperature.

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 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

The material is stressed in tension under a constant load at a constant temperature and the time that it takes
the sample to rupture under these conditions is recorded. Separate samples of the material are stressed
under a number of different loads at the same temperature and the rupture times are plotted against load to
give a stress-rupture curve for the material. Typical stress-rupture curves for a number of SAE cast irons and
alloyed irons at 800 °F are plotted in Figure 2. Stress-rupture curves for these and other cast irons at 1000 °F
are plotted in Figure 3, which includes a stress-rupture curve for low carbon wrought steel for comparison.

FIGURE 2—STRESS RUPTURE PROPERTIES OF CAST IRONS AT 800 °F

FIGURE 3—STRESS RUPTURE PROPERTIES OF CAST IRONS AT 1000 °F

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 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

4.3 Creep Properties of Irons—Another important temperature effect on cast irons is the effect of creep or
elongation per hour at a given stress and temperature. These tests are difficult to run on cast irons because of
the growth and oxidation phenomena. Figure 4 shows typical creep curves for some SAE and alloyed cast
irons at 800 ° and 1000 °F. A creep curve for a plain carbon steel at 1000 °F is included for comparison. The
values shown on the creep rate curves in Figure 4 include any growth that occurred during the tests. This
allows these figures to be used as design parameters.

FIGURE 4—CREEP PROPERTIES OF CAST IRONS

4.4 Growth of Cast Iron—Growth in irons is generally defined as the permanent increase in volume which occurs
after prolonged exposure to constant elevated temperatures or after repeated heating and cooling.

The mechanism of growth is rather complex in irons owing to the fact that it results from several different and
independent phenomena; which phenomena occur in any given case is dependent upon the temperature
involved, the environment, the chemical composition and structure of the iron, and the severity of cycling, if any.
The main phenomena which cause growth in irons at temperature are as follows:

1. Oxidation: This may progress into the body of an iron along graphite flakes or cracks, resulting in a
greater dimensional change than in materials where oxidation is limited to the surfaces.
2. Graphitization: If the iron has carbides in its structure and is heated to a temperature which will
decompose the carbide structures (this temperature will vary considerably with chemistry), the
resulting ferrite and graphite will occupy considerably greater volume than the original carbide.
3. Crazing or Thermal Cracking: When an iron is repeatedly heated and cooled through a transformation
range, the stresses, imposed by the expansion and contraction resulting from the transformation, will
cause crazing.

Ductile and malleable irons are less affected by oxidation than gray iron. Some investigators have indicated
that this difference is a result of graphite carbon shapes. Alloyed irons are usually less susceptible to growth,
and this can either be due to an increased stability of the structure at the temperature involved, improved
oxidation resistance, or a change of the critical temperature so the part does not experience a transformation in
the temperature range. Examples of the growth experienced by some common SAE irons are shown in Figure
5.

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FIGURE 5—CAST IRON GROWTH AT 1000 °F

4.5 Endurance Limit—Relatively little data are available on the endurance limit of cast irons at elevated
temperatures. The curves in Figure 6 show the relationship between the tensile strength and the endurance
limit of a low carbon equivalent low alloy gray cast iron up to a temperature of 1100 °F. It can be seen that the
endurance ratio is nearly constant from room temperature to 1100 °F for this iron. It is probable that for most
gray cast irons heated in air, the endurance ratio would remain nearly constant up to a temperature at which
changes occur in the structure or severe oxidation takes place. A second set of curves for an austenitic gray
iron are included in Figure 6. This shows how the endurance limit is affected by structure.

FIGURE 6—EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE LIMIT

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5. Effect of Temperature on Physical Properties

5.1 Modulus of Elasticity—The modulus of elasticity at room temperature varies considerably for the various
types of iron. It is difficult to give representative figures; but, in general, it can be said that the cast irons do not
show a marked drop in modulus up to 800 °F.

5.2 Specific Heat—of ferritic malleable iron:

Temperature Range Mean Specific Heat

F C Btu/lb-F Cal/g-C
70- 210 20-100 0.122 0.122
70- 570 20-300 0.128 0.128
70- 750 20-400 0.139 0.139
70-1300 20-700 0.159 0.159

The specific heat of pearlitic malleable iron is substantially the same as that of ferritic malleable.

In gray cast iron the specific heat varies with the temperature and the structure; therefore, a temperature range
which causes a change in microstructure may result in a reversal in the specific heat versus temperature curve
which will result in a curve such as Figure 7. A commonly used figure for average cast irons is 0.13 cal/g-C.

FIGURE 7—SPECIFIC HEAT VERSUS TEMPERATURE FOR A GRAY CAST IRON (4)

5.3 Thermal Conductivity—The thermal conductivity of gray cast iron varies considerably with both temperature
and composition. Most plain and alloy gray irons will have a thermal conductivity of 0.10 to 0.135 cal-cm/
s-cm2-C at 100 °C and this will drop to about 0.09-0.115 cal-cm/s-cm2C at 400 °C. Some specific cases are
given in the following table:

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 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

Grade or Type Cal-cm/s-cm 2-C Btu-in/h-ft2-F

At 100 °C At 400 °C at 212 °C at 750 °F

SAE G4000 +Low S 0.135 0.114 391.5 330.6
SAE G5000 0.110 0.100 319 290
Mo alloyed (ASTM A 48, No. 55) 0.118 0.108 342.2 313.2
Mo+Ni alloyed (ASTM A 48, No. 55) 0.106 0.097 307.4 281.3

Malleable iron has a thermal conductivity of about 0.151 cal-cm/s-cm2-C at 100 °C (437.9 Btu-in/h-ft2-F at
212 °F) and 0.139 cal-cm/s-cm2-C at 400 °C (403.1 Btu-in/h-ft2-F at 750 °F).

Ductile cast iron has the following conductivity.

Type Cal-cm/s-cm2-°°C Btu-in/h-ft2-°°F

At 100 ° C At 400 ° C At 212 ° F At 750 °F
Ferritic 0.0845 0.0821 239.3 238.1
Pearlitic 0.075 0.0761 217.5 220.7
Austenitic At Room Temperature At Room Temperature
0.032 92.8

5.4 Average Coefficient of Expansion—The coefficient of expansion of cast irons varies with temperature, and
to a lesser degree with alloy content and structure or heat treatment. The following table gives values
commonly used:

Type of Iron Mean Coefficient of Linear Expansion

cm/c-°°C in/in°°F
0-500 °C 32-932 °F
Gray iron 12.96 x 10−6 7.2 x 10 −6
Ferritic malleable 11.88 x 10−6 6.6 x 10 −6
Pearlitic malleable −6 7.5 x 10 −6
13.5 x 10
20-200 °C 68-392 °F
Ferritic ductile 11.85−12.65 x 10−6 6.6− 7.0 x 10−6
Pearlitic ductile 11.7 − 11.85 x 10−6 6.5− 6.6 x 10−6
Austenitic ductile 3.98−18.9 x 19−6 2.2−10.5 x 10−6

6. Bibliography

1. "Mechanical Properties of Metals and Alloys." U.S. Dept. of Commerce Circular C-447, National
Bureau of Standards, 1943.
2. Kattus and McPherson, "Properties of Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures." ASTM Special Technical
Publication No. 248.
3. Malleable Iron Casting Handbook. Malleable Founders Society, 1960.
4. Gray Iron Castings Handbook. Gray Iron Founders' Society, Inc., 1958.
5. Cast Metals Handbook. American Foundrymens Society, 1957.
6. Colin J. Smithell, "Metals Reference Book." Washington Butterworths, 1962.
7. Metals Handbook, 8th Edition. American Society for Metals, 1961.

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 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

8. "Engineering Properties of Ductile Ni-Resist Austenitic Irons." International Nickel Co., 1955.
9. Schelleng and Eash, "Effect of Composition on the Elevated-Temperature Properties of Ductile Iron."
Proceedings of ASTM, Vol. 57, 1957.
10. Greene and Sefing, "Cast Irons in High Temperature Service." Corrosion, Vol. 11, No. 7, July 1955.
11. Turnbull and Wallace, "Molybdenum Effect on Gray Iron Elevated Temperature Properties."
Transactions AFS, Vol. 67, 1959.
12. F. B. Foley, "Mechanical Properties at Temperature of Ductile Cast Iron." Preprint No. 55-A-204,
ASME, 1955.
13. Engineering Properties of Ni-Resist Ductile Irons." International Nickel Co., 1958.
14. Elevated Temperature Properties of Ductile Cast Irons." ASM Transactions, Vol. 47, 1955.
15. Scholz, Doane, and Timmons, "Effects of Molybdenum on Stability and High Temperature Properties
of Pearlitic Malleable Iron." AFS Transactions, Vol. 63, 1955.
16. D. A. Pearson, "Stress-Rupture and Elongation of Malleable Iron at Elevated Temperatures." AFS
Transactions, Vol. 74, 1966.
17. W. L. Collins, "Fatigue and Static Load Tests of an Austenitic Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures."
ASTM Proceedings, Vol. 48, 1948.

PREPARED BY THE SAE IRON AND STEEL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE, SAE DIVISION 35—
ELEVATED TEMPERATURE PROPERTIES OF FERROUS METALS

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 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

Rationale—Not applicable.

Relationship of SAE Standard to ISO Standard—Not applicable.

Application—The purpose of this SAE Information Report is to provide automotive engineers and designers
with a concise statement of the basic characteristics of cast iron under elevated temperature conditions.
As such, the report concentrates on general statements regarding these properties with limited
illustrative data, anticipating that those who may be interested in more detail will want to use the
bibliography provided at the conclusion of the report.

Reference Section

"Mechanical Properties of Metals and Alloys." U.S. Dept. of Commerce Circular C-447, National Bureau
of Standards, 1943.

Kattus and McPherson, "Properties of Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures." ASTM Special Technical
Publication No. 248.

Malleable Iron Casting Handbook. Malleable Founders Society, 1960.

Gray Iron Castings Handbook. Gray Iron Founders' Society, Inc., 1958.

Cast Metals Handbook. American Foundrymens Society, 1957.

Colin J. Smithell, "Metals Reference Book." Washington Butterworths, 1962.

Metals Handbook, 8th Edition. American Society for Metals, 1961.

"Engineering Properties of Ductile Ni-Resist Austenitic Irons." International Nickel Co., 1955.

Schelleng and Eash, "Effect of Composition on the Elevated-Temperature Properties of Ductile Iron."
Proceedings of ASTM, Vol. 57, 1957.

Greene and Sefing, "Cast Irons in High Temperature Service." Corrosion, Vol. 11, No. 7, July 1955.

Turnbull and Wallace, "Molybdenum Effect on Gray Iron Elevated Temperature Properties." Transactions
AFS, Vol. 67, 1959.

F. B. Foley, "Mechanical Properties at Temperature of Ductile Cast Iron." Preprint No. 55-A-204, ASME,
1955.

Engineering Properties of Ni-Resist Ductile Irons." International Nickel Co., 1958.

Elevated Temperature Properties of Ductile Cast Irons." ASM Transactions, Vol. 47, 1955.

Scholz, Doane, and Timmons, "Effects of Molybdenum on Stability and High Temperature Properties of
Pearlitic Malleable Iron." AFS Transactions, Vol. 63, 1955.

D. A. Pearson, "Stress-Rupture and Elongation of Malleable Iron at Elevated Temperatures." AFS

Transactions, Vol. 74, 1966.

W. L. Collins, "Fatigue and Static Load Tests of an Austenitic Cast Iron at Elevated Temperatures."
ASTM Proceedings, Vol. 48, 1948.
 SAE J125 Reaffirmed MAY88

Developed by the SAE Division 35 Elevated Temperature Properties of Ferrous Metals

Sponsored by the SAE Iron and Steel Technical Committee