Cast iron

CAST IRON
International Welding Engineer
Fatkhy Baridwan
IAB-252 r5-19
IAB-252 r5-19
Cast Iron
• Chemical composition: Cast iron main features:
• Iron with… • Relative cheap.
• C (2-7%). • Easy to cast.
• Si (1-3%). • Readily machined.
• Mn (up to 1%). • Often poor weldability.
Composition Range
Types of Cast Iron
Cast Iron

Grey Nodular Malleable White

Can be Can be
Weldable Unweldable
Welded Welded
Grey Cast Iron Graphite Flakes

• Moderate strength (up to 275 MPa).

• Excellent machinability.
• Poor ductility and toughness.
• Can be welded with Ni-Fe
consumables, or Ni consumables if
the impurity content is low.

Pearlite, Ferrite, or
Pearlite-Ferrite Matrix
Nodular Cast Iron Spheroidal Graphite

• Also called spheroidal graphite (SG)

or ductile iron.
• Obtained by adding Mg or Ce to grey
cast iron.
• Good machinability.
• Highest strength and ductility of the
cast irons.
• Readily welded with most
consumables.

Pearlite, Ferrite, or
Pearlite-Ferrite Matrix
White Cast Iron
Transformed Austenite / Pearlite dendrite

• Due to rapid cooling, carbon forms

Fe3C.
• Very brittle, with poor ductility.
• Highest hardness, good wear
resistance.
• Unweldable.

Interdentritic Cementite Network

Malleable Cast Iron
• Produced by heat treatment of white cast
iron (annealing above 870°C for more than
60h).
• Whiteheart produced in an oxidising
atmosphere (decarburised surface layer).
• Blackheart produced in a neutral or
reducing atmosphere.
• Irregular shape graphite rosettes
precipitate and grow into a ferrite or
pearlitic matrix.
• Good ductility.
• Can be welded, whiteheart easily if the
penetration is low and blackheart more
easily than grey irons.
Whiteheart Malleable Cast Iron
 Obtained when the white cast iron is annealed at
oxidizing atmosphere to remove carbon from the surface.
 The resulting cast iron has silvery-grey fracture and
microstructure do not contain flake graphite. The
resulting whiteheart cast iron will be tough and it can
withstand great compression loads without fracture.
 The microstructure of white-heart malleable cast iron
depends on the thickness of the cast. For small section,
the microstructure is mainly ferrite with some pearlite.
For large section, the surface zone has ferrite structure;
the core and intermediate zone has pearlite, ferrite, and
temper carbon. This causes non-uniform mechanical
properties across the cross-section.
 Whiteheart malleable cast iron is suitable for the
manufacturing the section require high ductility. Eg:
Motorcycle frames, cast iron pipe fittings.
Blackheart Malleable Cast Iron
 Obtained when the white cast iron is annealed at an
inert/ neutral atmosphere.
 The resulting cast iron has a black fracture. The
casting produced blackheart process are more
malleable.
 The microstructure of blackheart malleable cast iron
has matrix of ferrite with temper carbon and it does
not contain flake graphite. The mechanical properties
are uniform throughout the section of casting.
 Black-heart malleable cast iron is widely used in
automobile industries because of their combination
shock resistant, castability, and machinability. Eg:
Brake shoes, wheel hub, axle housing, marine
industries for ship component.
Pearlite Malleable Cast Iron
• Pearlite malleable cast iron is an improved version of
blackheart cast iron, it prepared by controlled heat treatment.
Initially, it is similar to the blackheart cast iron, then it is
reheated to about 900°C.
• The reheating process causes some of the carbon dissolved in
austenite, then on cooling, background pearlite is formed. The
mechanism of this process is similar to the normalizing of
steel.
• The final casting has a homogeneous matrix of pearlite and
other transformation product of austenite.
• The microstructure Pearlite malleable cast iron has graphite in
the form of temper carbon nodules and it does not contain
flake graphite. The resulting casting is tougher, harder, have
high tensile strength, wear resistant; but reduce the ductility
and malleability.
• Pearlite cast iron is used for manufacturing of gears,
camshafts, coupling, axle housing, universal joint yokes
Welding Cast Iron – Braze / Bronze Welding
Braze (also called bronze) welding can be used to join cast irons using a
bronze rod. This process avoids many of the disadvantages of fusion welding
since melting of the parent material does not occur
Advantages
 pick-up of impurity elements such as phosphorus and sulphur from the
casting by the braze metal does not occur.
 the maximum HAZ temperature is much lower so hardened structures are
not produced
 the soft braze metal is generally easily machinable, but ensuring
cleanliness of the iron before braze welding is essential.
Disadvantages
• the joint properties are controlled by a relatively soft braze metal or a
rather weak braze/cast iron interface.
• The lower melting and softening temperature of the braze deposit also

Braze / Bronze Welding limits the maximum service temperature of braze welds, typically to
around 260°C.
• There is also poor colour matching between the braze and the casting.
• It is more difficult to detect imperfections in braze welds than in fusion
welds, due to the metallurgical discontinuity along the bond line as a
whole.
Welding Cast Iron – Arc Welding
A few facts about cast iron help in understanding the welding challenges.

 Cast iron typically has a carbon content of 2% - 4%, roughly 10 times as

much as most steels. The high carbon content causes the carbon to form Things to consider before
flakes of graphite. This graphite gives gray cast iron its characteristic
appearance when fractured. commencing welding of
 When castings are made, molten iron is poured into a mold and allowed Cast iron:
to slowly cool. When this high carbon material is allowed to cool slowly,
crack free castings can be made. Remembering this is helpful when Filler metal selection
welding cast iron: during and after welding, the casting must either be
allowed to cool slowly, or should be kept cool enough that the rate of To heat or not to heat
cooling is not important.
Retention
 When a cast cools down at the right temperature, it shrinks equally in
every direction. When cooling occurs too quickly, the cast iron contracts
and this is what causes the material to crack

 A critical temperature in most cast iron is about 1450 degrees F. When at

this temperature, conditions that can lead to cracking occur. While the
arc will heat the casting to temperatures above this level, it is important
that the casting not be held at this temperature for long periods of time.
Welding Cast Iron – Arc Welding
• Welding is a fast cooling process, so HAZ microstructures • When using the hot technique, cast iron electrodes are
are modified and can be hard and brittle (similar to white often used, the intense, high temperature arc enables
cast iron). higher welding speeds and lower preheat levels with the
flux coating improving arc stability, reducing porosity and
• There are two basic methods to avoid HAZ cracking when adding alloying elements to give a near matching weld
arc welding cast irons deposit (with nodular graphite structure).
• Welding with high preheat and very slow cooling • When opting for the cold technique, nickel-based
• Welding keeping the cast iron as cool as possible. electrodes are used as nickel does not form carbides so
carbon is rejected from the weld area as graphite, the weld
• MMA is widely used in the fabrication and repair of cast metal volume increases and there is less risk of cracking in
iron. The disadvantages of MMA are the greater weld pool the HAZ, but they can be sensitive to solidification (hot)
penetration and parent metal dilution compared to other cracking (especially high Ni electrodes), which means
processes dilution must be limited.
• Welds made with nickel or nickel-iron fillers have generally
• MIG and FCAW can be used to weld cast irons, mainly using higher strength and more ductility than welds made with
dip transfer and can achieve high deposition rates, whilst cast iron electrodes, but with nickel filler the bevel angle
limiting the amount of weld penetration. Solid wires used
are nickel, Monel (70Ni-30Cu) or copper alloys; cored wires needs to be wider because nickel forms a very viscous
used are Ni-Fe or Ni-Fe-Mn. metal weld pool
Consumable for Cast Iron Welding
 Cast iron matching fillers
These are used for the welding of nodular cast irons (the weld metal also has this structure).
The preheat should be high and slow cooling promotes the formation of graphite rather than
carbides. Good colour matching is achieved with this type of consumable. This type of
consumable is usuallyused for oxy-acetylene welding, but can also be used for arc welding.
 Mild steel fillers
Despite a good colour match, these are not recommended, as the deposit will be hard from
carbon dilution into the weld metal. The exception to this is when welding whiteheart
malleable irons and the penetration of the weld is within the decarburised layer.
 Copper based fillers
These have largely been replaced by the Ni-based fillers. However, for bearing surfaces, or
joining cast irons to dissimilar metals, they are still used. These consumables result in deposits
with good sliding and antiseizing properties.
Consumable for Cast Iron Welding
 Nickel based fillers
These are the most widely used fillers in arc welding. No preheat is required. Any carbon
entering the weld pool from dilution from the weld pool is rejected as graphite, generating a
volume change, which helps counteract a tendency for solidification cracking.
• Pure nickel consumables are often used to repair casting defects, but are more susceptible to
solidification cracking. Dilution of the cast iron into the weld pool, particularly for high phosphorus
content grey cast irons increases the risk of solidification cracking to an unacceptable level.
• Nickel-iron (45-60%Ni) is used extensively with nodular irons and is widely used with other cast iron
repairs as they are less susceptible to solidification cracking from impurity dilution.
• Nickel-copper or Monel type fillers are a good choice when the composition of the iron is not known, or
when tolerance of dilution and good machinability are required. These also have a fairly good colour
match to cast irons.