Abrasion and impact properties of partially chilled ductile iron

This paper reports the results of laboratory tests carried out to evaluate the abrasion wear resistance and impact properties of partially chilled ductile iron (PCDI). The versatility of the casting process allows the use of coolers (commonly referred as chills) at specified locations in the mold, in order to increase the solidification rate and in consequence, obtain a high carbide phase formation. Three different composition heats of low alloy ductile iron were studied, varying the silicon content and/or equivalent carbon. Besides abrasion and impact properties, an exhaustive microstructural analysis was carried out, evaluating the carbide content, nodule count and matrix phases. The impact toughness was low due to the high carbide content. It was observed that under the current experimental conditions (ASTM G 65 standard), very low wear rates relative to SAE 1010 were obtained for those samples with high carbide content and pearlitic matrix.