Ablation Casting of High-Aluminum Ductile Cast Iron (Fe-C-Al-Mg)

This paper investigates the ablation process's effects on aluminum ductile cast iron's microstructure and mechanical properties with the chemical composition of Fe-3.2C-8.5Al-0.05Mg. Cast thicknesses of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 32 mm were investigated. The extreme section thicknesses of 2 and 32mm are described in detail in this report. It was found that ablation increased the solidification rate, reduced graphite nodule size and secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and increased nodule count and nodularity. The microstructure of both conventional and ablation casting had a hard kappa pearlitic structure, which ablation made finer and harder and additionally formed hard martensite around the graphite nodules.