Inoculation Solutions Against Metallurgical Problems

Inoculation can be used to fight many complex iron defects. Five cases will be developed to illustrate in different metallurgical conditions how beneficial some elements can be to solve specific metallurgical issues.Inoculation solutions to fight chunky graphite in heavy-section castings in SGI: An example of the beneficial use of SB/RE-bearing inoculants associated with 10% Ba-bearing inoculant is given.Inoculation of solid solution-strengthened iron (SSFI): SSFI is well known to be difficult to inoculate, and a correct and consistent graphite shape is not easy to obtain. An efficient “package” has been proposed to a foundry producing SSFI, combining Ba-preconditioning and Bi/RE-bearing inoculation.Inoculation of Ni-resist iron: Ni-resist iron is very sensitive to chunky or degenerated graphite because of the high Ni-amount. Here is shown a case where chunky graphite has been found in a foundry, where the problem has been solved using specific inoculants.Inoculation solutions for vertical centrifugal SG iron: An example of successful association of 10% barium inoculant associated with Bi/RE-bearing inoculation is presented on very-heavy-section rolls. Their effects are beneficial to mechanical properties of the bi-metallic material.Ba-inoculation to modify the slag composition: Slag build-up is a normal phenomenon in the metallurgical process but can, however, be a source of various problems. Here is given an example of use of a high-Ba inoculant facilitating de-slagging operations.