Effect of Deformation Parameters on Microstructural Evolution of GGG 40 Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron Alloy

Abstract

Studying the thermo-mechanical behavior of ductile iron is necessary to develop the rolling process for ductile iron sheet/strip production, thus, extending its application by replacing steel in several fields such as machine casing, constructional applications, etc. In order to predict the safe rolling conditions for producing sheets and strips, the thermo-mechanical behavior of a ductile iron alloy, with CE of 4.48, is studied by physical simulation of hot rolling process using Gleeble-3500 simulator. The test was conducted on specimens at a range of deformation temperatures from 800°C to 950°C while three different strain rates; namely 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 s -1 were used. The results obtained, show minimum values of flow stresses at 850°C. By increasing the deformation temperature up to 900°C, the flow stresses increased to reach maximum values, beyond which the flow stress decreased again. A remarkable dynamic recrystallization is observed at the deformation temperatures of 850°C and 800°C with applied strain rates of 0.05 and 0.1 s -1 . Gleeble test results are correlated with microstructure observations on samples quenched at their deformation temperatures, where the changes in structure and graphite morphology are reported. The deformation process at high temperatures namely 950°C and 900°C result in changing the graphite shape from a spheroidal-like to a saucer-like shape. However, by decreasing the deformation temperature to 850°C as well as 800°C, graphite with lamellar shape is observed. As a conclusion, ductile iron could be successfully deformed without cracking at the applied conditions.