What is Ductile Iron?
In 1943, in an effort to create an iron with better mechanical properties than either gray or malleable iron, Keith Dwight Millis made a ladle addition of magnesium (as a copper-magnesium alloy) to cast iron while working in the International Nickel Company Research Laboratory. The resulting castings contained not flakes, but nearly perfect spheres of graphite. This discovery opened the door to dramatic new possibilities in metal applications. Ductile iron offers versatility and high performance at low costs.
Since 1948, Ductile Iron castings have proven to be an effective, lower cost alternative to malleable iron castings, steel forgings and steel fabrications. It appears Ductile Iron was invented with the designer in mind. High Tensile Strength, yield strength and elongation combine to give Ductile Iron a superior strength to weight ratio that adds up to more strength for less expense.
Ductile Iron Cost Savings
In addition to the cost advantages offered by all castings, Ductile Iron, when compared to steel and Malleable Iron castings, also offers further cost savings. Like most commercial cast metals, steel and Malleable Iron decrease in volume during solidification, and as a result, require attached reservoirs (feeders or risers) of liquid metal to offset the shrinkage and prevent the formation of internal or external shrinkage defects.
The formation of graphite during solidification causes an internal expansion of Ductile Iron as it solidifies. This property of Ductile iron reduces requirements for feed metal as well as material and energy requirements, resulting in substantial cost savings. The use of the most common grades of Ductile Iron "as-cast" eliminates heat treatment costs, offering a further advantage.
For more information on the advantages of Ductile Iron, see the Ductile Iron Society article, "Why Convert to Ductile Iron?"
MTI Ductile Iron Production
Metal Technologies currently has the capacity to produce 167,840 tons of ductile iron castings per year. Casting sizes range from 1 lb to 40 lbs. MTI foundries produce all standard grades of ductile iron, including 100-70-03, 80-55-06 and 65-45-12.
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Information on Ductile Iron provided in part by the Ductile Iron Society Website.
Ductile Iron Capacity:
167,840 tons
Casting Sizes:
1 to 20 Lbs
Ductile Iron Grades:
All standard grades, including SAE J434 D4512, D5506, D7003 and other similar grades
Microstructure of Ductile Iron, unetched: 100X
Microstructure of Ductile Iron, nital etched: 100X
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