Cast iron

Cast iron is a group of iron-carbon alloys

with a carbon content more than 2%.[1] Its
usefulness derives from its relatively low
melting temperature. The alloy
constituents affect its colour when
fractured: white cast iron has carbide
impurities which allow cracks to pass
straight through, grey cast iron has
graphite flakes which deflect a passing
crack and initiate countless new cracks as
the material breaks, and ductile cast iron
has spherical graphite "nodules" which
stop the crack from further progressing.

Various examples of cast iron

Carbon (C) ranging from 1.8 to 4 wt%, and

silicon (Si) 1–3 wt%, are the main alloying
elements of cast iron. Iron alloys with
lower carbon content are known as steel.

Cast iron tends to be brittle, except for

malleable cast irons. With its relatively low
melting point, good fluidity, castability,
excellent machinability, resistance to
deformation and wear resistance, cast
irons have become an engineering
material with a wide range of applications
and are used in pipes, machines and
automotive industry parts, such as
cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and
gearbox cases. It is resistant to damage
by oxidation.
The earliest cast-iron artefacts date to the
5th century BC, and were discovered by
archaeologists in what is now Jiangsu in
China. Cast iron was used in ancient China
for warfare, agriculture, and architecture.[2]
During the 15th century, cast iron became
utilized for cannon in Burgundy, France,
and in England during the Reformation.
The amounts of cast iron used for cannon
required large scale production.[3] The first
cast-iron bridge was built during the 1770s
by Abraham Darby III, and is known as The
Iron Bridge in Shropshire, England. Cast
iron was also used in the construction of
buildings.
Production
Cast iron is made from pig iron, which is
the product of melting iron ore in a blast
furnace. Cast iron can be made directly
from the molten pig iron or by re-melting
pig iron,[4] often along with substantial
quantities of iron, steel, limestone, carbon
(coke) and taking various steps to remove
undesirable contaminants. Phosphorus
and sulfur may be burnt out of the molten
iron, but this also burns out the carbon,
which must be replaced. Depending on the
application, carbon and silicon content are
adjusted to the desired levels, which may
be anywhere from 2–3.5% and 1–3%,
respectively. If desired, other elements are
then added to the melt before the final
form is produced by casting.

Cast iron is sometimes melted in a special

type of blast furnace known as a cupola,
but in modern applications, it is more often
melted in electric induction furnaces or
electric arc furnaces. After melting is
complete, the molten cast iron is poured
into a holding furnace or ladle.

Types

Alloying elements …
Iron-cementite meta-stable diagram

Cast iron's properties are changed by

adding various alloying elements, or
alloyants. Next to carbon, silicon is the
most important alloyant because it forces
carbon out of solution. A low percentage
of silicon allows carbon to remain in
solution forming iron carbide and the
production of white cast iron. A high
percentage of silicon forces carbon out of
solution forming graphite and the
production of grey cast iron. Other alloying
agents, manganese, chromium,
molybdenum, titanium and vanadium
counteracts silicon, promotes the
retention of carbon, and the formation of
those carbides. Nickel and copper
increase strength, and machinability, but
do not change the amount of graphite
formed. The carbon in the form of graphite
results in a softer iron, reduces shrinkage,
lowers strength, and decreases density.
Sulfur, largely a contaminant when
present, forms iron sulfide, which prevents
the formation of graphite and increases
hardness. The problem with sulfur is that it
makes molten cast iron viscous, which
causes defects. To counter the effects of
sulfur, manganese is added because the
two form into manganese sulfide instead
of iron sulfide. The manganese sulfide is
lighter than the melt, so it tends to float
out of the melt and into the slag. The
amount of manganese required to
neutralize sulfur is 1.7 × sulfur content +
0.3%. If more than this amount of
manganese is added, then manganese
carbide forms, which increases hardness
and chilling, except in grey iron, where up
to 1% of manganese increases strength
and density.[5]
Nickel is one of the most common alloying
elements because it refines the pearlite
and graphite structure, improves
toughness, and evens out hardness
differences between section thicknesses.
Chromium is added in small amounts to
reduce free graphite, produce chill, and
because it is a powerful carbide stabilizer;
nickel is often added in conjunction. A
small amount of tin can be added as a
substitute for 0.5% chromium. Copper is
added in the ladle or in the furnace, on the
order of 0.5–2.5%, to decrease chill, refine
graphite, and increase fluidity.
Molybdenum is added on the order of 0.3–
1% to increase chill and refine the graphite
and pearlite structure; it is often added in
conjunction with nickel, copper, and
chromium to form high strength irons.
Titanium is added as a degasser and
deoxidizer, but it also increases fluidity.
0.15–0.5% vanadium is added to cast iron
to stabilize cementite, increase hardness,
and increase resistance to wear and heat.
0.1–0.3% zirconium helps to form
graphite, deoxidize, and increase fluidity.[5]

In malleable iron melts, bismuth is added,

on the scale of 0.002–0.01%, to increase
how much silicon can be added. In white
iron, boron is added to aid in the
production of malleable iron; it also
reduces the coarsening effect of
bismuth.[5]

Grey cast iron …

Pair of English firedogs, 1576. These, with firebacks,

were common early uses of cast iron, as little strength
in the metal was needed.

Grey cast iron is characterised by its

graphitic microstructure, which causes
fractures of the material to have a grey
appearance. It is the most commonly used
cast iron and the most widely used cast
material based on weight. Most cast irons
have a chemical composition of 2.5–4.0%
carbon, 1–3% silicon, and the remainder
iron. Grey cast iron has less tensile
strength and shock resistance than steel,
but its compressive strength is
comparable to low- and medium-carbon
steel. These mechanical properties are
controlled by the size and shape of the
graphite flakes present in the
microstructure and can be characterised
according to the guidelines given by the
ASTM.[6]
White cast iron …

White cast iron displays white fractured

surfaces due to the presence of an iron
carbide precipitate called cementite. With
a lower silicon content (graphitizing agent)
and faster cooling rate, the carbon in white
cast iron precipitates out of the melt as
the metastable phase cementite, Fe3C,
rather than graphite. The cementite which
precipitates from the melt forms as
relatively large particles. As the iron
carbide precipitates out, it withdraws
carbon from the original melt, moving the
mixture toward one that is closer to
eutectic, and the remaining phase is the
lower iron-carbon austenite (which on
cooling might transform to martensite).
These eutectic carbides are much too
large to provide the benefit of what is
called precipitation hardening (as in some
steels, where much smaller cementite
precipitates might inhibit [plastic
deformation] by impeding the movement
of dislocations through the pure iron ferrite
matrix). Rather, they increase the bulk
hardness of the cast iron simply by virtue
of their own very high hardness and their
substantial volume fraction, such that the
bulk hardness can be approximated by a
rule of mixtures. In any case, they offer
hardness at the expense of toughness.
Since carbide makes up a large fraction of
the material, white cast iron could
reasonably be classified as a cermet.
White iron is too brittle for use in many
structural components, but with good
hardness and abrasion resistance and
relatively low cost, it finds use in such
applications as the wear surfaces
(impeller and volute) of slurry pumps, shell
liners and lifter barss in ball mills and
autogenous grinding mills, balls and rings
in coal pulverisers, and the teeth of a
backhoe's digging bucket (although cast
medium-carbon martensitic steel is more
common for this application).
It is difficult to cool thick castings fast
enough to solidify the melt as white cast
iron all the way through. However, rapid
cooling can be used to solidify a shell of
white cast iron, after which the remainder
cools more slowly to form a core of grey
cast iron. The resulting casting, called a
chilled casting, has the benefits of a hard
surface with a somewhat tougher interior.

High-chromium white iron alloys allow

massive castings (for example, a 10-tonne
impeller) to be sand cast, as the chromium
reduces cooling rate required to produce
carbides through the greater thicknesses
of material. Chromium also produces
carbides with impressive abrasion
resistance. These high-chromium alloys
attribute their superior hardness to the
presence of chromium carbides. The main
form of these carbides are the eutectic or
primary M7C3 carbides, where "M"
represents iron or chromium and can vary
depending on the alloy's composition. The
eutectic carbides form as bundles of
hollow hexagonal rods and grow
perpendicular to the hexagonal basal
plane. The hardness of these carbides are
within the range of 1500-1800HV.[7]

Malleable cast iron …

Malleable iron starts as a white iron
casting that is then heat treated for a day
or two at about 950 °C (1,740 °F) and then
cooled over a day or two. As a result, the
carbon in iron carbide transforms into
graphite and ferrite plus carbon
(austenite). The slow process allows the
surface tension to form the graphite into
spheroidal particles rather than flakes. Due
to their lower aspect ratio, the spheroids
are relatively short and far from one
another, and have a lower cross section
vis-a-vis a propagating crack or phonon.
They also have blunt boundaries, as
opposed to flakes, which alleviates the
stress concentration problems found in
grey cast iron. In general, the properties of
malleable cast iron are more like those of
mild steel. There is a limit to how large a
part can be cast in malleable iron, as it is
made from white cast iron.

Ductile cast iron …

Developed in 1948, nodular or ductile cast

iron has its graphite in the form of very tiny
nodules with the graphite in the form of
concentric layers forming the nodules. As
a result, the properties of ductile cast iron
are that of a spongy steel without the
stress concentration effects that flakes of
graphite would produce. The carbon
percentage present is 3-4% and
percentage of silicon is 1.8-2.8%.Tiny
amounts of 0.02 to 0.1% magnesium, and
only 0.02 to 0.04% cerium added to these
alloys slow the growth of graphite
precipitates by bonding to the edges of the
graphite planes. Along with careful control
of other elements and timing, this allows
the carbon to separate as spheroidal
particles as the material solidifies. The
properties are similar to malleable iron, but
parts can be cast with larger sections.

Table of comparative qualities of

cast irons
…
Comparative qualities of cast irons[8]
Nominal Yield
Tensile Hardness
composition Form and strength Elongation
Name strength [Brinell Uses
[% by condition [ksi (0.2% [%]
[ksi] scale]
weight] offset)]

Engine
cylinder
blocks,
Grey cast
C 3.4, Si 1.8, flywheels,
iron (ASTM Cast — 50 0.5 260
Mn 0.5 gearbox
A48)
cases,
machine-
tool bases

White cast C 3.4, Si 0.7, Cast (as Bearing

— 25 0 450
iron Mn 0.6 cast) surfaces

Axle
bearings,
Malleable
C 2.5, Si 1.0, Cast track
iron (ASTM 33 52 12 130
Mn 0.55 (annealed) wheels,
A47)
automotive
crankshafts

C 3.4, P 0.1,
Gears,
Ductile or Mn 0.4,
Cast 53 70 18 170 camshafts,
nodular iron Ni 1.0,
crankshafts
Mg 0.06

Ductile or
Cast
nodular iron
— (quench 108 135 5 310 —
(ASTM
tempered)
A339)

C 2.7, Si 0.6,
High
Ni-hard type Mn 0.5,
Sand-cast — 55 — 550 strength
2 Ni 4.5,
applications
Cr 2.0

Ni-resist C 3.0, Si 2.0, Cast — 27 2 140 Resistance

 type 2 Mn 1.0, to heat and
Ni 20.0, corrosion
Cr 2.5

History

Cast-iron artifact dated from 5th century BC found in

Jiangsu, China

Cast-iron drain, waste and vent piping

Cast-iron plate on grand piano

Cast iron and wrought iron can be

produced unintentionally when smelting
copper using iron ore as a flux.[9]:47–48

The earliest cast-iron artifacts date to the

5th century BC, and were discovered by
archaeologists in what is now modern
Luhe County, Jiangsu in China. This is
based on an analysis of the artifact's
microstructures.[2]
Because cast iron is comparatively brittle,
it is not suitable for purposes where a
sharp edge or flexibility is required. It is
strong under compression, but not under
tension. Cast iron was invented in China in
the 5th century BC and poured into molds
to make ploughshares and pots as well as
weapons and pagodas.[10] Although steel
was more desirable, cast iron was cheaper
and thus was more commonly used for
implements in ancient China, while
wrought iron or steel was used for
weapons.[2] The Chinese developed a
method of annealing cast iron by keeping
hot castings in an oxidizing atmosphere
for a week or longer in order to burn off
some carbon near the surface in order to
keep the surface layer from being too
brittle.[11]:43

In the west, where it did not become

available until the 15th century, its earliest
uses included cannon and shot. Henry VIII
initiated the casting of cannon in England.
Soon, English iron workers using blast
furnaces developed the technique of
producing cast-iron cannons, which, while
heavier than the prevailing bronze
cannons, were much cheaper and enabled
England to arm her navy better. The
technology of cast iron was transferred
from China. Al-Qazvini in the 13th century
and other travellers subsequently noted an
iron industry in the Alburz Mountains to
the south of the Caspian Sea. This is close
to the silk route, so that the use of
technology derived from China is
conceivable.[12] The ironmasters of the
Weald continued producing cast irons until
the 1760s, and armament was one of the
main uses of irons after the Restoration.

Cast-iron pots were made at many English

blast furnaces at the time. In 1707,
Abraham Darby patented a method of
making pots (and kettles) thinner and
hence cheaper than his rivals could. This
meant that his Coalbrookdale furnaces
became dominant as suppliers of pots, an
activity in which they were joined in the
1720s and 1730s by a small number of
other coke-fired blast furnaces.

Application of the steam engine to power

blast bellows (indirectly by pumping water
to a waterwheel) in Britain, beginning in
1743 and increasing in the 1750s, was a
key factor in increasing the production of
cast iron, which surged in the following
decades. In addition to overcoming the
limitation on water power, the steam-
pumped-water powered blast gave higher
furnace temperatures, which allowed the
use of higher lime ratios, enabling the
conversion from charcoal, supplies of
wood for which were inadequate, to
coke.[13]:122

Cast-iron bridges …

The use of cast iron for structural

purposes began in the late 1770s, when
Abraham Darby III built the Iron Bridge,
although short beams had already been
used, such as in the blast furnaces at
Coalbrookdale. Other inventions followed,
including one patented by Thomas Paine.
Cast-iron bridges became commonplace
as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace.
Thomas Telford adopted the material for
his bridge upstream at Buildwas, and then
for Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, a canal
trough aqueduct at Longdon-on-Tern on
the Shrewsbury Canal. It was followed by
the Chirk Aqueduct and the Pontcysyllte
Aqueduct, both of which remain in use
following the recent restorations.

The best way of using cast iron for bridge

construction was by using arches, so that
all the material is in compression. Cast
iron, again like masonry, is very strong in
compression. Wrought iron, like most
other kinds of iron and indeed like most
metals in general, is strong in tension, and
also tough – resistant to fracturing. The
relationship between wrought iron and
cast iron, for structural purposes, may be
thought of as analogous to the
relationship between wood and stone.

Cast-iron beam bridges were used widely

by the early railways, such as the Water
Street Bridge in 1830 at the Manchester
terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, but problems with its use became
all too apparent when a new bridge
carrying the Chester and Holyhead Railway
across the River Dee in Chester collapsed
killing five people in May 1847, less than a
year after it was opened. The Dee bridge
disaster was caused by excessive loading
at the centre of the beam by a passing
train, and many similar bridges had to be
demolished and rebuilt, often in wrought
iron. The bridge had been badly designed,
being trussed with wrought iron straps,
which were wrongly thought to reinforce
the structure. The centres of the beams
were put into bending, with the lower edge
in tension, where cast iron, like masonry, is
very weak.

Nevertheless, cast iron continued to be

used in inappropriate structural ways, until
the Tay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879 cast
serious doubt on the use of the material.
Crucial lugs for holding tie bars and struts
in the Tay Bridge had been cast integral
with the columns, and they failed in the
early stages of the accident. In addition,
the bolt holes were also cast and not
drilled. Thus, because of casting's draft
angle, the tension from the tie bars was
placed on the hole's edge rather than being
spread over the length of the hole. The
replacement bridge was built in wrought
iron and steel.

Further bridge collapses occurred,

however, culminating in the Norwood
Junction rail accident of 1891. Thousands
of cast-iron rail underbridges were
eventually replaced by steel equivalents by
1900 owing to the widespread concern
about cast iron under bridges on the rail
network in Britain.
The Iron Bridge over the River Severn at
Coalbrookdale, England (finished 1779)

The Eglinton Tournament Bridge

(completed c1845), North Ayrshire,
Scotland, built from cast iron
 Original Tay Bridge from the north
(finished 1878)

Fallen Tay Bridge from the north

Buildings …
Cast-iron columns, pioneered in mill
buildings, enabled architects to build multi-
storey buildings without the enormously
thick walls required for masonry buildings
of any height. They also opened up floor
spaces in factories, and sight lines in
churches and auditoriums. By the mid 19th
century, cast iron columns were common
in warehouse and industrial buildings,
combined with wrought or cast iron
beams, eventually leading to the
development of steel-framed skyscrapers.
Cast iron was also used sometimes for
decorative facades, especially in the
United States, and the Soho district of New
York has numerous examples. It was also
used occasionally for complete
prefabricated buildings, such as the
historic Iron Building in Watervliet, New
York.

Textile mills …

Another important use was in textile mills.

The air in the mills contained flammable
fibres from the cotton, hemp, or wool
being spun. As a result, textile mills had an
alarming propensity to burn down. The
solution was to build them completely of
non-combustible materials, and it was
found convenient to provide the building
with an iron frame, largely of cast iron,
replacing flammable wood. The first such
building was at Ditherington in
Shrewsbury, Shropshire.[14] Many other
warehouses were built using cast-iron
columns and beams, although faulty
designs, flawed beams or overloading
sometimes caused building collapses and
structural failures.

During the Industrial Revolution, cast iron

was also widely used for frame and other
fixed parts of machinery, including
spinning and later weaving machines in
textile mills. Cast iron became widely
used, and many towns had foundries
producing industrial and agricultural
machinery.

See also

Cast-iron waffle iron, an example of cast-iron

cookware

Cast-iron architecture
Cast-iron cookware
Ironwork — artisan metalwork: for
architectural elements, garden features,
and ornamental objects.
 Ironworks — a place where iron is worked
(including historical sites)
Meehanite
Sand casting
Steel
Wrought iron

References
1. Campbell, F.C. (2008). Elements of
Metallurgy and Engineering Alloys .
Materials Park, Ohio: ASM
International. p. 453 . ISBN 978-0-
87170-867-0.
2. Wagner, Donald B. (1993). Iron and
Steel in Ancient China. BRILL.
pp. 335–340. ISBN 978-90-04-09632-
5.
3. Krause, Keith (August 1995). Arms and
the State: Patterns of Military
Production and Trade. Cambridge
University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-
521-55866-2.
4. Electrical Record and Buyer's
Reference . Buyers' Reference
Company. 1917.
5. Gillespie, LaRoux K. (1988).
Troubleshooting manufacturing
processes (4th ed.). SME. pp. 4–4.
ISBN 978-0-87263-326-1.
. Committee, A04. "Test Method for
Evaluating the Microstructure of
Graphite in Iron Castings" .
doi:10.1520/a0247-10 .
7. Zeytin, Havva (2011). "Effect of Boron
and Heat Treatment on Mechanical
Properties of White Cast Iron for
Mining Application". Journal of Iron
and Steel Research, International. 18
(11): 31–39. doi:10.1016/S1006-
706X(11)60114-3 .
 . Lyons, William C. and Plisga, Gary J.
(eds.) Standard Handbook of
Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering,
Elsevier, 2006
9. Tylecote, R. F. (1992). A History of
Metallurgy, Second Edition. London:
Maney Publishing, for the Institute of
Materials. ISBN 978-0901462886.
10. Wagner, Donald B. (May 2008).
Science and Civilisation in China:
Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical
Technology, Part 11, Ferrous
Metallurgy. Cambridge University
Press. pp. 159–169. ISBN 978-0-521-
87566-0.
11. Temple, Robert (1986). The Genius of
China: 3000 years of science,
discovery and invention. New York:
Simon and Schuster.Based on the
works of Joseph Needham>
12. Wagner, Donald B. (2008). Science and
Civilisation in China: 5. Chemistry and
Chemical Technology: part 11 Ferrous
Metallurgy. Cambridge University
Press, pp. 349–51.
13. Tylecote, R. F. (1992). A History of
Metallurgy, Second Edition. London:
Maney Publishing, for the Institute of
Materials. ISBN 978-0901462886.
14. "Ditherington Flax Mill: Spinning Mill,
Shrewsbury - 1270576" . Historic
England. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

Further reading
Harold T. Angus, Cast Iron: Physical and
Engineering Properties, Butterworths,
London (1976) ISBN 0408706880
John Gloag and Derek Bridgwater, A
History of Cast Iron in Architecture, Allen
and Unwin, London (1948)
Peter R Lewis, Beautiful Railway Bridge
of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay
Bridge Disaster of 1879, Tempus (2004)
ISBN 0-7524-3160-9
 Peter R Lewis, Disaster on the Dee:
Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847,
Tempus (2007) ISBN 978-0-7524-4266-2
George Laird, Richard Gundlach and
Klaus Röhrig, Abrasion-Resistant Cast
Iron Handbook, ASM International (2000)
ISBN 0-87433-224-9

External links

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 Forensic engineering:the Tay Bridge
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