Cast iron selection based on design requirements of thermomechanically loaded applications and its' foundry challenges

Cast irons envelop a substantial property window both in mechanical and thermal properties. Typically, in standards, grades are defined through mechanical properties, leaving a lot of variables to be chosen and adjusted from a foundry’s perspective. With similar strength levels, cast irons can contain a wide range of microstructural compositions, types and volume of graphite. These have clear influence on properties other than tensile strength. For high-performance materials like cast irons, the selection of grades should be based more on properties required by present-day engineering design needs and procedures. This work explores material selection from a thermomechanical end-use perspective, taking a view on microstructural composition, alloying levels and other factors traditionally not requested by the end-user side. Naturally, such an approach brings certain challenges and limitations with it into a foundry process. This work views the proposed approach from the foundry viewpoint and discusses actions that could be done to make it into reality.