Numerical modeling of coupled heat transfer and phase transformation for solidification of the gray cast iron

In the present study the numerical model in 2D is used to study the solidification bahavior of the gray cast iron. The conventional heat transfer is coupled with the proposed micro-model to predict the amount of different phases, i.e. total austenite (γ) phase, graphite (G) and cementite (C), in gray cast iron based on the cooling rate (R). The results of phase amount are evaluated to find the proper correlation in respect to cooling rate. The semi-empirical formulas are proposed to find a good correlation between mechanical property (hardness Brinell) and different phase amounts and the cooling rate. Results show that the hardness of the gray cast iron decreases as the amount of graphite phase increases. It also increases by increased amount of the cementite and the cooling rate. These formulas were developed to correlate the phase fractions to hardness. Results are compared whit experimental data and show good agreement.

► Solid techniques to model the microstructures.
► New formulas to predict the hardness of gray cast iron based on cooling rates.
► New formulas to predict the hardness of gray cast iron based on graphite phase.
► New formulas to predict the hardness of gray cast iron based on cementite phase.