Effects of Cr Content and Annealing Temperature on Microstructure and Wear Characteristics of Cast Ausferrite Nodular Iron

The effects of Cr content and annealing temperature on abrasive wear characteristics of cast ausferrite nodular iron were investigated with Suga type abrasive wear tester. The surface morphology and Vickers hardness of the tested samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), digital microscope and Vickers hardness tester. The results show that the cast ausferrite nodular iron could be obtained by alloying with Cr in the as-cast ductile cast iron and permanent mold casting, and the bainite content in the matrix increased with increasing Cr content. However, the decomposition of bainite took place during annealing at 500 °C to 800 °C; especially, at 800 °C, the bainite transformed into a mixture of fine lamellar pearlite and ferrite matrix structure. The wear loss of specimens was reduced with increasing Cr content in the cast ausferrite nodular iron. The wear loss of the sample cast ausferrite nodular iron with 0.4mass% Cr is the least. The wear loss began to increase while the Cr content is 0.6mass%. The wear loss of annealed ductile irons at different annealing temperatures was higher than that of as-cast samples. During the abrasive wear, the shear stress transformed austenite to martensite, and the hardness of specimens increased and the wear resistance of as-cast ductile cast iron was improved.