Investigation of mechanical properties of boro-tempered ductile iron

In this study, the effects of boro-tempering heat treatment on mechanical properties of ductile iron were investigated. Standard tensile test samples and unnotched Charpy specimens were boronized at 900 °C for 1, 3 and 5 h and then tempered at four different temperatures (250, 300, 350 and 450 °C) for 1 h. Micro-hardness measurements were performed on cross-section of the metallographically prepared samples, where cut from fractured impact test samples. The hardness of boride layers was measured in the range of 1654–1867 HV0.05. It was observed that tempering temperature was more effective on the mechanical properties of the material than boronizing time. Optimum mechanical properties were obtained for the samples boronized for 1–3 h and then tempered between 250 and 350 °C for 1 h.