Research of the Feeding Speed Adopting Cored-Wire Method to Spheroidize Ductile Iron Melt

For settling the question of feeding speed in applying the cored-wire method to spheroidize ductile iron melt, ANSYS software was applied to simulate the heat transfer and mass transfer, and the melt time of the steel strip in the iron melt was determined by linking the heat transfer and mass transfer, and then the feeding speed was calculated. Conclusions have been drawn that the iron layer was formed on the surface of the cored-wire during the wire-feeding process. The thickness is 0.073 mm when the temperature of the iron melt is 1500°C, the time from formation to remelting of the iron layer is 0.063 s. When the temperature of the iron melt is below 1500°C, the time taken for the steel strip to melt is rapidly shortened. When the temperature of the iron melt is above 1500°C, the variation amplitude of the steel strip melt change with time is gradually diminished. The melt time of the steel strip is rapidly increased with the increase of the steel strip thickness. When the temperature of the iron melt is 1500°C and the carbon content is 4%, the melt time of a steel strip, which has a thickness of 0.5 mm, is thrice that of a steel strip whose thickness is 0.3 mm. The calculation results of the feeding speed are basically in agreement with the applied feeding speed in the factory.