Modeling gray iron solidification microstructure for prediction of mechanical properties

In the present paper the influence of different microstructure parameters o n the tensile strength of gray iron is shown. It can be concluded that the volume fraction of primary solidified phase and the specific phase interfac e of free graphite have a considerable influence on the tensile strength. H owever, it is difficult to get a unique relationship between the microstruc ture and mechanical properties under different chemical compositions, nucle ation and cooling conditions. A mathematical model is presented for the simulation of cooling and solidif ication of gray iron. This includes the heat conduction from the solidifyin g alloy into the mould and the solidification process. Here, the fraction o f primary dendrites is calculated by the Scheil-Equation. During the eutect ic crystallization, nucleation and grain growth processes are considered, T he development of graphite lamellae morphology inside eutectic grains has b een included into the model. Microstructure parameters, which have been cal culated for different chemical compositions, nucleation and cooling conditi ons, are related to corresponding experimentally determined tensile strengt hs.