Effect of chemical composition and microstructure on the crack growth and machinability of GG20 gray cast iron for brake drum application

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of chemical composition and microstructure on machinability, mechanical properties, and crack growth of GG-20 gray cast iron for brake drum application. The effects of a reduction in C and Si on microstructural parameters such as type, size, and aspect ratio of graphite particles, interlamellar spacing of pearlite, and the presence of MnS were investigated. In the following, the effect of different microstructures on mechanical properties and machinability of cast iron were studied. The fracture surface, crack growth, worn surface, chip formation and wear on cutting tools have been studied as well. The results showed that both tensile strength and hardness increased, and the machinability reduced by decreasing C and Si. By reducing the C content from 3.4% to 3.2%, the maximum hardness value and tensile strength were obtained to be 207HB and 286 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the Ra and Rz values were increased to 4.3 μm and 25.8 μm, respectively. With an increase in the length of graphite flakes, the distance between microcracks on the machined chips decreased. In the sample with the lower hardness value, delamination occurred extensively and led to the disappearance of cracks and pores on the worn surface.

Keywords:

• Crack growth
• delamination
• graphite flakes
• gray cast iron
• machinability
• mechanical properties

Acknowledgment

The authors also acknowledge the funding support of the Amirkabir University of Technology through Grant program No. AUT/185739/01.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Fooladin Zob Amol company (FZA.Co) and the Amirkabir University of Technology under the research project “Effects of C, Ti, Si, and Sn elements on mechanical properties and machinability of GG-20 cast iron.” The authors are very grateful for the encouragement and financial support of FZA.Co.