Study on Inclusions in Ductile Cast Iron

The type, shape and distribution of inclusions in ductile cast iron were studied using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy spectrum analysis, combining the thermodynamic calculation of inclusions formation. The results show that the oxides are most likely formed from the thermodynamics in ductile cast iron when the temperature is 1373 similar to 1873 K, followed by the sulfides, the carbides again. There exist the uniphase inclusions MgO, SiO2 and MgS, the heterogeneous inclusions of containing rare-earth MnO-MgO-SiO2-La2O3 and MgS-LaS-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO, and the heterogeneous inclusions of non-rare earth SiO2-MnO-MgO-Al2O3 in ductile cast iron. The shapes of the inclusions are mainly polygon, and the size variation is from 3 to 10 um. The inclusions are mainly distributed on the graphite ball surfaces, the ferrite grain boundaries and in the pearlites.