On a polished surface, cast iron graphite flakes look like fine lines. In its natural form, the graphite flake looks like a literal flake. When it fractures, it produces graphite flake, evidence of its graphitic microstructure. You can see the gray graphite when gray iron fractures. Graphite is the element responsible for gray cast iron’s coloring. The high amount of silicone in grey iron produces graphite when heated.
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The generally accepted composition of grey cast iron is 95% iron by weight, plus 1% silicone to 3% silicone and 2.1% carbon to 4% carbon. As always, they’re also looking into ways to strengthen gray iron.
Skipping this step translates to quicker and less expensive casting. To make better parts, manufacturers are also working on mold surface treatments that allow them to skip post-casting mold blasting procedures. Dimensional control and product quality will only improve in the coming years, as manufacturers continue to perfect these practices. They’ve also been able to improve the quality of thin sections. Within the last decade, manufacturers have greatly increased the dimensional control with which they can cast grey iron. Today, though gray iron is among the oldest irons, it is still routinely cast. That year, manufacturers cast upwards of 14 million tons of gray iron products. In 1967, for example, gray iron was being cast at about two and a half times the volume of other cast metals. Throughout the last century, gray iron castings continued to be popular. The iron helped so much that, eventually, manufacturers began making their equipment from cast iron as well. Textile mills benefited from this in particular because they were filled with combustible fibers and flammable dust.
The iron construction helped prevent fires. The use of grey cast iron proved more successful in the construction of buildings like textile mills. They made the switch to steel in the early 1800s, as steel has much higher tensile strength and hardness. In the 1770s, James Watt developed an atmospheric steam engine, updated from an earlier one by Thomas Newcomen, Watt’s steam engine made gray iron casting easier and the parts produced more accurate and higher strength.īefore steel, people used grey iron castings as structural components of bridges. This use of iron casting for armor was popular through the mid-1700s. Using the same method, other manufacturers made cast iron shields and some body armor parts. Grey Iron Castings – OSCO Industries, Inc.Ī few centuries later, in 1707, a British man named Abraham Darby discovered a way to cast iron pots with thinner walls. Artisans used the cast process to make heavy cannons for the British Royal Navy, per the instruction of Henry VIII. Despite this, Western Europeans didn’t begin iron casting until the 15th century AD. It is likely that the Chinese shared their cast iron process along the Silk Road. Malleable cast iron was much easier to manipulate. Also, between the 9th and 4th centuries BC, people developed malleable iron casting. At that time, iron was cast into the form of weapons, simple pots, ploughshares and shot. The earliest cast iron products were made in China, circa the 5th century BC. The first type of iron to ever be cast, grey iron, has had a long and illustrious history in our world. Grey iron castings are frequently used to make: valves, cases, engine blocks, dies, pump housings, pipes, brake drums, decorative embellishments and grey cast iron cookware. Also, their graphite/graphite flake content is useful in energy dissipation of parts like engine blocks and crankshafts, which depend on the dampening of mechanical vibrations. As non-flammable building components, they provide superior fire protection to wooden support structures. The applications of gray iron castings are many. Grey iron castings lend durability, hardness and strength to any operation for which they are used.
Industries that use gray iron castings include: agriculture, architecture, automotive, construction, electronics, irrigation, machinery construction, transportation, and ventilation.
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