MECHANICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DUCTILE IRON PRODUCED FROM FUEL- FIRED ROTARY FURNACE

The work compared the mechanical and microstructural properties of ductile iron produced in a locally manufactured fuel- fired rotary furnace with ASTM A 536 65- 45-12, with a view to standardizing the produced ductile iron. Sets of low alloyed ductile iron were produced in form of keel Y-block inside green sand mould, using a rotary furnace of 100 kg capacity. The base alloy was treated with 5.5 wt. % Mg-FeSi alloy for spheroidisation followed by post inoculation with 75 wt. % Fe-Si. The samples of the as-cast were machined to mechanical test samples of tensile, yield and hardness. The microstructural and mechanical characterizations of the samples were carried out using computerized Instron Electromechanical Testing Machine (Model 3369), Mansato Tensometer (Model W) and Nikon Eclipse metallurgical microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. The results showed that the yield and tensile strength of the produced ductile iron were 367 and 540 MPa respectively with the hardness value of 185 BHN. The results obtained were compared with standard ASTM A 536 65-45-12 to confirm the suitability of the manufactured fuel-fired rotary furnace for the production of ductile iron.