Role of Austenitization Temperature on Structure Homogeneity and Transformation Kinetics in Austempered Ductile Iron

This paper considers the important factors of the production of high-strength ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron); namely, the austenitization stage during heat treatment. The two series of ADI with different initial microstructures were taken into consideration in this work. Experiments were carried out for castings with a 25-mm-walled thickness. Variable techniques (OM, SEM, dilatometry, DSC, Variable Magnetic Field, hardness, and impact strength measurements) were used for investigations of the influence of austenitization time on austempering transformation kinetics and structure in austempered ductile iron. The outcome of this work indicates that the austenitizing temperature has a very significant impact on structure homogeneity and the resultant mechanical properties. It has been shown that the homogeneity of the metallic matrix of the ADI microstructure strongly depends on the austenitizing temperature and the initial microstructure of the spheroidal cast irons (mainly through the number of graphite nodules). In addition, this work shows the role of the austenitization temperature on the formation of Mg–Cu precipitations in ADI.