In the water engineering industry, ductile iron pumps, as discussed in the previous blog, have been proven to display improved corrosion and heat resistance. Because it has a coefficient of thermal expansion of 7, it prevents thermal expansion of several parts of the pump including head bushing in the casing and rotor bearing sleeve, and idler pin. These parts can tend to lose their dimension due to thermal interface resulting in pump failure. Thus, ductile iron due to its characteristics can offer good wear resistance, machinability, low notch sensitivity and vibration damping in addition to durability, ductility and toughness.

Ductile Iron is used in the manufacture of manholes with frames, gratings, etc because of its lightweight nature compared to the likes of cast iron. It does not crumble under pointed loads and crushing loads compared to non-metallic manhole covers. The characteristics of ductile iron make manhole covers easy to install and maintain in construction projects.

It goes without saying that Nodular Iron or Spheroidal Graphite Iron, as Ductile Iron is also known, cannot be replaced in the near future. In other words, though present technology has enabled the development of different materials in the marketplace, no other material was able to offer as many industrial or commercial applications as Ductile Iron in the area of water engineering, manufacturing and construction.

This said ductile iron is not something that can be moulded on-site as in the case of mild steel that can be moulded onsite depending upon the requirement. Therefore, ductile iron needs to be moulded under specific working conditions. It is important to maintain both the raw material fed as well as the catalysts in the right proportions to achieve the desired result. If you’re trying to finding an alternative to ductile iron, it will not be easy to do so as ductile iron is too innovative a technology yet to be ousted or replaced. Looking for the most trusted name in the manufacture and supply of SG (Ductile) Iron castings? Talk to us; you are in the right place.