Ductile Iron
What are the advantages of Ductile Iron?

By vr foundries on 7-June-2018

Ductile iron castings are quite strong when compared to regular cast iron (grey iron). The tensile strength of ductile iron is between 60,000 psi and 120,000 psi, whereas that of ductile iron castings falls in the range 20,000 – 60,000 psi. The yield strength of ductile iron is generally between 40,000 and 90,000 psi, while that of cast iron is considered negligible.

Analysis of strength of grey iron and ductile iron castings:
Gray Iron parts tend to break when they hit the ground when dropped from a height of ten feet. But when it comes to ductile iron casting, even when you hit the part all day long using a heavy sledgehammer it is unlikely that cracks show up. Therefore, ductile iron shows comparatively higher strength characteristics.

This is due to the fact that in grey iron the graphite flake structure gives rise to fractures along the flakes, while in ductile iron the nodules work at maintaining the iron together. Given the similar physical properties of grey iron and ductile iron, the chemical properties beg to differ with the brittle grey iron wanting to crack, and the ductile iron designed to bend.

Also Ductile iron exhibits excellent wear resistance due to the presence of the graphite in the iron. When you rub any object against ductile iron, it wears much slower compared to any other metals. The wear resistance is largely due to the graphics structure that can work like a dry lubricant on the iron.
Ductile can also dissipate heat exceedingly well. Machining is quite easy despite the fact that ductile iron is harder to work with compared to regular grey cast iron. Another characteristic of Ductile iron is that can dampen vibration and produce a sound that is much better than steel. This easily makes ductile iron an extensively used material on large machines.