Flexible Design and Production of Specialized Ferro-Silicon Materials

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Nodular ductile iron is cast iron material that has high impact and fatigue resistance, due to its nodular (spherical) graphite inclusions, making it one of the most used engineering materials. The formation of graphite nodule is very complex but relies primarily on a nodularizer agent in the melt, where Mg is by far the most used agent. Ferro-silicon-magnesium materials (FSM) are alloys containing mostly Fe (45 percent of the mass - wt%), Si (47 wt%), and Mg (6 wt%). FSM offers the possibility to add Mg resulting in a quieter reaction with higher recovery rates (amount of Mg that remains in the melt vs. amount lost in the slag) than pure Mg addition methods and cored wire methods. After the addition of the nodulariser, an inoculant is used to increase the number of graphite nodules. Inoculants are ferrosilicon alloys containing active elements like Al, Ca, rare Earth, zirconium etc. Nodular cast iron is mostly produced by melting of steel and cast iron scraps. The efficiency of current nodularizer and inoculant products, added in the iron melt, is affected by the raw material variation and the presence of high-performance steel in the scraps. Fine tuning of the material composition and microstructure is crucial for process optimization. The project will develop innovative alloys by optimizing the material microstructure leading to increased productivity in the foundries. The advantages of the new products will be demonstrated at industrial scale from batch material production. The project will combine lab-scale experiments, advanced characterization, numerical modelling and plant trials.