from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Samples made of nodular cast iron FGN 400-15 have been heat treated by oil quenching from 850 °C followed by tempering at 450 °C. The objective of the paper aimed the microstructure modification and improvement of the mechanical properties and wear resistance by cavitation. The results showed that the cavitation erosion resistance of heat treated cast iron is 1.8 times higher than that of the thermal stress relieved cast iron.Examination of surface topography and microstructure of the cross section samples after the cavitation attack showed that the wear of heat-treated samples occurs by fatigue cracking mechanism, while by the thermal stress relieved cast iron a severe plastic deformation and a combined micro-cutting and micro-ploughing of the ferritic matrix appeared.Improving of the cavitation resistance after the quenching-tempering heat treatment is explained by the fine structure, a relatively high hardness and yield strength, associated with an acceptable toughness.
Keywords: quenching - tempering, nodular cast iron, cavitation erosion.© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.