AZTERLAN will share its latest research work on high silicon iron castings corrosion at the EUROCORR 2021 Congress

The research work to be presented by AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Centre will offer an overview of the influence of the graphite morphology and microstructure on the corrosion behaviour of cast iron for applications in automotive components, focusing on high silicon cast irons.

Cast iron is widely used in the automotive industry due to its excellent castability, fluidity, machinability and mechanical properties. Particularly, some key parts of the vehicle such as the engine block, the cylinder line, the brake rotor, the cylinder head, the headbox cases and the camshaft are manufactured from different qualities of cast iron.

As explained by the researcher Enara Mardaras, expert in the field of corrosion, “despite their widespread use, literature reflects scarce studies concerning the electrochemical corrosion behaviour of cast irons”. With the aim of filling this gap, the research team from AZTERLAN has focused on studying the influence of metallurgical parameters (chemical composition, graphite morphology and matrix microstructure) on the corrosion resistance of cast irons including their electrochemical response. In this field, “we have specifically focused the work on high silicon ductile iron, a new generation of materials that is being paid great attention nowadays”.

Along with other characterizations, the team has performed electrochemical measurements (current voltage curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) that were coupled with microstructural analyses. “The results we have observed show a different corrosion behaviour influenced by the graphite morphology and high content of silicon in ductile iron in comparison to ordinary cast irons”.

The results of this ongoing study will be presented at the EUROCORR 2021 Congress that will be held online from 20th to 24th September.