The main target of this international group is to maintain a stable collaboration framework between the main agents involved in the research, production and in the application of precipitated graphite in cast iron.
Held annually in different European sites, Verona (Italy) has been the hosting city for this new meeting that took place on the 28th and 29th of March under the guidance of Zanardi Fonderie Spa., which is recognized for its technical capabilities end expertise to develop the properties of ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron) and for manufacturing cast components of this type of material.
The meeting of the European Cast Iron Group has been structured in two intense working days. One with technical conferences and open discussions related to the development of precipitated graphite cast iron and the second one with the visit to the facilities of Zanardi Founderie Spa. in Minerbe (Italy).
The works presented have been split into 3 different topics: materials properties, metallurgy and defects, having all of them interesting technical discussions on the most outstanding developments and the reported results.
IK4-AZTERLAN Metallurgical Centre has shared the results of the work “Effect of processing variables on shrinkage incidence in ductile cast irons”, lecture given by Jon Sertucha, researcher from the of Metallurgical Processes R&D Area.
An intensive research work developed during the last 19 months with the design and cast of experimental test specimens that have allowed determining the contraction parameters during the solidification stage of the material, according to the different process variables. These contraction parameters are critical in assessing the shrinkage formation and designing the corresponding appropriate feeding systems (feeders). Bayesian networks have been employed as an advanced calculation tool to predict the contraction values of the manufactured alloy, depending on the existing process variables in the production facility during the manufacturing process.
