Influence of the chemical composition of different steel scraps on the mechanicalproperties of ductile iron

Different commercial steel scraps have been selected so as to analyse the outcome of their use as raw materials andto evaluate their applicability in the production of ductile iron castings. These selected steels show an importantchemical variability mainly depending on their origin and on their previous utilisation. According to that, alloyingelements added through these materials have been determined and their effects on the structural characteristicsand the mechanical properties of test-castings with different shape and size have been studied. The most importantelement added is manganese, which is included in all the selected scraps with contents higher than 0.2 %. Otherelements are: copper, chromium, tin, titanium and vanadium. All of them are known as pearlite promoters apartfrom titanium and vanadium. Therefore, these elements can be used for manufacturing casting containing pearliticand/or mixed ferritic and pearlitic structures. No carbides were found in all the test castings.