The Effect of Sulphur Content on the Microstructure of Vermicular Graphite Cast Iron

The application of ferritic-matrix vermicular graphite cast iron in the production of fireplace fireboxes improves their thermal output, but the consumer market for these products prioritises their price. Given this consideration, this work concerns a comparison of the quality of vermicular graphite cast iron types produced from 0.025%S pig iron (a less expensive material) and 0.010%S pig iron (a more expensive material) in terms of the number and shape of vermicular graphite precipitates varying with the magnesium level in the alloy. It turned out that the vermicular graphite cast iron made with the 0.025%S pig iron demonstrated a slightly lower number of vermicular graphite precipitates. For both vermicular graphite cast iron melts, 0.028%Mg and 0.020%Mg in the alloys provided a vermicular graphite precipitate share of approx. 50% and 95%, respectively.