The effect of aging on material properties determines the optimal machining time.

Simon N. Lekakh and Von L. Richards, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri
(Click here to see the story as it appears in January's Modern Casting.)

There are various ways to improve casting machinability. Natural agings effect on cast iron machinability differs
based on its alloying elements, which are nitride-forming (titanium), carbide-forming (chromium) and nitrogen
mobility modifiers (manganese). Relationships between cast iron aging and casting machinability have been
verified in multiple laboratory and industrial tests, with respect to parameters such as cutting force, tool wear,
surface quality and dimensional accuracy. A recent confirmation test verified the optimal aging time for a specific
composition to improve gray iron machinability.

Cast Iron Natural Aging

Understanding how age strengthening affects machinability enables manufacturers to schedule the optimal window
for machining. Room-temperature aging phenomena has been documented for different types of ferrous alloys,
including cast irons and steels. In gray cast iron, tensile strength increased by 5%-15% after 5-30 days of roomtemperature aging.
Aging studies in quenched iron-based alloys indicated a three-stage precipitation process. In some cases, a dip in
strength is observed during the start of the aging process. Elevated temperature aging kinetics in the cast iron
revealed typical age strengthening curves obtained at different temperatures (Fig. 1). An Arrhenius plot was
constructed using the rate constants versus the reciprocal of the absolute temperature (Fig. 2).

Effect of Alloying Elements

While elevated temperature aging is less dependent on alloy composition, cast iron chemistry strongly affects
room-temperature aging kinetics. From a practical perspective, the effect of variations in manganese and sulfur on
cast irons aging rate is important. In a study of cast iron with 0.8%-0.83% manganese, aging was completed at 25
days, while this process needed only 15 days for cast iron with 0.51% manganese at similar 0.04%-0.06% sulfur
levels.
To study the effect of alloying elements, aging kinetics of cast irons from six heats with variations in manganese,
nitrogen and sulphur were evaluated. Strength change curves typically had a prestrengthening peak and a
relaxation valley before achieving a full age strengthening.
Alloying with manganese affected both the time to prestrengthening and the full strengthening peak. Cast iron
from a heat with 0.53% manganese had the highest reaction rate. Iron with lower manganese and especially higher
manganese contents each had a longer aging reaction time.

Effect of Carbide/Nitride Forming Elements

Natural age strengthening of cast iron occurs in Fe-BCC (ferrite) by iron nitride precipitation. Carbide forming
elements such as chromium promote the decrease of free ferrite in cast iron and reduce the total possible
strengthening effect. An as-cast machinability test article produced from cast iron with 0.2% chromium did not
show an improvement in machinability after aging.
Nitride forming elements such as titanium, aluminum and boron can fully suppress iron nitride precipitate
strengthening. Nitrogen, available at solidification to form metastable solid solution in ferrite, affects the age
strengthening of cast iron. Low soluble nitrogen left after titanium nitride formation does not allow for the
production of detectible age strengthening of cast iron. The temperature range of super-saturation of ferrite lies

from room temperature to 572F (300C), and beyond this range the possibility of aging is limited according to
thermodynamics.

Machinability of Aged Cast Irons

Cutting Tool Forces: The machinability test articles recommended by the American Foundry Society were used for
facing cuts on a computer numeric control (CNC) lathe. These test articles were produced in a laboratory using
nobake molds and in industrial metalcasting facilities using green sand molds. Pearlite/ferrite cast irons with
variations in carbon equivalent from 3.9% to 4.3% were tested in as-cast condition and after 25 days of natural
aging. In as-cast or in unaged condition, the cutting forces increased with increasing hardness in irons having less
carbon equivalent, which is typical and expected. At the same time, a reverse type of dependency appeared in
which the cutting force decreased when the increasing hardness was due only to natural aging in each iron.
This unusual behavior could be explained by the energy requirement for chip formation. In unaged cast iron, soft
ferrite absorbs energy for significant plastic deformation. This effect results in edge build-up on the tool tip, which
also could promote increasing cutting force by enlarging the deformation region (similar to tool wear). In contrast,
when iron aging occurs as a result of Fe4N precipitation in ferrite, it increases the irons strength and hardness and
allows for chip formation with a smaller amount of plastic deformation, which could decrease the cutting force.
Similar results were achieved in other cast irons having ferrite in metal matrix and different graphite shapes. For
example, aging decreased cutting forces after aging ductile iron with spherical graphite and significant free
ferrite.
However, aging does not always improve cast iron machinability. For example, aging cast iron containing carbide
forming elements produced a completely opposite effect on casting machinability. There was a visible and
statistically significant increase of the average normal cutting forces for aged samples versus unaged samples. The
ratio of passive to normal cutting forces is used as an indicator of tool wear, because as a tool loses sharpness, it
has an increasing passive reaction force. This ratio increased more significantly when cutting aged gray iron with
carbide-promoting element content. The microstructure in this case was pearlitic with some steadite and free
carbide but no free ferrite.
To verify the effect of microstructure on cast iron machinability, castings from the same heat were tested further
after ferritizing/resolutionizing heat treatment. This treatment transformed pearlite to ferrite and produced a
resolutionizing effect, which allowed repeating the natural aging. The effect observed was opposite to the
previously discussed test of cast iron with pearlite matrix and steadite phase, in that aging of
ferritized/resolutionized gray iron improved machinability. The cutting forces were decreased at all cutting speeds
studied (Fig. 3). It can be concluded from these tests that all gray iron showing improved machinability in the aged
condition contained some amount of free ferrite, while gray iron showing increased cutting forces after aging had
no free ferrite but was entirely pearlitic with cementite/steadite phases.
This differing behavior of aged cast irons depending upon metal matrix relates to the energy of chip formation.
Although gray cast iron is a brittle material in tension, chips can experience significant plastic deformation
because the stress state during machining is dominated by compression and shear. If chip formation is assumed to
be a plastic strain to fracture event, then changes in fracture toughness would logically affect machining behavior.
Fracture work during tensile testing was estimated from the stress-displacement curve. In the pearlitic iron, the
work of fracture and cutting forces increased after aging.
On the contrary, iron ferritized by heat treatment showed decreased work of fracture and cutting forces due to
aging.

Tool Wear and Industrial Machining Measurements

Tool wear is lower when machining gray cast iron aged at room temperature because aged iron requires less work
input from the machining center to form and break off chips. The decrease in required work has been
demonstrated by tool force measurements and by testing amperage drawn while machining unaged and aged iron.
The least power was required to machine castings aged for 3-6 days versus iron aged for 1, 9 and 20 days. At that
optimal aging time, machined castings had better surface quality (less roughness), but all aged iron had better
surface finish than unaged iron.
Other tests were performed with industrial face machining of brake discs for a passenger car. Excessive tool wear
produced changing tool geometry and increased cutting forces, which promoted elastic deformation of casting
with increasing tilt and destroying required tolerance on perpendicularity (tilt). Tilt data from the machining of
industrial castings were compared in two ways. The machining of the 50 unaged castings required two tool position
changes. Tool position changes were not required during machining of aged castings after 50 or 200 castings,
indicating more consistent dimensions and reduced downtime for tool position corrections. Figure 5 gives a
comparison of measured tool wear for different operations. Aging decreased tool wear significantly in most of the
operations.
Industrial Recommendation for Improving Cast Iron Machinability by Aging
Three possible scenarios exist for changes in machinability of gray iron during natural aging (Table 1).
First scenario: Aging does not occur and therefore, has no influence on machinability. Lack of aging effects in the
iron can be caused by elevated nitride forming elements (particularly titanium) relative to nitrogen. Additions of
nitrogen to iron are possible and can enhance aging. Thermodynamic data can be applied to determine if there is
enough free nitrogen to age a cast iron. A simplified criterion might be: If %N < (0.15-0.20) %Ti, aging will not
occur.
Second scenario: If cast iron exhibits aging, this phenomenon can be used for improving casting machinability.
Aging is accompanied by decreasing cutting forces and tool wear. These irons have enough free nitrogen to
promote age strengthening.
Decreased cutting forces and increased mechanical properties were proven in laboratory castings having different
carbon equivalents. These irons had some free ferrite and no free cementite or steadite. Optimal aging time
depends upon particular free manganese content and could be evaluated. Decreasing aging time for improving
machinability could be done by warm (slightly elevated temperature) aging.
Third scenario: Gray iron has elevated concentrations of carbide forming elements such as chromium in addition
to a large percentage of phosphorus. These combinations of chemistry with a particular cooling rate could promote
steadite/cementite formation in fully pearlitic matrix. If this iron has negligible free ferrite, aging will increase
cutting forces in this iron. Effective inoculation and chemistry control will affect casting machinability interaction
with aging in these cast irons. However, in this scenario, fresh castings might prove more machinable.

Confirmation Test

Five AFS 5J, 10-in. diameter test articles were poured into nobake molds from one 200-lb. induction furnace heat.
The cast iron chemistry is shown in Table 2. Microstructure was mostly pearlitic with approximately 5%-10% ferrite.
Measured hardness in the middle section of the test article was 200-210HB in the as-cast condition (unaged). The
as-cast surface layer (1/8 in.) was removed in preliminary machining to avoid the effects of cast surface structure,
mold-metal interaction and geometry variance on test results. Test articles were face CNC machined at day 0, day
5, day 9, day 15 and day 22 with measurement of cutting forces.

Eight cuts (30 min. total machining time) were performed from each disc, using a new tool insert each time. The
thickness of the test article produced eight duplicate cuts and each test was repeated twice. The test results are
shown in Fig. 7.
These test results were compared to the predictions according to suggested methodology.
Step 1Evaluation of the possible age strengthening: Nfree = N-0.20Ti = 0.01-0. 2*0.008 = 0.0084 wt.% or 84 ppm;
total %N and %Ti leads one to expect approximately 0.14 wt. % Fe4N. Age strengthening will occur.
Step 2Control microstructure: In a matrix without free carbide/steadite having a small amount of free ferrite
around flake graphite, age strengthening can improve casting machinability according to the second scenario
(Table 1).
Step 3Aging time: Full aging time is 15-17 days and prestrengthening time is 7-9 days. The tool force dropped
significantly during the first five days and was also low at 15 days, roughly corresponding to the expected times for
room-temperature age strengthening.
The predictions based on the previous studies were confirmed. A significant decrease in cutting force and standard
variation were observed after 9-15 days of natural aging, which is between predicted prestrengthening and full
aging time. Regarding other machinability parameters, tool wear not only depends on the average value of cutting
force but also the stability of cutting process, and tool wear continued to decrease up to the full aging time.
These rules can assist in determining the optimal machinability window for aged cast iron:

Estimate free nitrogen based on total nitrogen and concentration of titanium as %N >0.2 %Ti, but not high
enough to form gas porosity in order to have age strengthening.

Check microstructure concerning ferrite/pearlite content without steadite/carbides. If no free ferrite is

present, particularly with all pearlite and some carbide or steadite, the machinability might be better
with fresh castings given a composition that will age strengthen. If free ferrite is present, age
strengthening will provide a corresponding improvement in machinability.

Estimate room-temperature aging time based on free manganese left after sulfide formation. Aging
acceleration is possible with a low temperature bake.

This article is based on a technical paper (12-026), Aging and Machinability Interactions in Cast Iron, presented
at the American Foundry Societys 116th Metalcasting Congress in 2012.

Machining Cast Iron Components

One of the main advantages provided by cast iron components is their ability to incorporate many design features
that often must be added-on in other manufacturing methods. As a result, a cost savings down the line in
manufacturing processes, such as machining, can be achieved if the proper design and manufacturing procedures
are understood and followed during the components conception and initial development.
Opportunities for cost savings also exist in the subsequent processing of components themselves. In machining,
these cost reduction opportunities are available with an understanding of the materials metallurgy and its place in
the overall machining system.
The three primary components of a machining system are:

machine tool, whose stiffness affects the duration of machining required;

machining parameters, which include cutting tools (materials, coatings and geometry), speeds, feed
rates, depths of cut and cutting fluids (types and concentration, focusing on reducing the total cost per
part and an increase in production rate). Several factors, such as tool cost, tool life, and practical limits
of cutting speeds and feeds play an important role in the selection of tool material as well as reliability
and predictability of performance. In addition, the most satisfactory tool usually will be the one to
perform the machining at the minimum cost;

workpiece parameters, which include microstructure characteristics, material hardness, chemical

composition and mechanical properties.

These components, and their interaction with the iron castings material, determine a components machinability.

Cast Iron Machinability

Since it is not an absolute material property, machinability means different things to different people.
Machinability is the relative ease or difficulty of removing metal in transforming a raw material into a finished
product with the desired dimensional requirements at the best cost. The four major aspects of machinability are:

tool life;

surface finish;

power or cutting force required;

the form of chips produced during a machining operation.

One of the most exciting challenges to metallurgists over the last century has been to increase the strength of
materials with a minimum increase in cost. This has been achieved by cold working, alloying, the use of phase
transformations, and the refinement of grain size and microstructure. The result is that machining has become
more dependent upon material microstructures.
Cast iron, which is an alloy with 1.8-4.5% carbon (C) content, is one of the most free-machining ferrous materials.
Consistent microstructure, however, is the key to optimum cast iron machinability because cast iron can show a
wide range of machining behavior depending upon composition and microstructure.
The key to differentiating between types of cast iron is the size and shape of the graphite particles. The
microstructure features of cast iron, such as particle composition and dispersion, particle population density, and
aspect ratios, significantly affect machinability. Cast irons mechanical properties are enhanced with additives
such as silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), chromium, molybdenum (Mb) and copper (Cu).
Following is a closer look at cast irons and their machinability.
Gray IronGray cast iron is characterized by randomly oriented graphite flakes, which develop brittleness and
poor ductility in the material. It is used widely in the automotive industry for engine blocks, brake disks, brake
drums and housings. Gray iron has excellent machinability with superior wear resistance characteristics and
damping capability.
Ductile IronDuctile (or nodular) iron is popular for wheel parts, crankshafts and camshafts. In ductile iron, the
graphite particles, due to the injection of a small amount of Mg in the melt, exist in spherical shapes that provide
superior ductility and high strength and toughness. In general, ductile iron (such as grade GGG40) is easy to
machine but produces built-up edges on the cutting tool due to its higher ferrite content. Machining certain grades
of ductile iron (such as GGG60) will result in rapid insert wear due to pearlite content.

Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI)In CGI, graphite particles are randomly oriented and elongated similar to gray
iron, but they are thicker, shorter and have shorter edges. The interconnected compacted graphite provides
slightly higher thermal conductivity and more damping capacity. With the evolved process control technologies,
CGI use is growing in the automotive and heavy truck industries with components that are prone to have
simultaneous mechanical and thermal loading.
Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI)Developed by adding alloying elements such as Cu, Mb and nickel (Ni) to ductile
iron and then performing a special heat treatment (austempering), ADI has increased ductile irons ductility to 1222%. Thus, ADI is a stronger and tougher material than conventional ductile iron. The required mechanical
properties of ADI are achieved by controlling the heat treatment parameters. In machining, ADI, which contains
bainite, is more prone to work hardening and built-up edge than straight ductile iron.
High Alloy/White IronWhite iron is produced via rapid casting solidification and provides high compressive
strength and excellent wear resistance. White iron contains large quantities of hard carbides that are difficult to
machine and are responsible for high tool-wear rates. In addition, high-alloy irons (including high alloy white, gray
and ductile iron) have extreme abrasive wear, heat and corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion and nonmagnetic properties.
Since every type and grade of cast iron is unique, machining cast iron components depends upon the materials
graphite structure, microstructure of the metal matrix, temperature-to-time history of the castings and the
distribution of C that remains in the metal matrix.
With all of these different variables, machining guidelines are dependent upon the make-up of the material.
General rules of thumb to follow in regard to cast iron machinability include:

a reduced C content results in a coarser-graphite structure and lower machinability;

higher Si content in the iron results in a lower tendency to built-up-edge and better machinability;

increased pearlitic graphite content makes pearlite or white grades harder and stronger and more
demanding on the cutting tool;

a high content of fine-grained pearlites is troublesome for machining as the cutting tool needs to work
harder and under hotter conditions to cut through the hardest particles.

Tool Requirements
The ideal cutting tool material for machining cast iron should have high strength and hardness in addition to high
fracture toughness. Although this combination of properties is impossible to achieve in practice since high strength
and low fracture toughness are synonymous, the selection of the proper cutting tool is important for machining
various types of cast irons.
When machining cast irons, the most common problems are flank wear, crater wear, notch wear and built-up-edge
caused by abrasion, adhesion and diffusion. Thus, the basic requirements for the cutting tool material for
machining cast iron are:

resistance to adhesive and abrasive wear caused by the variable microstructures;

sufficient toughness for the material to be machined;

the capability to machine at high speeds and feed rates.

The best performing carbide inserts used to machine cast irons are coated with alumina, usually with one or more
layers of titanium carbide (TiC) and titanium nitride (TiN). The alumina provides the high hardness needed for
abrasive resistance and excellent chemical stability.

Gray iron is prone to built-up-edge at low cutting speeds, and the tools also are susceptible to abrasive (flank)
wear. It is recommended to machine at higher cutting speeds and, at the same time, flush the workpiece with
abundant coolant. For high-production jobs, a chemical vapor deposition-coated tool for wear resistance at high
surface speed must be chosen. Silicon nitride (SiN) has been proved to be one of the preferred tool materials for
high-speed machining of gray iron. Its relatively high fracture toughness and high hardness at high cutting
temperatures, in addition to its insensitivity to thermal shocks, accounts for its excellent performance during gray
iron machining.
For machining ductile iron, SiN tools perform poorly, however the coated tools show superior performance. In the
past, tools used for machining ductile cast iron consisted of tungsten carbide (6% cobalt) substrate with multiple
layers of TiCN/Al2O3/TiN coatings. The newly developed tool combines a 6% cobalt substrate with a medium
temperature TiCN/Al2O3/TiN coating. At higher speeds, the TiCN coatings soften and the effect of the Al2O3
coating becomes predominant. The results have indicated that deposition of the new multi-layered coated carbide
results in a 40% reduction in flank wear at speeds of 200 m/min when compared to conventional coated carbide.
Also, the new grades achieve a 25% increase in tool life at 300 m/min.
Since ADI is more prone to work hardening and built-up-edge than ductile iron, the TiN-coated tools are the best
choice for machining because TiN reduces friction, work hardening and built-up-edge. When deep hole making is
part of the design of ADI parts, lower manganese and Mb additions must be specified for the cast component to
reduce the amount of retained austenite, which will work harden more than bainite. Higher amounts of Cu and Ni
then must be specified to obtain the required degree of hardenability.

Dry Machining
With the continued development of advanced tool coatings, high-speed dry machining of cast iron has become
possible. The key is to balance between advanced machining strategies, special tooling and machine tool
specifications. It has been observed that a combination of high feed rates and high spindle speeds (in place of
increasing the forces) reduces the thrust force against the workpiece.
One such application using HSK-63A tooling with high pressure, through spindle air running up to 14,000
revolutions/min and feed rates up to 1575 in./min showed that thrust forces substantially decreased (75% in some
instances). At higher cutting speeds and feeds, the intense heat generated in the vicinity of the cutting edge of the
tool elevates the metals temperature in the affected zone up to 1112-1292F (600-700C) and plasticizes the iron.
Most of the heat is removed later with the chips due to high feed rates, which makes the workpiece thermally
stable and dimensionally accurate.
Heat dissipation without coolant requires high-performance tool coatings, heat-resistant tool materials and high
pressure through spindle air. For high-speed dry machining of cast iron, the tools must have:

high hardness at high operating temperatures to resist abrasive wear;

high structural strength to resist cutting forces at high chip loads and high operating temperatures;

high fracture toughness, resistance to thermal shocks and chemical stability with respect to the
workpiece.

As a result, dry machining requires either coated tools or ceramic/cubic boron nitride cutting tool materials to
withstand the intense heat generated by the process. The coatings with a low friction coefficient and low thermal
conductivity work best at isolating a tool from heat and TiAlN-based coatings are recommended for dry machining
of cast ferrous materials, including cast irons.
This article, written by Anil K. Srivastava and Michael E. Finn, originally ran in Engineered Casting Solutions.

Nodular Cast Iron (NCI)

-material classification: K3.x
Nodular cast iron has spherically shaped graphite and the main characteristics are good stiffness (Youngs
modulus); good impact strength = tough material, not brittle; good tensile strength, higher heat in cutting
process.
Nodular cast iron has a strong tendency to form built-up-edge. This tendency is stronger for the softer NCI
materials with higher ferritic contents. When machining components with high ferritic contents and with
interrupted cuts, adhesion wear is often the dominating wear mechanism. This can cause problems with
flaking of the coating. The adhesion problem is less pronounced with harder NCI materials that have a
higher perlitic content. Here, abrasive wear and/or plastic deformation are more likely to occur.
Grades to use are 3210 or 3215. The preferred geometries are -KF, -KM, -KR and -KRR. When finishing,
consider wiper geometry -WMX.

ASM Specialty Handbook: Cast Irons

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