AUSTEMPERING PROCESS

Austempering process is an isothermal heat treatment which is consist

combination of operation for the porpose of obtaining certain desirable conditions or
properties [1]. It is applied to the ferrous metals such as steel and iron []. Through
this hardening process will produces a mechanical structure or properties that is
superior in term strength and toughness than comparable structures produced with
conventional heat treatments [2].

Therefore, it has been practice in producing

ductile iron known as Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) rather than other heat
treatment method.
Austempered ductile iron offered as excellent properties such as it have offers best
combination of low cost, design flexibility, good machinability, high strength-toweight ratio and good toughness, good wear resistance and fatigue strength [3][4].
Therefore, in recent years, the use of ADI increases in production of structural
application such as automotive components. The review of previous investigations
and data collection on the mechanical properties shows that ADI have higher tensile
properties than conventional ductile iron [2]. This is due to existence of acicular
bainitic ferrite () and high-carbon austenite (Y HC), stabilized austenite known as
ausferrite in the structural ADI matrix [4].
However, conventional (DI) and Austempered Ductile Irons (ADI) have some
limitation in order to provide special properties which are to meet demands of
service conditions. To overcome this obstacle, implementation of alloying addition
managed to give desired microstructure and properties []. DI and ADI are contain
only limited percentages of alloying elements while alloy Ductile Irons contain
substantially higher levels of alloy in order to provide improved or special properties
[]. There are three types of alloy ductile iron are austenitic, bainitic and feritic [2].
Austenitic ductile iron (NDI) also known as austenitic nodular iron or austenitic
spheroidal iron or by the trade name Ductile Ni-Resist [1][2], is characterized by
having its graphite substantially in a spheroidal form and substantially free of flake
graphite []. Ductile ni-resist iron is not a single material, but a family of versatile
cast irons exhibiting a wide range of mechanical properties stemming from the

microstructure control.

It contains some carbides and sufficient alloy content to

produce an austenitic structure [5].

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

REFERENCES
[1]

C. F. Walton and Consultant, ASM Handbook Vol 4: Heat-treating. ASM

International, 1991, p. 2173.

[2]

J. J. Gallagher, DUCTILE IRON DATA FOR DESIGN ENGINEERS,

www.ductile.org, 1998. [Online]. Available: www.ductile.org.

[3]

O. Eri, M. Jovanovi, L. idAnin, D. Rajnovi, and S. Zec, The austempering

study of alloyed ductile iron, Mater. Des., vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 617622, Jan.
2006.

[4]

S. K. Putatunda, Influence of austempering temperature on microstructure

and fracture toughness of a high-carbon, high-silicon and high-manganese
cast steel, Mater. Des., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 435443, Sep. 2003.

[5]

S. Specification, Standard Specification for Austenitic Ductile Iron Castings 1,

1999.