The Importance of SiC in the Process of Melting Ductile Iron with a Variable Content of Charge Materials

The article presents issues related to melting ductile iron grade EN-GJS-400-15, with different proportions of feedstock (steel scrap and pig iron). The main attention was paid to determining the impact of silicon carbide on the structure and properties of melted cast iron. In the conducted melts, carbon and silicon deficiencies were supplemented with a suitably chosen carburizer, ferrosilicon, and SiC metallurgical silicon carbide. The percentage of silicon carbide in the charge ranged from 0 to 0.91%. The basic condition for the planning of melts was to maintain the repeatability of the chemical composition of the output cast iron and cast iron after the secondary treatment of liquid metal with various charge compositions. Based on the tests, calculations, and analyses of the results obtained, it was concluded that the addition of SiC may increase the number and size of graphite precipitates. Increasing the SiC content in the charge also caused a change in the solidification nature of the alloy and the mechanism of growth of spheroidal graphite precipitates, causing their surface to form a scaly shell. The influence of the addition of silicon carbide on the reduction of the temperature of liquidus in the alloys was also observed. Silicon carbide had a positive effect on the structure and properties of melted alloys. The introduction of SiC into the melting in the studied range caused an increase in the content of carbon and silicon without causing an increase in the amount of impurities in the alloy.