Title: New cast iron Monica loses its brittleness with increasing strength

Authors: Leonid A. Sosnovskiy; Sergei S. Sherbakov

Addresses: Scientific and Production Group "TRIBO-FATIGUE", 42, 4 Volotovskaya Str., 246050, Gomel, Belarus ' Department of Physical and Technical Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 66 Nezavisimosti Ave., 220072, Minsk, Belarus

Abstract: Modern high-strength cast irons with spherical graphite have strength comparable with that of alloyed steel. However, the replacement of steel by cast iron when manufacturing critical duty products is restrained by the brittleness of cast iron: the higher is strength, the lower is plasticity. Now it is possible to overcome this law: a new material (cast iron) MONICA named after its alloying additives molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) was created, which in contrast loses its brittleness with increasing strength. A new (unexpected) regularity has been established: with the increase in strength of MONICA, its plasticity also increases. This was also confirmed by the results of tests on fracture toughness, rolling and mechanical fatigue. Specific mechanical and service properties of MONICA were analysed in comparison with traditional steels and known high-strength cast irons with spherical graphite (ADI). These properties were confirmed by operational tests of high-loaded full-scale parts: knives of cutting devices of high-performance forage harvesters, heavy railway rails, large gear wheels.

Keywords: high-strength cast iron; tribo-fatigue; knife; rail; gear wheel; mechanothermodynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMSI.2023.135888

International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity, 2023 Vol.15 No.1, pp.24 - 41

Accepted: 29 Mar 2022
Published online: 09 Jan 2024 *

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