Morphological Optimization of Graphite in Spheroidal Cast Iron with a Modulus of 4 cm used in the Manufacture of Wind Turbine Hubs

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was the morphological optimization of graphite by generating knowledge able to determine which metallurgical manufacturing factors have a significant influence on the geometry of the graphite precipitated in spheroidal grey cast irons with a mass coefficient of 4, used in the manufacture of wind turbine hubs. The research study was conducted on an industrial scale applying a fractional Design of Experiments (DoE) with 7 factors, 16 experiments and resolution IV. The following constitute the most noteworthy novel results obtained in the study. The effect of La on the graphite “counts” is strengthened by pre-inoculation of the molten iron bath with SiC. Furthermore, graphite counts can be increased under low carbon equivalent conditions using post-inoculants containing Zr. Finally, high values of Mn lead to a reduction in the size of the precipitated graphite.