Mechanical properties of vanadium-alloyed austempered ductile iron for crankshaft applications

Abstract

This study focused on the development of austempered ductile iron (ADI) with desirable combination of mechanical properties for crankshaft applications by the combined effect of vanadium (V) alloying and an optimized heat treatment process. The produced unalloyed GGG60, 0.15% V-alloyed GGG60 (V-15), and 0.30% V-alloyed GGG60 samples were subjected to austenitizing at 900 & DEG;C for 1 h and subsequent austempering processes at 250, 300, and 350 & DEG;C for 15, 30, 60, 90, and 180 min. As a result of these austempering processes, different bainitic structures were obtained, which led to the formation of diverse combinations of mechanical properties. The mechanical properties of the austempered samples were tested comprehensively, and the results were correlated with their microstructures and the stability of the retained austenite phases. From the microstructural observations, the V-alloyed samples exhibited a finer microstructure and a more acicular ferrite phase than unalloyed samples. The V addition delayed the coarsening of the acicular ferrite structures and considerably contributed to the improvement of the mechanical properties of GGG60. Moreover, the X-ray diffraction results revealed that the retained austenite volume and the carbon enrichment of austenite phases in ADI samples were remarkably affected by the addition of vanadium. The increase in volume fraction of retained austenite and its carbon content provided favorable ductility and toughness to V-15, as confirmed by the elongation and impact test results. Consequently, the dual-phase ausferrite microstructure of V-15 that was austempered at 300 & DEG;C for 60 min exhibited high strength with substantial ductility and toughness for crankshaft applications.