The Distribution of Carbon in Austenite Studied on a Water-Quenched Compacted Graphite Iron Using Electron Probe Microanalysis

Spheroidal graphite is the defining microstructural feature of ductile iron and also plays an important role in compacted graphite iron. It is widely accepted that graphite spheroids are engulfed by austenite at an early stage of solidification after which their growth is impeded by the slow diffusion of carbon through a layer of austenite. In this work, a compacted graphite iron-containing spheroidal graphite was studied after interruption of its solidification by water quenching. Selected areas of a cross section of the castings were investigated using quantitative electron probe microanalysis, with emphasis on the distribution of carbon in austenite. The measured carbon concentration near graphite was generally below the theoretical carbon concentration in austenite at equilibrium with graphite at 1140 degrees C. Numerical simulations of diffusion of carbon in austenite around spheroidal graphite suggest that a zone of austenite around graphite was likely depleted of carbon during quenching, possibly explaining the low measured concentrations. The measured carbon concentration near graphite varied by as much as 0.3 wt%, with the lowest concentrations consistently found in the central region of compacted graphite-austenite eutectic cells. Regardless of whether these differences were present prior to quenching or are consequences thereof, they seem to reflect either departures from, or displacements of, the carbon concentration in austenite at equilibrium with graphite. This indicates that there is something about growth of graphite embedded in austenite which is not well understood. Concentrations of Si, Mn and Cu are near equal in the compared regions and do not explain the observed differences in carbon content near graphite.