Effect of barium and lanthanum-based inoculants on the mechanical properties of GGG60 spheroidal graphite iron

In this study, GGG-60 standard ductile cast iron was produced by converter treatment ladle. Lanthanum (La) and Barium (Ba) based inoculants were used. The inoculants were added in equal amounts of 0.25 %. Ferro Silicon Magnesium (FeSiMg) alloy was used as a spherodizer at a rate of 1.3 %. A step model having section thickness of 5 mm, 15 mm, 25 mm, 35 mm and 50 mm was used in sand casting. The effect of the inoculant type on the microstructural and mechanical properties were studied in detail. The nodule count, nodularity and ferrite/pearlite ratio. The nodule count and pearlite amount decreased continuously with increasing section thickness. Therefore, the hardness decreased with increasing section thickness for both La and Ba inoculants. For La inoculants, the amount of pearlite was relatively high, while the nodule count was relatively low compared to that of Ba inoculants. Thus, the hardness and strength of La inoculants were relatively high.