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In this paper, the thermo-elastic behavior of the graphite nodules contained in ductile iron is derived on the basis of recent transmission electron microscopy investigations of their real internal structure. The proposed model is initially validated by performing a finite element homogenization analysis to verify its consistency with the room-temperature elastic properties of ductile iron measured at the macro scale. Subsequently, it is used to investigate the formation of local residual stresses around the graphite particles by simulating the manufacturing process of a typical ferritic ductile iron grade, and the results are compared with preliminary measurements using synchrotron X-rays. Finally, the obtained accurate description of the stress & strain field at the micro scale is used to shed light on common failure modes reported for the nodules and on some peculiar properties observed in ductile iron at both micro and macro scale.

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Ductile cast iron has been an important engineering material in the past 50 years. In that time, it has evolved from a complicated material that required the foundry metallurgist's highest skill and strict process control to being a commonly used material that can easily be produced with modern process technology. Yet, for the skilled metallurgist and foundry engineer, it is a material that can be engineered to meet extreme demands with regard to mechanical properties and geometrical complexity. It is therefore a material that has been in growing use since its discovery. And the results of the latest years of research indicate that ductile cast iron in the future will become a highly engineered material in which strict control of a range of alloy elements combined with intelligent design and highly advanced processing allows us to target properties to specific applications to a much higher degree than we have seen previously. It is the aim of the present paper to present ductile iron as a modern engineering material and present the many different possibilities that the material hides. Focus will be on the latest research in solidification and melt treatment. But for completeness and to illustrate how ductile iron's properties are optimised, the essentials of heat treatment are described too. It is the hope that researchers will find a comprehensive treatment of ductile cast iron metallurgy and that engineers and designers will be presented with the latest information on, and references to, the properties and possibilities in ductile cast iron.