A Review on the Prospect for the Development of Nanostructured and Nanocomposite Aluminium-Alloyed Austempered Ductile Iron

Abstract

This review paper has established austempered ductile iron (ADI) as a classical material that has spectra of properties achieved by altering some processing parameters through heat treatment procedures. Concerted efforts have been made to equally explore the use of additives as additional materials to this all important alloy. The use of modifiers at ultra-fine or nano-scale level as additive to the melt prior casting has also been reviewed. However, the continuous quest for innovative approaches of upgrading the structural and mechanical characteristics of ductile irons has open up interest in the development of nanostructured and nanocomposite components in bulky iron bearing materials. This paper cross-examines few available literatures on the nanostructured ADI with the aim of adopting similar methodology in the development of nanostructured aluminium-alloyed DI and nanostructured aluminium-alloyed ADI. Emphasy is laid on reviewing the production techniques and treatment parameters on the processing of the developed nanostructured aluminium-alloyed DI and/or aluminium-alloyed DI nanocomposites and with respect to their usage at low, moderate and extremely high and low temperatures. Keywords— aluminium-alloyed austempered ductile iron; development; nano-tructured; nanocomposite; processing; modifiers