Archives of Foundry Engineering

Abstract

In this paper examinations of high-temperature wetting tests of 3 systems of liquid alloycast iron in contact with ceramic materials: magnesia ceramics in combination with natural graphite were presented. After wettability testing, the microscopic observations of the morphology of the sample surface and the cross-section microstructure with the chemical composition in micro-areas were examined. One of the objective of this work was also to verify whether the graphite content would affect the wettability of the magnesia ceramics. The study of high-temperature wetting kinetics of the liquid alloy in contact with the ceramic material, by the "sessile drop" method with capillary purification (CP) procedure was conducted. Under the test conditions, at a temperature of 1450°C and time 15 minutes, all 3 experimental systems showed a non-wetting behaviour. The average contact angle for the system with cast iron drop on magnesia ceramics was 140°, on magnesia ceramics with 10 parts per weight of graphite was 137° and on magnesia ceramics with 30 parts per weight of graphite -139°. Microscopic observations revealed that in the case of the sample consisting of the cast iron drop on the substrate with magnesia ceramics, the formation of fine separations was not observed, unlike the systems with the substrate with magnesia ceramics and the addition of natural graphite. Numerous, fine droplets accumulate on the graphite flakes and consist mainly of Si as well as Fe and O. On the other hand, the rough MgO grains have a gray, matt surface, without fine separations. The conducted observations indicate the mechanical nature of the bonding -liquid metal penetrates into the pores of the rough ceramics of the substrate. However, in the case of systems of cast iron drop with magnesia ceramics and addition of graphite, probably the adhesive connection and the physical attraction of elements derived from cast iron drop with the flake graphite appeared as well.