Metallurgical, Mechanical and Electrochemical Behavior Study of the Lamellar Gray Cast Iron Treated with Vanadium

This study is concerned with the research and development in the field of materials science, leading to the industrial applications especially for the development of materials by moulding process. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of vanadium on microstructural, mechanical and electrochemical properties of gray cast iron with lamellar graphite EN-FGL250. We investigated the effect of adding element (vanadium), during the casting of the metal in the mould, in a powder form having a particle size of 0.5 mm with the amounts of 1%, 3% and 5% in weight percent on microstructural and mechanical properties of gray cast iron with lamellar graphite. The originality of this work is the addition of the vanadium powder during the last stage of cooling of the melted gray cast iron EN-FGL250. These additions have a significant impact on the solidification phenomenon since the deposited vanadium powder into the sand moulds creates the new sites of nucleation and absorbs a lot of heat leading to the fast cooling. From the experimental results, we can confirm that the cooling rate directly affects the microstructural, mechanical and electrochemical behavior of the cast gray iron treated with vanadium. As result, it was observed that there is a slight decrease of the elasticity modulus of the work pieces, and a reduction of the maximum tensile resistance Rm. Finally, the addition of vanadium considerably reduces the corrosion current of gray cast iron treated with vanadium.