The Althoff-Radtke Test Adapted for High Chromium Cast Iron

The paper presents results of the possibility of adapting the Althoff-Radtke test for High Chromium Cast Iron. The Althoff-Radtke test is a clump attempt used for steel. The Althoff-Radtke test has four different lengths of clamp which qualifies it as a test to quantitatively take into account different kinds of shrinkage ΔL. The length of the slot of the cracked corner and the length of each staple (50 - 350 mm) are the parameters tendency to cast cracks. Castings of white cast iron have a high tendency to hot cracking due to the large range of solidification temperatures, unfavorable kinetics parameters of shrinkage, and especially a lack of expansion before shrinkage. Shrinkage of high chromium white cast iron is similar to the shrinkage of cast steel, and is approximately 2%. Therefore it is important to test susceptibility to hot cracks. Research was carried out under industrial conditions. Four melts were performed, one of the initial chemical composition and the other three modified by different amounts of Fe-Ti, respectively, 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% Fe-Ti. The propensity for hot cracking was based on the observation of the dark surface in the corner of the sample. The study shows that the Althoff-Radtke test can be adapted to determine the tendency for hot cracking of high chromium cast iron. It should however be noted that the test results cannot be compared with those for other alloys.