As a widely used metal material, cast iron has a long history of development. China is one of the first countries to master smelting and casting technology, so the cast iron appliances produced include agricultural tools, weapons, sacrificial utensils, Zhong Ding artworks, etc. Since modern times, cast iron is still a common metal material in industrial development.
However, in recent years, with the rapid development of industry and fierce competition in various industries, the development of cast iron is restricted due to its low tensile strength and poor impact toughness. In 1947, British morrogh found that eutectic molten iron containing rare earth element cerium, inoculated with silicon manganese zirconium alloy, the graphite in cast iron will change from flake to spherical, and the strength and toughness of the material will be significantly improved; The following year, ganganebin, an American scientist, found that when magnesium was added to the cast iron liquid, cast iron with spherical graphite could also be obtained after ferrosilicon inoculation treatment. These findings are the beginning of modern people’s understanding and application of nodular cast iron. The birth of nodular cast iron has greatly improved the mechanical properties of nodular cast iron. It is not only a major progress in the metallurgical history of nodular cast iron, but also a major breakthrough in the application technology of ferrous metals.
In the following 70 years, nodular cast iron has become an excellent substitute for cast steel because of its high cost performance. With the continuous progress of production technology and the continuous improvement of performance, nodular cast iron has become an indispensable and important material in the industrial production of automobile, shipbuilding, metallurgy, machinery and other fields. Even in many developed countries, its output far exceeds that of cast steel and continues to rise.