ADI provides a high strength-to-weight material at a component price that is typically 20% less than that of steel.
Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) is a specialty heat treated material that takes advantage of the near-net shape technology and low cost manufacturability of ductile iron castings to make a high strength, low cost, excellent abrasion-resistant material. Six grades of ADI are available to address property combinations of high strength, abrasion resistance and toughness for converting from costly forgings, weldments and assemblies.
It may surprise you to know that in some applications ADI has replaced aluminum as a weight savings. ADI components are very competitive with steel forgings, castings, weldments, and aluminum forgings and castings.
Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) has found successful applications across many industries, including Construction and Mining, Agriculture, Automotive, Heavy Truck, and Railroad.
Typical applications include:
- Timing Gears
- CV Joints
- Steering Knuckles
- Sprockets, Rollers, Idlers
- Suspension Housings and brackets
- Wear Plates
- Wheel Hubs
- Control Arms
- Plow Points
- Hitches
- Crankshafts
- Flanged shafts
Application of the Austempering process to steel provides the user with a tough, high-strength component that resists embrittlement.
This dimensionally repeatable process is typically cost competitive with conventional quench and temper processes. Austempering is particularly appropriate for medium and high carbon stampings, forgings, castings, and full density powdered metal parts.
Austempered Steel offers superior toughness at high hardnesses over conventionally quenched and tempered steel. This process exhibits minimal distortion, no cracking during quenching and resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Austempered Steel (including high-density Austempered Powdered Metals) is superior to conventionally processed steels.
Typical examples of Austempered Steel applications are:
- Mower Blades
- Clips and Clamps
- Cutter and Mixer Blades
- Transmission Gears
- Wave Plates
- Turf Aeration Tines
Make Quieter Components
AGI offers material with excellent dampening effects, strength, and wear resistance.
Typical applications of AGI include:
- Bearing Collars
- Light Duty Gears
- Cylinder Liners
- Machine Parts
- Brake Components
CADI™ is a new treatment that uses a matrix of ausferrite and carbides to add strength and wear resistance to ductile iron parts.
The result is a premium, engineered iron with longer life, and more wear-resistant than Grade 5 ADI. Typical applications for CADI™ will be off-highway vehicles, agricultural equipment, railroad car and track, construction and mining, general industrial, material handling, and ground engaging components.
Carbidic Austempered Ductile Iron (CADI™) is produced by austempering ductile iron that has a controlled volume of carbides present for an even greater abrasion resistant material. The resulting microstructure consists of carbides within an ADI matrix (ausferrite). The amount of carbide in CADI™ is dependent upon the desired abrasion resistance with typical ranges of 10-30% carbide present. The properties of the ADI matrix surrounding the carbide are determined by the selection of the heat treatment parameters.
CADI™ is utilized where abrasion (wear) resistance is of primary concern. It is more wear resistant than Grade 1600 (GR 5) ADI, less expensive and tougher than many abrasion resistant irons and can replace Mn steel at an equal or lower cost.
Typical applications of CADI™ include:
- Rasp Bars
- Wear Plates
- Plow Points
- Digger Teeth
- Tip Holders
- Pump Impellors
- Thrashing Elements
- Hammers
- Internal Tines
- Rollers
This process develops a tough, high-carbon, bainitic case on high performance components.
Carbo-Austempered parts have remarkable impact properties that are superior to either neutral hardened or carburized steels. Carbo-Austempering is routinely applied to steel gears, shafts, and power transmission parts that undergo periodic overloading in service.
The Carbo-Austempering™ process is a high performance steel heat treatment that combines a high carbon bainitic case with either a bainitic or tempered martensitic core to produce a component with an exceptional combination of strength and toughness.
Carbo-Austempered ™ steel exhibits:
- Higher tensile strength
- Increased wear resistance
- Greatly improved impact properties
- Increased elongation
- Lower distortion
- No cracking during quenching
- Increased fatigue strength (in high load, low cycle fatigue application)
Typical applications of Carbo-Austempered™ Steel include:
- Transmission shafts
- Output Shafts
- Pump Shafts
- Differential Pinions
- Spline Drives
- Parking Pawls.
LADITM is a surface hardening heat treatment process that will produce a localized case depth (3 to 5 mm) of an ausferrite microstructure (ADI) in a desired area of a component. This induction-based technology is unique in that it can be applied to ferritic grades of ductile iron (65-45-12 or 450-12) which are typically not suited for induction hardening.
Converting fabrications to one-piece austempered ductile iron castings offers significant advantages, allowing our customers to:
- Increase product performance (strength, wear resistance, toughness)
- Reduce number of components
- Reduce weight
- Reduce total cost
- Save internal engineering time
Steps in the conversion service
- Determine customer goals and priorities
- Create casting concept
- Collaborate with customer on design
- A final concept is presented
- Review prototype or production foundry source options with customer
- Austempering of samples or production components.
Example Conversion
This two-piece, 42-component tedder hinge was converted into a one-piece austempered ductile iron casting.
A single, machined casting replaced all required components for both hinges.
The New Design Resulted in:
- 95% reduction in inventory
- 82% reduction in assembly time
- 64% reduction in cost
