Rare earth elements, such as cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd) and yttrium (Y) were added into flake graphite cast iron melt on different sulfur levels in order to examine the effects of elements on chilling tendency and tensile strength and, the behaviors of the elements and sulfur. The results obtained were as follows :
(1) Addition of Ce, La, Nd or Y was very effective for the improvement of graphite shape, the refinement of eutectic cells, the reduction of chilling tendency and the enhancement of mechanical properties in flake graphite cast iron.
(2) The effect of rare earth elements on chilling tendency and so on was strongly dependent upon sulfur content in melt. With higher sulfur content, the degree of improvement of chilling tendency, microstructure and mechanical properties becomes larger.
(3) It is considerable that rare earth elements react with sulfur in melt, and that the sulfide formed helps the nucleation of flake graphite, so leads remarkable graphitization.
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