Study on the Microstructure and Properties of Fe-Cr-B White Cast Iron

Author of the article:LIU Zhongli 1 , CHEN Xiang2

Author's Workplace：1. School of Nuclear Equipment and Nuclear Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China; 2. School of Materials and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Key Words：white cast iron; borides; microhardness; lath-type martensite; hardenability

Abstract：White cast iron is a traditional unreplaced wear-resistant material that takes eutectic carbides as the
wear-resistant phase, possessing high hardness but low ductility, thus limiting the lifetime and work conditions. In this
paper, a new Fe-Cr-B white cast iron was studied, which uses borides as the wear-resistant phase to achieve better
comprehensive properties. This kind of white cast iron is characterized by low C, high Cr and high B chemical
compositions. Under as-cast conditions, the matrix is mostly lath-type martensite, and the wear-resistant phase is eutectic
borides, i.e., M 2 B, the microhardness of which is higher than that of carbides. Fe-Cr-B white cast iron possesses higher
hardenability and can be used without quenching, similar to Ni-harden white cast iron. Moreover, the comprehensive
properties of the Fe-Cr-B white cast iron are fairly good.