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Automotive Malleable Cast Iron

Automotive malleable cast iron is a cast iron. It can have the lowest ductility among cast irons. In addition, it has the highest melting temperature and the lowest embodied energy.

The properties of automotive malleable cast iron include six common variations. This page shows summary ranges across all of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare automotive malleable cast iron to: cast irons (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness

130 to 290

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

180 GPa 26 x 106 psi

Elongation at Break

1.0 to 10 %

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Shear Modulus

70 GPa 10 x 106 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

350 to 720 MPa 50 to 110 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

220 to 590 MPa 32 to 85 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

260 J/g

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1410 °C 2570 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1370 °C 2500 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

480 J/kg-K 0.12 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

41 W/m-K 24 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

14 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

7.4 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

8.7 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

1.9 % relative

Density

7.6 g/cm3 480 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

1.5 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

20 MJ/kg 8.7 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

45 L/kg 5.3 gal/lb

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

6.8 to 30 MJ/m3

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

130 to 950 kJ/m3

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

13 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

25 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

13 to 26 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

14 to 24 points

Thermal Diffusivity

11 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

9.9 to 21 points

Alloy Composition

Iron (Fe)Fe 93.6 to 96.7
Carbon (C)C 2.2 to 2.9
Silicon (Si)Si 0.9 to 1.9
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0.15 to 1.3
Sulfur (S)S 0.020 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P)P 0.020 to 0.15

All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.

Followup Questions

Similar Alloys

Further Reading

ASTM A602: Standard Specification for Automotive Malleable Iron Castings

Cast Iron: Physical and Engineering Properties, Harold T. Angus, 1976

Properties and Selection: Irons, Steels and High Performance Alloys, ASM Handbook vol. 1, ASM International, 1993

Ferrous Materials: Steel and Cast Iron, Hans Berns and Werner Theisen, 2008