SIMULATION OF AUSTENITE AND GRAPHITE GROWTH IN DUCTILE IRON BY MEANS OF CELLULAR AUTOMATA

This article presents the results of modelling the influence of the growth of a graphite spheroid on the inhomogeneity of the carbon concentration field and on the growth of the austenite dendrite during the solidification of cast iron with spheroid graphite. It has been shown that the dendrite arms can diverge from them crystallographic directions and growth along maximum concentration gradient, and thus towards to the nearest graphite particle. A contact of phases then arises, as does the formation of the so-called halo structure, i.e. the total surrounding of the graphite spheroid by the austenite and its isolation from the liquid. Results modelling were obtained using the author's own mathematical model and software, which is based on the cellular automaton method.