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SAE TECHNICALPAPER SERIES 2000-01-0679

Lightweight Iron and Steel Castings forAutomotive Applications

Alan P. Druschitz and David C. FitzgeraldIntermet Corp.

Reprinted From: Casting Solutions for the Automotive Industry(SP–1504)

SAE 2000 World CongressDetroit, MichiganMarch 6–9, 2000

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2000-01-0679

Lightweight Iron and Steel Castingsfor Automotive Applications

Alan P. Druschitz and David C. FitzgeraldIntermet Corp.

Copyright © 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

ABSTRACT

The use of aluminum to produce lightweight automotivecastings has gained wide acceptance despite significantcost penalties. Lightweight iron and steel casting designshave been largely ignored despite their obvious cost andproperty advantages.

This paper reviews and discusses the following: 1)various processes for producing lightweight iron and steelcastings, 2) examples of lightweight components in high-volume production, 3) examples of conversions fromaluminum to iron, 4) material properties of interest todesigners, 5) examples of concept components and 6)efforts to improve the design and manufacturingprocesses for lightweight iron and steel castings.

In summary, the potential for low-cost, lightweight ironand steel castings to aid the automotive industry inachieving both cost and weight objectives has beendemonstrated and continues to expand. In general,however, automotive designers and engineers have notyet fully taken advantage of these technologies.

INTRODUCTION

Due to fierce global competition, the automotive industryis forcing the rapid advancement of technology. Today’scars are significantly safer, cleaner and more fuel efficientthan those of only a few years ago – and the rate ofimprovement is increasing. There are many factors thatthe automotive industry must consider. Four of thesefactors are: fuel economy, emissions, safety and cost.Fuel economy, emissions and safety are governmentmandated; cost (or value) is customer mandated.Constantly changing political focus and global regulationscause the automotive companies to constantly reassessthe relative importance of each of these areas andconsequently the amount of research effort applied tothem.

Currently, fuel economy is an area of high interest in theUnited States. The US Government has promoted thedevelopment of a “Supercar” – an environmentallyfriendly car with up to triple the fuel efficiency of today’s

midsize cars – without sacrificing affordability,performance, or safety (1). To achieve the fuel economygoal, reducing vehicle weight has been a major researcharea. The industry trend has been to substitute lowdensity materials (aluminum, magnesium andcomposites) for iron and steel. Drawbacks to thisapproach are reduced material strength, ductility andstiffness, a larger product envelope and/or higher cost.An alternative approach, which has not been widelypublicized or promoted by the US Government, is the useof lightweight iron and steel design. A notable exceptionis the Ultra-Light Steel Vehicle program financed by thewrought steel industry (2). This paper describes the littleknown efforts of the iron and steel foundry industry.

Specifically, this paper describes 1) various processes forproducing lightweight iron and steel castings, 2)examples of lightweight components in high-volumeproduction, 3) examples of conversions from aluminum toiron, 4) material properties of interest to designers, 5)examples of concept components and 6) efforts toimprove the design and manufacturing processes forlightweight iron and steel castings.

CASTING PROCESSES

The requirements for a casting process to be capable ofproducing lightweight components are 1) dimensionalaccuracy, 2) ability to fill thin-sections and 3) consistentmetal quality. Processes that have been shown to becapable of meeting these requirements are investmentcasting, counter-gravity casting, low-pressure bottom-fill,shell, chemically-bonded sand and green sand. Newproducts and product concepts are now possible due toadvances in the above listed processes coupled with 1)continuous improvement in the production of clean steel,2) improved understanding and control of gray,compacted and ductile iron microstructures and 3)reasonably good mathematical models for mold fillingand solidification.

Investment casting is the premier process for producingcomplex, thin-wall castings. Advantages of theinvestment casting process are highly accurate patterns,strong and stable refractory molds, hot molds and gravity

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pouring. A hot mold makes filling thin-sections easy(down to 0.4 mm) and gravity pouring is simple. Typically,a hot mold means slow cooling rates, which are beneficialfor cast iron since this inhibits carbide formation, but aredetrimental for cast steel since this promotes a largegrain size. Although gravity pouring is advantageous froma simplicity viewpoint, low casting yield and turbulenceduring filling are disadvantages. Figure 1 is a schematicshowing the pouring of an investment casting.

Figure 1. Schematic of Investment Casting Process.

Hitchiner Manufacturing Co. and General Motorspioneered the development of the counter-gravityprocess (3) and applied this technology to bothinvestment and sand casting (4-6). In counter-gravitycasting, a vacuum is used to draw metal up into the moldas opposed to gravity pulling metal down into the mold,as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Counter-gravity or vacuumassisted casting (VAC) is a more complex process in highvolume production (requires unique equipment), but theprocess yields the benefits of improved metal cleanlinessby reduced turbulence during mold filling and improvedcasting yield (ratio of the amount of saleable metaldivided by the amount of metal poured in the mold). Avariation, the loose sand VAC process (7), minimizes thethickness of the ceramic or bonded sand molds and usesloose (unbonded) sand to back-up the fragile mold. Using

this technique, production costs are reduced byminimizing the use of expensive refractory coatings orchemically bonded sand. The VAC process is applicableto steel (air melt) and nickel-based or titanium-based(inert or vacuum melt) but is not readily applicable toductile iron due to magnesium fade. A small amount ofmagnesium dissolved in iron is required to form ductile(or nodular) iron. However, dissolved magnesium slowlyreacts with air (oxygen), dissolved sulfur and furnace andladle linings, thus its “nodularizing” effect fades slowlywith time.

Figure 2. Schematic of Counter-Gravity Casting Process Using a Single Sprue (CLA process).

Figure 3. Schematic of Counter-Gravity Casting Process Using a Bonded Sand Mold with Multiple In-Gates (VAC process).

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The “SlimCast” process invented by General Motors in1993 coupled the mold filling technology of the counter-gravity process with the simplicity of gravity pouring (8).Although never used in production, the “SlimCast” processhas been used to produce many one-of-a-kind conceptcastings; including 300 mm long tubes with 1 mm wallthickness, exhaust manifolds in stainless steel and ductileiron with 2 mm wall thickness, differential carriers with 3mm wall thickness and cylinder blocks with 3 mm wallthickness. A schematic of the SlimCast mold is shown inFigure 4 and an example of a casting cluster producedusing the SlimCast process is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 4. Schematic of SlimCast Mold.

Figure 5. Forty-On Casting Cluster of Gray Iron, Pump Bodies Produced Using the SlimCast Process.

The Sadefa FM (“Fonte Mince” or thin-wall iron) process(9) invented by Groupe Valfonde in 1976 andcommercialized in 1982 uses low-pressure, bottom-fill topush metal into chemically bonded sand molds. Thisprocess provides high casting yield, good dimensionalaccuracy and the ability to fill relatively thin (2.8 mm)sections. By 1993, Sadefa had supplied GM Cadillac,Renault, Peugeot and Opel with over 2,000,000 thin-wall,ductile iron exhaust manifolds.

The shell process has been used since the 50’s toproduce “thin-wall” castings in gray and ductile iron andstill is today. The high hardness and good dimensionalaccuracy of the shell mold makes this feasible. Since the50’s, great strides in understanding mold filling havesignificantly improved casting quality. Figure 6 showsstacked shell molds used to produce thin-wall, ductileiron, rocker arm castings in 1954 (10).

Figure 6. 208-on Casting Cluster of Thin-Wall, Ductile Iron, Rocker Arms Made by Ford Dearborn Specialty Foundry in 1954 Using Stacked Shell Molds.

The green sand process has been largely overlooked forthe production of thin wall, lightweight castings butrecently interest has been expanding. One publishedreport described the production of exhaust manifolds with2.8 ± 0.65 mm walls (11). The primary dimensionalproblem with green sand molding has traditionally beencope-to-drag shift. However, new developments invertically parted machines have recently claimed toreduce mold-to-mold shift to 0.1 mm (12). Further,thoughtful component design can also minimize theeffects of this problem in older mold lines. Theintroduction of low-pressure, bottom-fill, vertically-partedmold lines (13) also provides the potential for significantlyimproved part quality and reduced part cost.

Minimum wall thickness is an important characteristic ofa “lightweight-capable” process, but the ability to makehollow sections and to “core-out” thick sections is evenmore important. Hollow and cored-out featuresdistinguish castings from forgings and sand castings frommost low cost die castings. By cleverly taking advantage

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of the unique abilities of the various sand castingprocesses, significant weight savings, with little costpenalty, are possible.

PRODUCTION COMPONENTS

Numerous examples of lightweight iron and steel castcomponents currently in production are available forreview. Some notable examples include exhaustmanifolds, rocker arms, pump bodies, control arms,steering knuckles, mounts and brackets. Figure 7 showsa variety of examples of lightweight iron castingscurrently made using the green sand process.

Figure 7. Thin-Wall, Ductile Iron Castings Made Using the Green Sand Process by Various Intermet Foundries.

Exhaust manifolds, Figure 8, have been favorites for thin-wall casting development because 1) castings providebetter flow than fabrications (smooth, no abrupttransitions at welds, unlimited cross sectional geometry),2) thin-walls reduce heat-up time, which speeds catalyticconverter light-off and therefore reduces emissions and3) better durability than fabrications (no welds).

High-silicon, high-silicon moly (Si-Mo) and Ni-Resistductile irons have been very successful but stainlesssteel (for >900°C applications) has proven to be amanufacturing challenge due to high pouringtemperatures. The green sand process is widely used toproduce ductile iron exhaust manifolds with wallthicknesses of 4.0 mm or less by Wescast, Citation-Marion and Georg Fischer AG. The Sadefa FM processproduced up to 6000 thin-wall ductile iron castings perday in 1994. The Sadefa FM process provided prototypesin ferritic stainless steel in 1995. The counter-gravityprocess is currently used for low volume production ofstainless steel exhaust manifolds by Alloy Engineering,Wescast, Infun and Daido.

Figure 8. An Example of a Thin-Wall (3 mm) Exhaust Manifold Cast Using 1) the SlimCast Process in Ferritic Stainless Steel or Ni-Resist D5S Ductile Iron and 2) the VAC Process in Austenitic Stainless Steel (current production at Alloy Engineering is 700 per day).

A very high volume application of a thin-wall steel castingis the rocker arm for the General Motors 3800 engine,Figure 9. This casting is made using the process shownin Figure 2 with the addition of sand to support the shellmold (supported-shell or SSCLA process). At present,rocker arm production for all customers is 130,000 perday. The material is a low-alloy steel (AISI 8620).

Figure 9. Thin-Wall, Low-Alloy Steel, Rocker Arms Produced for General Motors by Hitchiner Manufacturing Using the SSCLA Process.

General Motors produces the primary pump body forNorthstar engine, Figure 10, using the multiple in-gateVAC process. Production rates for this casting areapproximately 1000 per day. The sand cores are stackedfive-high and designed to form the top of one casting andbottom of the next. The material is a high silicon, grayiron that produces carbide free parts as-cast. Wallsthicknesses are as thin as 2.5 mm. All of the criticaldimensions are in-the-mold, so cope-to-drag shift is notan issue.

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Figure 10. Thin-Wall, Gray Iron, Primary Pump Produced by General Motors Using the VAC Process.

A large number of mounts and brackets are cast using thegreen sand process. The advantages of cast mounts andbrackets are 1) reduced part count, 2) improved strengthand stiffness and 3) reduced weight. The design flexibilityof castings allows material to be placed where it is mostneeded to absorb the applied load or redistribute theapplied load, unlike stampings that are required to haveuniform wall thickness and have limited shape flexibility.Further, castings can have additional material located incorners and junctions to reduce stress and preventunwanted deflection. Mounts and brackets produced fromgray and ductile iron have excellent vibration dampingabilities, whereas mounts and brackets produced from lowcarbon steel are readily welded. Both iron and steel easilyhandle the underhood temperatures of today’s cars andtrucks. Numerous examples of automotive mounts andbrackets are shown in Appendix I.

CONVERSION OF ALUMINUM TO IRON

Numerous examples of converting aluminum to iron orsteel exist. In 1992, CWC Textron described a 1.54 kg(3.4 lbs) cast steel lower control arm produced for aconcept vehicle using vacuum casting technology (14).The thin-wall steel casting was 39% lighter than analuminum alloy forging. The replacement of a wroughtaluminum fuel tank spacer with a lightweight ductile ironcasting is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Wrought Aluminum and Lightweight, Ductile Iron Fuel Tank Spacer Produced by Intermet Wagner Foundry.

Production aluminum and prototype lightweight irondesigns for a steering knuckle casting are shown inFigure 12. The lightweight iron design was 0.9 kg (2 lbs)heavier than the aluminum design but approximately halfthe cost. Anticipated benefits of the lightweight irondesign are 1) longer life due to reduced bearing andbushing distortion and wear (ductile iron is harder andmore wear resistant than aluminum) and 2) improvedNVH (ductile iron has better damping properties thanaluminum).

Figure 12. Aluminum and Lightweight Iron Steering Knuckles for the Ford Taurus. Current Production is Cast Aluminum.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF INTEREST TO DESIGNERS

Iron and steel have many material characteristics thataluminum, magnesium and composites simply cannotduplicate. Aluminum and magnesium are heat treated toachieve peak strength by quenching followed by aging.Prolonged use at temperatures near or above the agingtemperature (typically 150-175°C) result in dimensionaldistortion and strength reduction. Cast iron and steel areboth mechanically and dimensionally stable to muchhigher temperatures. Iron and steel are often used in theas-cast condition or can be heat treated to a wide varietyof properties. Table I is a comparison of tensile propertiesof various cast metals.

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A unique feature of cast iron and steel is the ability toharden surfaces – that is, produce a hard wear resistancesurface and a tough, ductile core. This is not possiblewith aluminum or magnesium without costly secondarycoating processes

Other material properties of interest to automotiveengineers are damping capacity (the ability to suppressvibration), coefficient of thermal expansion, coefficient ofthermal conductivity, creep resistance, work hardening orsoftening and damage tolerance. Table II is a comparisonof relative damping capacity for various metals and TableIII is a comparison of thermal conductivity and thermalexpansion for various metals.

LIGHTWEIGHT IRON AND STEEL CONCEPTS

Once a design engineer understands the abilities of thecasting process and the specific characteristics of amaterial, there is no limit to the unique designs that canbe created.

Compacted graphite iron is now in high-volumeproduction at the Intermet Ironton Iron Foundry forbedplates (19) and low-volume production at HalbergGuss for cylinder blocks (Audi V-8 TDI). The bedplateapplication (DaimlerChrysler 4.7 Liter V-8) demonstratedimproved “noise quality” and durability over gray iron.

Experimental programs have repeatedly demonstratedthe potential for lightweight iron. Examples of theseprograms are:

• General Motors 2.5 liter, 3 mm wall, gray iron block(20% weight savings) produced using the VACprocess

• Adam Opel AG’s 2.5 liter, compacted graphite, V-6Calibra (20.4% weight reduction)

• Adam Opel AG’s 1.6 liter, compacted graphite, FamilyI cylinder block (29.4% weight reduction aftermachining)

Weight reductions of 10-25% compared to gray iron areanticipated when using compacted graphite iron (20) ifthe higher strength and toughness of the compactedgraphite iron are properly utilized.

Also, high-specific output diesel engines are beingdesigned using lightweight, compacted graphite iron,cylinder blocks in Europe. Aluminum is not strong enoughfor these applications.

Crankshafts are typically machined from alloy steel billetstock (highest strength, highest cost), forged frommicroalloyed steel (medium strength, medium cost) orcast in ductile iron (lowest strength, lowest cost).Regardless of material or manufacturing process, theweight is similar. However, mass can be significantlyreduced by using the flexibility of the sand castingprocess to develop a crankshaft that optimizes the

Table I. Comparison of Tensile Properties of Various Cast Metals (15,16).

MaterialElastic

Modulus (GPa)

Minimum* Tensile Strength

(MPa)

Minimum* Yield

Strength (MPa)

Minimum* Elongation

(%)

Gray IronClass 30 90-113 207 Class 40 110-138 276 Ductile IronSAE J434 D4018 162-170 414 276 18SAE J434 D4512 162-170 448 310 12SAE J434 D5506 162-170 552 379 6SAE J434 D7003 162-170 690 483 3ADI grade 1 ---------- 850 550 10SteelSAE J435c 0025 200 415 207 22SAE J435c 080 200 550 345 22SAE J435c 0050B

200 690 485 10

Aluminumsand cast319 T6 71 250 164 2.0356 T6 72 228 164 3.5A356 T6 72 278 207 6.0permanent mold319 T6 71 280 185 3.0356 T6 72 262 185 5.0A356 T61 72 283 207 10.0*Properties for aluminum are “typical”, not “minimum”

Table II. Comparison of Relative Damping Capacity for Various Metals (17).

MaterialRelative

Damping CapacityGray Iron, coarse flake 100-500Gray Iron, fine flake 20-100Ductile Iron 5-20Pure Iron 5Eutectoid Steel 4Aluminum 0.4

Table III. Comparison of Thermal Expansion and Thermal Conductivity for Various Metals (15,16,18).

Material

Coefficient of Thermal

Expansion µm/m X °K

Coefficient of Thermal

ConductivityW/m X °K

Gray Iron 10.5 48.5-57.1Ductile Iron 10.6-11.2 26.0-41.5Compacted Graphite Iron

- - - 38-52

Low Carbon Steel 12.1 97Aluminum Alloy 319 21.5 109Aluminum Alloy 356 21.5 151-159

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location of the counterweight mass and reduces mass inareas not needed for structural integrity, Figure 13.Lightweight crankshaft designs can easily provide 15-25% weight savings and aggressive designs can provide45-50% weight savings (as much as 20.5 kg in V-10applications) by hollowing-out main and pin bearings,coring-out counterweights and using grade 1austempered ductile iron.

Figure 13. Example of Concept Lightweight Crankshaft.

The use of hydroformed steel for primary body structuresand components provides unique opportunities forcastings. An iron or steel casting is ideally suited forattachment to a hydroformed rail section by stud weldingor MIG welding. A casting can reduce part count byintegrating features, such as multiple attachment ormounting points and can provide unique features, suchas vibration damping/isolation and controlled crush. Anintegrated front shock tower and lower control arm mountis shown in Figure 14. The advantages of this design areimproved stiffness for ride and handling and reduced partcount compared to a stamped steel fabrication.

Figure 14. Thin-wall Ductile Iron and Steel Concept Castings Produced by General Motors Research Laboratories Using the SlimCast Process. Steel: engine mounts, exhaust manifolds, lower control arm/front shock tower mount, lower control arm, torque converter cover. Ductile Iron: exhaust manifold, differential carrier, power steering gear housing. Gray Iron: cylinder block, primary pump body.

Hydroformed, rolled or extruded body structures also relyon nodes (the point where various linear componentscome together). Nodes tend to be complex, three-dimensional structures that are typically cast. Methods ofreliably joining the structures together at the nodes arestill a major issue.

EFFORTS TO IMPROVE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING

The foundry industry has internally produced 1)significant improvements in the ability to design castingsand tooling and 2) manufacturing enhancements.Mathematical modeling has become commonplace andcurrent efforts are aimed at fine tuning models for specificplants, processes and materials. Whereas the USGovernment has supplied tremendous amounts ofresources for the development of aluminum andmagnesium, the iron and steel foundry industries havedeveloped their own programs.

As one example, the Ductile Iron Society has undertakenthe task of generating strain life fatigue data, which arethe inputs for finite element stress analysis, for ductileiron. This data is freely distributed by way of their website(www.ductile.org) and at the SAE 2000 Congress.

Also, the Thin-Wall Iron Group (TWIG), a consortium ofindustry (users, producers and suppliers), universities(University of Alabama and University of North Carolinaat Charlotte) and a national lab (Albany ResearchCenter) was independently established in 1998 to 1)develop materials and methods for producing thin-walliron castings and 2) characterize thin-wall castingproperties. The results of this group will be forthcoming.The American Foundrymen’s Society can provide moreinformation on TWIG.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Dick Chandley of MetalCasting Technology, Inc. (Hitchiner--General Motors jointventure) for allowing the use of their process and productphotographs and for helpful comments made during thereview of this paper. Tony Thoma of Wescast, the SAEreviewers and Edward Vinarcik (Session Organizer) arealso thanked and complimented for their helpfulcomments and suggestions made during the review ofthis paper.

REFERENCES

1. From the Partnership for a New Generation ofVehicles website (www.ta.doc.gov/pngv/introduction).

2. K. Buchholz, “ULSAB proves lighter is stronger,”Automotive Engineering International, Vol. 106, No.5, May 1988, pp. 36-38.

3. G.D. Chandley and R.L. Sharkey, “Method of CastingMetal in Sand Mold Using Reduced Pressure,” U.S.Patent No. 4,340,108, July 20, 1982.

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4. G.D. Chandley, “Making Castings Without Ladles orSprues – The CLA Process,” AFS Transactions, Vol.84 (1976) pp. 37-42.

5. G.D. Chandley, “Countergravity Low-PressureCasting, “ Metals Handbook, Vol. 15, “Casting,” ASMInternational, (1988) pp. 317-319.

6. A.T. Spada, “Hitchiner Manufacturing Co. – Turningthe Casting World Upside Down,” Modern Casting,Vol. 88, No. 7, July 1998, pp. 39-43.

7. G.D. Chandley, “Countergravity Casting Apparatusand Method,” U.S. Patent No. 4,957,153, September18, 1990.

8. A.P. Druschitz, et al, “Mold for Producing Thin WallCastings by Gravity Pouring,” U.S. Patent No.5,263,533, November 23, 1993.

9. “High Integrity Thin Wall Castings, Major Advance forAutomotive Industry,” Metallurgia, Vol. 59, No. 1,January 1992.

10. Source Book on Ductile Iron, American Society forMetals, (1977) p. 260.

11. K. Hornung, “Thin Section Ductile Iron Castings,”61st World Foundry Congress (Technical Forum)Beijing, 1995, pp. 75-83.

12. Georg Fischer Disa 230 Product Literature.

13. Lambert, Guy R., “Low-Pressure, Green SandProcess Produces Thin-Walled Castings,” ModernCasting, August 1999, pp. 72-73.

14. P. Warren, “Vacuum casting advances create newdesign options,” Automotive Engineering, Vol. 100,No. 2, February 1992, pp. 12-15.

15. Metals Handbook 10th Edition, “Properties andSelection: Irons, Steels and High-PerformanceAlloys,” ASM International (1990) pp. 18-60, 365-374.

16. Metals Handbook 10th Edition, “Properties andSelection: Non-ferrous Alloys and Special-PurposeMaterials,” ASM International (1990) pp. 143-165.

17. Metals Handbook 10th Edition, “Properties andSelection: Irons, Steels and High-PerformanceAlloys,” ASM International (1990) p. 31.

18. Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 71st Edition,CRC Press (1990) p. 12-122.

19. R.J. Warrick, et al, “Development and Application ofEnhanced Compacted Graphite Iron for the Bedplateof the New Chrysler 4.7 Liter V-8 Engine,” SAETechnical Paper No. 1999-01-0325, 1999.

20. SinterCast Product Literature, SinterCast Inc.,Auburn Hills, MI.

CONTACT

Dr. Alan P. Druschitz received his PhD in MetallurgicalEngineering in 1982 from the Illinois Institute ofTechnology, Chicago IL. He is currently the Chairman ofTWIG (Thin-Wall Iron Group) and is the Director ofMaterials Development for Intermet Corporation. He islocated at the Intermet Product Design and TechnicalCenter, 939 Airport Road, Lynchburg VA 24502. He canbe reached at adruschitz@notes.intermet.com or (804)237-8749. He has been a member of the AmericanFoundrymen’s Society for eleven years, the Society ofAutomotive Engineers for eighteen years and ASMInternational for twenty-three years.

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APPENDIX I.

EXAMPLES OF LIGHTWEIGHT, DUCTILE IRON, MOUNTS AND BRACKETS MADE FOR FORD BY INTERMET WAGNER FOUNDRY USING THE GREEN SAND PROCESS.