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This paper investigates the corrosion behavior of Fe-SG series metals with different graphite nodule counts to molten Al by using the ultrasonic vibration hot-dip aluminum experimental method. Fe-SG series metals to aluminum melt exhibited a much better corrosion resistance compared to H13 tool steel. As the graphite nodule count increases, the hot melting loss rate of Fe-SG series metals gradually decreases, indicating an improvement in corrosion resistance to aluminum melt. Scanning and EDS analysis of the samples after hot-dip aluminum testing revealed that the thickness of the product layer increased progressively with the extension of hot-dip aluminum time. Through the analysis of the structure and composition of the product layer, it was found that the corrosion products in H13 steel were composed of Fe2Al5 and FeAl3. In addition to the two phases, the product layer of the Fe-SG series metals also contained granularly distributed Fe–Al–Si intermetallic compounds within the Fe2Al5 phase. This resulted in a better corrosion resistance to aluminum melt.

Ferrite-martensite (F/M) dual-phase ductile iron with different relative amounts of martensite was fabricated via intercritical quenching in the present study. The mechanical properties and tribological behavior were investigated. The strength of ductile iron increased linearly with the increase of martensite level, while the ductility decreased rapidly. Fracture surface morphology analysis indicated that ductile fracture was predominant when the proportion of martensite in ductile iron was less than 20%. However, the samples with more than 40% martensite exhibited brittle fractures. Wear tests indicated that F/M dual-phase ductile iron exhibited a significantly lower friction coefficient compared with directly quenched ductile iron. Additionally, the martensite amounts affected the tribological behavior of ductile iron significantly. Abrasive wear was predominant in ductile iron with small amounts of martensite, while delamination wear was the main wear mechanism in case of ductile iron with high amounts of martensite.

A nanobainitic matrix composing of nanoscale α phase and carbon-riched γ phase was obtained for the ductile iron by austempering treatment. The microstructure and properties of ductile iron were compared with GCr15. The microstructural characteristic gave rise to a good strength with an ultimate tensile strength higher than 1200 MPa, which was comparable and even superior to conventionally forged steels. The friction coefficient of the ductile iron was approximate 1/3 compared with that of commercial GCr15 under dry sliding wear condition, which was related to the existence of homogeneously distributed spheroidal graphite in ductile iron. The low friction coefficient and moderate strength resulted in a superior wear resistance of ductile iron with nanobainitic matrix by contrast to GCr15.