Enhancing The Hardness of Cast Iron Machine Pulley Used In Industrial Application Through Various Techniques Experiment In The Casting Industry

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Authors : Sahil Gedam, Onkar Satpute, Yash Basole, Bhakti Ingle, Sudhanshu Tikhe, Prathmesh Sakharkar, Namrata Nagpurkar

DOI : 10.46335/IJIES.2024.9.8.6

Abstract – The authors identified a crucial need to enhance the hardness of cast iron machine pulleys such that their hardness should range from 140 BHN to 180 BHN for Deepshikha Castings Pvt. Ltd., a prominent player in the central Indian casting industry. It was observed that achieving this hardness was feasible in castings with a cross-section thickness below 10mm; however, the hardness decreased as this dimension increased. The company conducted some experiments by varying the contents of some elements like Carbon C, Chromium Cr, Silicon Si etc. after cupola pouring, but the hardness was not achieved uniformly. This issue was discussed with the authors. They conducted a detailed literature review to find the strategies for increasing hardness. Most research papers were discussing on increasing the hardness by varying the contents along with variation in the temperature of casting by cooling after pouring in the mould or removing from the mould. No paper discussed only the effect of variation in temperature by cooling while keeping the composition the same. Hence, the primary focus of the experimentation involved manipulating temperature-related parameters through the heat treatment process, internal chilling, or implementing forced cooling techniques. These experiments aimed to increase the hardness of the cast iron machine pulley while maintaining the existing composition. This research paper emphasizes the significance of improving cast iron hardness through some experiments based on either of the processes like forced cooling, heat treatment, or internal chilling temperature. The outcomes of these experiments, which successfully improved the hardness, are explained in this paper.