Cast Iron Weights Cautionary Notes
1) Due to cast iron's good fluidity, with minimal shrinkage in thickness and length, it allows for the planning of thin-walled, complex-shaped castings.
2) The mechanical properties of cast iron are highly sensitive to wall thickness, thus it is not advisable to increase the load-bearing capacity of castings by adding wall thickness. Instead, the objective of both eliminating thick sections and enhancing load-bearing capacity can be achieved by modifying the shape of the cross-section.
3) Due to the higher compressive strength of gray cast iron by a factor of 3-4 compared to its tensile strength, to fully utilize the unique characteristics of gray cast iron, it is advisable to commonly use asymmetric cross-sections, making the section under compressive stress smaller than the section under tensile stress.
4) When planning cast iron structural castings, the wall thickness should not be too thin, and the corners should be appropriately thickened to prevent white mouth arrangements that make the area hard and brittle, difficult to machine.
5) Cast iron has almost no plasticity, so it cannot be corrected like cast steel when deformed. Therefore, when planning gray cast iron structures, it is best to adhere to the principle of simultaneous solidification and choose symmetrical structures. Plan the structural members and wall thicknesses to be freely shortened, to prevent deformation cracks in the castings.
