【Cast Iron Weights Cautionary Notes】
1) Due to the good fluidity of cast iron, there is minimal shrinkage in both the body and the line, thus allowing for the design of thin-walled, complex-shaped castings.
2) The mechanical properties of cast iron are highly sensitive to wall thickness, hence it is not advisable to increase the load-bearing capacity of castings by simply adding wall thickness. Instead, the objective of both eliminating thick sections and enhancing load-bearing capacity can be achieved by manipulating the shape of the cross-section.
3) Due to the higher compressive strength of gray iron compared to tensile strength by a factor of 3-4, to fully utilize the unique characteristics of gray cast iron, it is advisable to commonly use asymmetric cross-sections, making the section under compression stress smaller than the section under tensile stress.
4) When planning cast iron structural castings, the wall thickness should not be too thin; the corners should be appropriately thickened to prevent the formation of white mouth, which makes the area hard and brittle and difficult to machine.
5) Cast iron has almost no plasticity, so it cannot be corrected like cast steel after deformation. Therefore, when planning gray cast iron structures, it is best to follow the principle of simultaneous solidification and choose symmetrical structures. Design the structural members and wall thicknesses to be freely shortened to prevent 1) casting deformation cracks.
