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Metal Recommendation Please

I am trying to find a substitute for ductile iron. I need to find a metal that has similar ductility as ductile iron, but, is a tad lighter. I have tried ZA12, and although the casting came back beautifully, the metal edges create burrs. I am designing professional horseshoes and need to add a little more design than is permitted with the weight of ductile iron (.28 pounds per cubic inch). When the ZA12 hit the steel stake it created sharp burrs. Is there the possibility that there a plating that would eliminate the burrs? Would electroless nickel be a possibility?

Thanks

Reply to
Bob Rasmussen
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Unfortunately densities are not conveniently variable. Titanium would be a good density but may not be easy to produce I assume ZA12 is too soft, there might be some higher strength aluminium alloys that would be better.

Reply to
d deu

Thanks for the reponse...

A call to Eastern Alloys informs me that ZA27 might work better, but, is much harder to cast. I am also inquiring about steel, but, nothing shown yet. I did have a gentlemen suggest adding titanium to iron, but, the cost of titanium powder was too great. I also checked on plating, i.e., electroless nickel. A knowledgeable plating company didn't think that would work. I'll keep digging.

Thanks d deu...

Reply to
Bob Rasmussen

You could try an alloy of beryllium copper

Reply to
Billy Shivers

Thank You, Billy...I'll check into that as a possibility after this message goes out.

Reply to
Bob Rasmussen

Bob, you could consider ADI or Austempered Ductile Iron. You haven't specified what grade of DI you use now, but an ADI grade could be used that would increase strength without losing ductility. The hardness would be higher than present so burring shouldn't be a issue. The higher strength means you could lighten out other areas to build in your new features, though I imagine you would still need to consider balance or "throwability".

ADI has the same castability as DI, so you wouldn't need to change your existing tooling or methoding, other than to allow for you new features.

Steel has a higher density than DI, since DI has little graphite nodules it, so steel would be moving in the wrong direction for you. ADI and DI have considerably better castability compared to steel.

H> Thanks for the reponse...

Reply to
Catweazle

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