Ductile Cast Iron vs. ASTM A229 Spring Steel
Both ductile cast iron and ASTM A229 spring steel are iron alloys. They have a very high 96% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ductile cast iron and the bottom bar is ASTM A229 spring steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 160 to 310 | |
| 490 to 550 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 170 to 180 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 2.1 to 20 | |
| 14 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 to 0.31 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 64 to 70 | |
| 72 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 420 to 800 | |
| 1020 to 1140 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 460 to 920 | |
| 1690 to 1890 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 310 to 670 | |
| 1100 to 1230 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 270 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 290 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1160 | |
| 1450 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1120 | |
| 1410 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 490 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 31 to 36 | |
| 50 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.4 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.8 to 9.4 | |
| 8.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.9 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.1 to 7.5 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.5 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 21 | |
| 19 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 43 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 17 to 80 | |
| 200 to 230 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 280 to 1330 | |
| 3260 to 4080 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 12 to 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 to 26 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 to 35 | |
| 60 to 67 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 29 | |
| 40 to 43 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 8.9 to 10 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 17 to 35 | |
| 54 to 60 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 3.0 to 3.5 | |
| 0.55 to 0.85 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 93.7 to 95.5 | |
| 97.5 to 99 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 | |
| 0.3 to 1.2 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 1.5 to 2.8 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |