Automotive Malleable Cast Iron
Automotive malleable cast iron is a cast iron. It can have the lowest ductility among cast irons. In addition, it has the highest melting temperature and the lowest embodied energy.
The properties of automotive malleable cast iron include six common variations. This page shows summary ranges across all of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare automotive malleable cast iron to: cast irons (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Brinell Hardness
130 to 290
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
180 GPa 26 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
1.0 to 10 %
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Shear Modulus
70 GPa 10 x 106 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
350 to 720 MPa 50 to 110 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
220 to 590 MPa 32 to 85 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
260 J/g
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1410 °C 2570 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1370 °C 2500 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
480 J/kg-K 0.12 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
41 W/m-K 24 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
14 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.4 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
8.7 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
1.9 % relative
Density
7.6 g/cm3 480 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
1.5 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
20 MJ/kg 8.7 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
45 L/kg 5.3 gal/lb
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
6.8 to 30 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
130 to 950 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
25 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
13 to 26 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
14 to 24 points
Thermal Diffusivity
11 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
9.9 to 21 points
Alloy Composition
| Fe | 93.6 to 96.7 | |
| C | 2.2 to 2.9 | |
| Si | 0.9 to 1.9 | |
| Mn | 0.15 to 1.3 | |
| S | 0.020 to 0.2 | |
| P | 0.020 to 0.15 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Similar Alloys
Further Reading
ASTM A602: Standard Specification for Automotive Malleable Iron Castings
Cast Iron: Physical and Engineering Properties, Harold T. Angus, 1976
Properties and Selection: Irons, Steels and High Performance Alloys, ASM Handbook vol. 1, ASM International, 1993
Ferrous Materials: Steel and Cast Iron, Hans Berns and Werner Theisen, 2008