TY - JOUR N2 - The study presented in this paper concerned the possibility to apply a heat treatment process to ductile cast-iron thin-walled castings in order to remove excessive quantities of pearlite and eutectic cementite precipitates and thus meet the customer’s requirements. After determining the rates of heating a casting up to and cooling down from 900°C feasible in the used production heat treatment furnace (vh = 300°C/h and vc = 200°C/h, respectively), dilatometric tests were carried out to evaluate temperatures Tgr, TAc1start, TAc1end, TAr1start, and TAr1end. The newly acquired knowledge was the base on which conditions for a single-step ferritizing heat treatment securing disintegration of pearlite were developed as well as those of a two-step ferritization process guaranteeing complete disintegration of cementite and arriving at the required ferrite and pearlite content. A purely ferritic matrix and hardness of 119 HB was secured by the treatment scheme: 920°C for 2 hours / vc = 60°C/h / 720°C for 4 hours. A matrix containing 20–45% of pearlite and hardness of 180–182 HB was obtained by applying: 920°C for 2 hours or 4 hours / vc = 200°C/h to 650°C / ambient air. L1 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/116485/PDF/AFE%203_2020_07.pdf L2 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/116485 PY - 2020 IS - No 3 EP - 40 DO - 10.24425/afe.2020.133327 KW - Ductile cast iron KW - Heat treatment KW - Microstructure A1 - Mróz, Marek A1 - Orłowicz, A.W. A1 - Tupaj, M. A1 - Kupiec, B. A1 - Kawiński, M. PB - The Katowice Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences VL - vol. 20 DA - 2020.07.06 T1 - Ductile Cast Iron Microstructure Adjustment by Means of Heat Treatment SP - 37 UR - http://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/116485 T2 - Archives of Foundry Engineering ER -