We are delighted to report on our participation in the seventh Keith Millis Symposium of the Ductile Iron Society in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). The symposium in honor of Keith Millis, who is considered the inventor of ductile iron in the Anglo-Saxon world, is held every five years to promote international exchange between foundries, suppliers and research institutions in the field of cast iron. The symposium was attended by numerous representatives of the American foundry industry as well as participants from the Japanese and European foundry world, in particular Sweden, Norway, Spain, Denmark and Germany.
Our working group presented the latest results from two research projects on ausferritic cast iron with nodular graphite (ADI) to the experts in attendance. In his presentation "Predicition of cross-section-dependent ADI microstructures by experimental heat treatment simulation", Patrick Lachart presented his results on the properties of thick-walled ADI and the visualization of their microstructure in the dilatometer. Felix Stieler showed in his lecture "Investigation of the Relation of Stacking Fault Formation and the TRIP-effect in ADI by XRD-Analysis" new findings on stacking faults and strain-induced martensite formation, which is to be used as TRIP-effect, in ADI. Both articles will also be published soon in the International Journal of Metalcasting.
We would like to thank the Ductile Iron Society for the successful planning and organization of such a demanding event. Both the presentations and the supporting program were excellently designed and, in addition to the excellent technical presentations, offered plenty of room for exchange with old and new acquaintances from the American and international specialist world.
