Corrosion behavior of nickel alloyed and austempered ductile irons in 3.5% sodium chloride

In this study, the nickel alloying and austempering effects on corrosion behavior of ductile irons were investigated. The microstructure of austempered ductile iron (ADI) was analyzed by XRD, and the polarization corrosion tests were conducted using 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The results showed Ni-alloyed as-cast has less nodule counts than the unalloyed one; therefore, the former is more corrosion resistant than the latter. For the ADI, the nickel addition increases the retained austenite content, resulting in having better corrosion inhibition than the unalloyed ADI. Comparatively, the order of corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution is as follows: 4%Ni-ADI > ADI > 4%Ni-DI > DI.