Transportation Takes Advantage of Austempered Ductile Iron

The new family of austempered ductile iron materials, as recently specified by ASTM, is routinely able to outperform steel castings, forgings and fabrications in both structural and wear applications. Potential users are normally attracted by the lower price of austempered ductile iron generated by its inherent manufacturing cost advantages, particularly for parts which need high strength. However, a full range of outstanding features, including an 8-10% weight advantage and a high strength-to-weight ratio, make it of great interest to transportation engineers. These superior mechanical properties result from a truly unique microstructure that has already been proven in numerous transportation applications worldwide.