Nowadays there are many alloys in the market that can satisfy the required physical and mechanical properties for a given application. Gray Iron (GI) is still among the cheapest of ferrous materials available for engineers.
Its high fluidity and ability to be cast into complex shapes together with the excellent machining qualities, damping capacity against vibrations, wear and fatigue resistances, thermal conductivity, and the possibility to use it in as-cast conditions are the main reasons why this alloy is traditionally chosen in many industrial applications, as cylinder blocks and heads, gears, flywheels, brake discs and drums, clutch plates, machine bases and beds, pipe fittings, flanges, etc.
Its high fluidity and ability to be cast into complex shapes together with the excellent machining qualities, damping capacity against vibrations, wear and fatigue resistances, thermal conductivity, and the possibility to use it in as-cast conditions are the main reasons why this alloy is traditionally chosen in many industrial applications, as cylinder blocks and heads, gears, flywheels, brake discs and drums, clutch plates, machine bases and beds, pipe fittings, flanges, etc.