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ON REMELTING OF CAST IRON.

From trials conducted by Ledebur, it appears that cast iron is rendered suitable for foundry purposes—­i.e., to fill the moulds well and to yield sharp and definite forms free of flaws, to be cut with a chisel, and turned on a lathe—­through a certain percentage of graphite, whose presence depends on that of carbon and silicium.  Cast iron free of silicium yields on cooling the entire amount of carbon in the amorphous state, while presence of the former metal gives rise to the formation of graphite, and, consequently, causes a partial separation of carbon.  Iron suffers on casting loss of graphite, assumes a finely-grained texture, becomes hard and brittle, and is changed from gray to white.  In view of the fact that samples of cast iron with equal percentage of silicium and carbon yield on casting a different product, it has become necessary to institute experiments as to the cause of this behavior.  Samples of cast iron were therefore repeatedly melted, and thin sections of each melt examined; these sections exhibited a gray color, though less apparent than in the unmelted sample, and possessed sufficient softness to admit boring and filing.  During these processes of fusing, the amount of silicium, carbon, and manganese had been gradually decreased, and amounted to 12.7, 17.6, and 24.4 per centum for silicium in the three samples examined.  It also was observed that the more manganese the iron contains the less readily the percentage of silicium is diminished; and since manganese is more subject to oxidation than silicium, it is capable to reduce silicic acid of the slag or lining to metal, and thus to augment the amount of silicium in cast iron.  The percentage of carbon also suffers diminution by oxidation, which latter process is impeded by presence of manganese, a fact of some importance in melting of cast iron in the cupola furnace.  An excess of manganese renders cast iron hard and brittle, and imparts to it the properties to absorb gases, while an amount of 1.5 per centum, as found in Scotch iron, undoubtedly has the effect to produce those properties for which this iron is held in high repute.  The amount of copper is not visibly altered by fusion, but that of phosphorus and sulphur slowly increased.

Experiments in regard to the relation between chemical composition and strength of the material have established that a large amount of silicium, graphite, manganese, and combined carbon reduce the elasticity, strength, and tenacity of cast iron, and that a limited percentage of silicium counteracts the injurious influence produced by an excess of combined carbon.  On remelting of cast iron, increase in tensile strength was observed, which attained its maximum in iron with a small percentage of silicium after the third, and in such with a large amount after the fourth melting.  The increase in tensile strength was accompanied by a loss of silicium,