The narrow production window for compacted graphite iron material (CGI) drastically reduces the possibilities to produce it in small batches outside an industrial environment. This fact hinders laboratory-scale investigations on CGI solidification. This work presents a solution to that issue by introducing an experimental technique to produce graphitic cast iron of the main three families. Samples of a base hypereutectic spheroidal graphite iron (SGI) were re-melted in a resistance furnace under Ar atmosphere. Varying the holding time at 1723 K (1450 °C), graphitic irons ranging from spheroidal to lamellar were produced. Characterization of the graphite morphology evolution, in terms of nodularity as a function of holding time, is presented. The nodularity decay for the SGI region suggests a linear correlation with the holding time. In the CGI region, nodularity deterioration shows a slower rate, concluding with the sudden appearance of lamellar graphite. The fading process of magnesium, showing agreement with previous researchers, is described by means of empirical relations as a function of holding time and nodularity. The results on nodularity fade and number of nodules per unit area fade suggest that both phenomena occur simultaneously during the fading process of magnesium.

An SGI was machined into 400 g cylindrical pieces and remelted in an electrical resistance furnace protected by Ar gas to produce materials ranging from SGI to CGI. The graphite morphology was controlled by varying the holding time at 1723 K (1450 °C) between 10 and 60 minutes. The discrete sectional size distribution of nodules by number density was measured on cross sections of the specimens and translated to volumetric distribution by volume fraction. Subpopulations of nodules were distinguished by fitting Gaussian distribution functions to the measured distribution. Primary and eutectic graphite, were found to account for most of the volume of nodular graphite in all cases. For holding times of 40 minutes and greater, corresponding to nodularity roughly below 40 pct, the primary subpopulation was very small and difficult to distinguish, leaving eutectic nodules as the dominant subpopulation. The mode and standard deviation of the two subpopulations were roughly independent of nodularity. Moreover, the nodular and vermicular graphite were segregated in the microstructure. In conclusion, the results suggest that the parallel development of the vermicular eutectic had small influence on the size distribution of eutectic graphite nodules.