Crystallization of Tin in Iron–Carbon Alloys

Abstract

In this work, a set of experimental studies has been performed using the example of high-strength cast iron microalloyed with 0.05–0.06% Sn. The Sn content in the studied intermetallides varies in a fairly wide range: from 1.5% to 16.0%. From the standpoint of alloy theory, tin intermetallides with their variable composition are solid homogeneous solutions based on FeSn. It was found that the average tin content in ferrite pearlite of cast iron structure varies significantly: 0.06–0.81% Sn and in some zones up to 1.5% Sn. Consequently, pearlite ferrite in the cast structure of high-strength cast iron is a super-supersaturated (compared with the equilibrium composition according to the Fe–Sn diagram) solid solution of tin in the 𝛼-Fe polymorph (ferrite). The degree of dispersion of high-strength cast iron pearlite was determined both after its microalloying with tin in the amount of Sn = 0.05–0.06%, and without alloying. The average degree of dispersion of pearlite in both cast irons turned out to be almost the same. In cast iron with tin, Δ_Sn = 0.13 microns, while in cast iron without tin, Δ₀ = 0.14 microns; that is, the degree of dispersion of pearlite does not depend on its alloying with tin within these limits.



Received: 17 December 2025 | Revised: 17 March 2026 | Accepted: 10 April 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Sergey Vasilyevich Davydov: Conceptualization, Software, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.