1. Gray cast iron

It has good castability and machinability, high wear resistance, shock absorption and low notch sensitivity, in addition the cost is cheap. So it is widely used and account for more than 80% of the total output of cast iron production. For example, HT200 is often used to make machine tool bed, box and frame which need large load, complex shape or high precision requirements (stress relief annealing is required for castings to reduce internal stress of castings), machine tool guide rail and cylinder block (the surface of the casting shall be quenched and the hardness shall reach 50 ~ 55HRC to increase the hardness and wear resistance of the guide rail surface and the inner wall of the cylinder block)

2. Malleable cast iron (actually non malleable)

Graphitization annealing can have high strength, great plasticity and toughness,especially good low-temperature toughness, and that is relative simple for the molten iron treatment, also stable quality and easy to organize the flow production. So it is widely used in automobile and tractor industries which manufacture thin-walled , small & medium-sized parts with complex shape and bearing impact load, such as KTH330-08 (black center) can be used to manufacture machine tool wrenches or automobile wheel shells etc. Which required medium dynamic load and static load. KTZ650-02 ( Pearlite Steels ) is used to manufacture important parts with high load, wear resistance and certain toughness, such as crankshaft, connecting rod, gear etc.

3. Nodular cast iron (after spheroidizing treatment, most or all of the graphite is spherical)

It has good mechanical properties and process properties, and can further adjust the mechanical properties through heat treatment (annealing to eliminate internal stress, normalizing to improve strength and wear resistance, quenching and tempering to obtain good comprehensive mechanical properties). Therefore, it can replace carbon cast steel and malleable cast iron to manufacture some parts with complex stress and high requirements for strength, hardness, toughness and wear resistance, For example, QT500-7AK is used to manufacture the oil pump gear, flywheel of internal combustion engine and the bearing bush of railway vehicle.

4. Cast steel (cast carbon steel)

It is generally used to manufacture mechanical parts with complex shape (it is difficult to be manufactured by forging or machining methods) and high mechanical properties (the mechanical properties can not be reached by casting cast iron). For example, ZG270-500 has high strength, good plasticity and good casting performance. Therefore, it is used to manufacture rolling mill frame, hydraulic press beam, etc. In 1998, the maximum length of cast steel manufactured by Chinese Second Heavy Machinery Group Co., Ltd was 3.5 meters (the frame of Heavy and Medium plate mill ), with 375 tons of casting blank and 530 tons of liquid steel. The material used was ZG270-500. Similarly, the blank of high-pressure outer cylinder of 4-ton 600 MW steam turbine produced by CSHMG was cast with AG15CrMo.

5. Cast brass (copper alloy)

Cast brass is made of ordinary brass by adding main additive elements and other elements. It has high hardness, tensile strength and certain plasticity. For example, ZcuZn38 is often used to manufacture flanges, valve seats, handles, nuts, etc

6.  Cast aluminum alloy (Silico aluminium)

It has good castability. The mechanical properties of the alloy can be improved through modification. Copper, magnesium and other elements can also be added, and then quenched and aged to further improve the mechanical properties of the alloy. For example, ZL105 can be used for parts with complex shapes working at a higher temperature below 255c, such as cylinder head and oil pump body of air-cooled engine (cast by metal mold or sand mold, which needs aging, low temperature and short-time treatment)

7. Other materials

Vermicular graphite cast iron, chilled alloy cast iron, stainless steel and other cast iron materials