Cast Iron Castings

BS, EN & ISO Standards

At Durham Foundry we manufacture engineering, architectural and decorative cast iron castings to the current ISO standard, ISO 185 (2005). This internationally recognised quality standard is specific to the Cast Iron industry sector.

We have specified and manufactured high quality castings to BS 1452 (1990), BS EN 1561 (1997), and to ISO 185 (2005) standards on many engineering casting projects. As a contractor in the foundry sector we understand the importance of these standards for your engineering application.

Cast Iron Standards - Timeline

• ISO 185 (2005) – Current Standard
• BS EN 1561 (1997) – Replaced by ISO 185 (2005)
• BS 1452 (1990) - Replaced by BS EN 1561 (1997)

An example of patterns ready for moulding and then casting in an ISO 185 Grade

BS 1452
A source of confusion is the large number of production standards that have grown up across the world to enable buyers to specify a particular grade. To take the UK as an example one of the earlier standards used was BS 1452. Within this standard the grades were specified by tensile strength in tons/in². This was changed to N/mm² as the UK went through metrification and the tensile strengths were adjusted slightly to fall in line with their European equivalents.

BS EN 1561
In 1997, BS1452 ceased to exist as a current standard and was superseded by a Euronorm standard, BS EN 1561. This basically took the data from BS 1452 and transferred it to the new standard. This was the start of the transition process from British Standards (BS) to the European Committee for Standardisation (EN) & then onto the International Standards Organisation (ISO) which is the modern industry standard used by Durham Foundry.

ISO 185
In 2005 the Euronorm standard was itself superseded by an ISO standard, ISO 185, the grades being much the same as BS EN 1561. It says a lot for the extensive, world wide applications for cast iron that an ISO standard is available for it.

It should also be noted that because of this international usage, countries often have a history of local standards for cast iron such as ASTM in America, DIN in Germany and SAE in Italy.

Finally, in an effort to offer cast iron with specific or tightly controlled properties, some companies produced ranges of grades which are covered by a trade name. A good example of this is the Meehanite range of grades. These were developed by the Meehanite Metal Corporation in America, and can be produced under license by an approved foundry. Nearly all of these trade named irons are no longer commercially available, Meehanite being the notable exception.

If you need to order a casting in cast iron and are confused by its description or it has a specification you don’t recognise on a drawing, please contact us as there is a good chance we will recognise it. If we don’t, we have access to a world wide data base that should enable us to identify the material and offer the equivalent grade within ISO 185.

The pouring of an ISO 185 standard Cast Iron Casting

Available Grades within the ISO 185 Standard
The current ISO standard for cast iron, ISO 185, specifies grades either by tensile strength or Brinell hardness. Tensile strength is by far the more common specification. The following table shows the range of grades available within the current ISO standard, by tensile strength.

As can be seen, the material designation gives the technical information about each grade within the designation. These tensile results are from separately cast test bars and the test is to standard so long as the test bar exceeds the minimum tensile strength of the grade and does not exceed it by more than 100 N/mm². The actual tensile strength of the casting may vary depending on section thickness. It should also be noted that there is no chemical analysis in ISO 185. This can be supplied if required, but would be purely for information and does not form part of the specification.

Durham Foundry & the ISO 185 Standard
All our castings are produced to a current ISO specification, ISO 185 (2005), along with any further certification which a customer may require. Our diverse customer base has given us experience in a wide range of applications for iron castings across many market sectors including pumps and valves, forges, foundries and rolling mills, automotive and aerospace, a wide range of OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturers), quarries and mines, railways and rolling stock, local authorities and artists and sculptors. We also have long term trading relationships with local pattern makers, machine shops and surface finishers which enable us to quote for the complete supply of machined and painted castings.

Please browse our website for more information about Cast Iron Castings from Durham Foundry and our ability to manufacture Engineering Cast Iron Castings to ISO 185 standards then contact us on 0114 249 4977 or e-mail us on castings@durhamfoundry.com.