This document provides information about cast iron materials so that users and designers are in a better position to understand cast iron as a design material in its own right and to correctly specify cast iron for suitable applications.

This document suggests what can be achieved, and what is not achievable when cast irons are specified as well as the reasons why. It is not designed to be a textbook of cast iron metallurgy. It is intended to help people to choose the correct material for the right reasons and to also help to obviate the specification or expectation of unrealistic additional requirements, which are unlikely to be met and which can be detrimental to the intended application.