AbstractThe effect of austenitising temperature on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and dimensional stability of a spheroidal graphite iron containing copper and nickel has been investigated. It was found that as the temperature increased the amount of carbon taken into solution by the austenite increased thus reducing the driving force of the original austenite to bainitic ferrite and high carbon austenite. As a consequence, the amount of retained austenite increased, but its stability decreased. This placed an upper limit on the austenitising temperature and on the amount of retained austenite permissible. All properties other than hardness showed maximum values after austenitising at 900°C. It was also found that increasing the solution treatment temperature increased the dimensional stability.MST/1116