METALWORKING

METALWORKING
Steelmaking
Iron and steel are used to make products because they are plentiful and cheap. Steel is used for
manufacturing various products, from screws, to skyscrapers, to automotive chassis. Steel is
produced by smelting cast iron in a blast furnace. The blast furnace is a high reactor lined with
ceramic refractory, used for the production of cast iron. The charges of iron ore, coke and
limestone are mixed and placed in the upper part of the blast furnace. Preheated air is blown into
the charge from the base of the oven and they react with the charge as it descends. The coke
burns to form carbon monoxide, which passes onto the iron ore, reducing the iron oxides to
metallic iron. The blast furnace is kept in continuous operation, but the iron and slag are
discharged separately. The iron extracted from the blast furnace is known as cast iron. It is very
brittle and difficult to work at. Cast iron is converted to steel by removing most of impurities. The
resulting steel is harder than iron because of the carbon and alloy elements added in different
percentages deciding of the alloy type.
The steelmaking processes
Cast iron contains up to 4 or 5% carbon or other impurities. Steel production consists in the
removal of a part of carbon. Among all furnaces, the open-hearth furnace is used to produce steel.
In this way the excess carbon is burned by the cast iron to produce steel. This has a large firebox to
contain the metal and slag pool and with the heat provided by a flame burning on the surface of
the slag, it transforms the iron into steel. Starting in the 1960s, open hearth steel production was
gradually replaced by basic oxygen steel production, also known as Linz-Donawitz-Verfahren
steelmaking or oxygen conversion process. The LD converter in which the steel is produced is a
large structure lined with heat-resistant bricks. Inside, oxygen is blown to the surface of the charge
through a water-cooled copper tube, called a lance. The oxygen reacts with the impurities present
in the iron and the carbon is oxidized to carbon monoxide. After about twenty minutes the shot is
stopped and the metal is sampled. The steel is discharged and the slag, which is above the level of
the drain hole, remains inside the converter and can be discharged separately. Steel is generally
cast into huge blocks known as ingots, which are subsequently cast or machined into slabs, strips,
sheets or strands.
Casting
Cast is one of the most important way to shape an object through molten metal which is poured
into a mould. This operation is called casting or cast. There are many reasons to choose casting
process:
- Lot of pieces have particular shapes that are difficult to realize with turning or milling.
- Some metals, like pig iron, can’t be hot-worked into bars or plates because their physical
properties.
- Many pieces have to require to assembly, but this step can be eliminated thanks to cast.
- With casting, it’s possible to produce hundreds of thousand pieces, like engine blocks or
transmission cases, therefore cast is highly adaptable to mass production.
- Can be used to produce heavy parts such as valves, hydroelectric plant parts and pumps.
Casting is used to make art objects or machine parts. The most common types of casting are die-
casting, sand casting and continuous or strand casting.
Die-casting
Die-casting is the process of forging molten metal in the cavities under high pressure moulds. The
moulds are called dies. Die casting is much cheaper than assembling parts. Die casting products
are among the highest volumes made in the metalworking industry. Common metals used in die
casting include zinc, aluminium and steel alloys. There are four main steps in the die casting
process. The mould is sprayed with lubricant and closed, then the molten metal is poured into the
mould under high pressure. The high pressure guarantees a precise and smooth casting like the
mould. Once the cavity is filled, the pressure is maintained until the melt has solidified. Finally, the
mould is opened and the casting is ejected.
Sand casting and strand casting
The sand-casting method is a hot forming process applied to iron and steel parts. This process is
used for the casting of industrial products and parts, such as engine blocks. The metal is melted in
a sand mould. When the metal has become solid, the mould is broken to remove the cast. Strand
casting or continuous casting is an improvement of the casting process for the continuous
production of large volumes of metal profiles with a constant cross section. The molten metal
coming from the furnace, it is poured from the ladle into a long, continuous bar or strand. The
strand is extracted from the mould and passed through a chamber of rollers and water jets: the
rollers support the thin skin of the bar while the sprays cools, gradually solidifying the part from
the outside. After solidification, predetermined lengths of the strand are cut by mechanical shears.
Continuous casting provides a better-quality product as it allows for more precise control over the
casting processes.

METALWORKING

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METALWORKING

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The steelmaking processes

Sand casting and strand casting

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