Steel is an iron alloy, with 2% or less of carbon. Manganese, chromium, vanadium and tungsten are also combined with iron in the production of steel. The amounts of metal which go into steel affect the tensile strength, hardness and ductility of it.
Alloys with higher amounts of carbon than steel is cast iron, with a lower melting point and castability. Wrought iron has lesser amounts of carbon, and results in slag inclusions. Comparatively, steel is nicely rust-resistant and weld well.
Iron ore straight from the mines contains a higher amount of carbon than is preferable. To reduce the carbon content, the metal is melted and processed before more metals may be added to the alloy.
Steel can be heat treated in various ways. Annealed steel has been heated to a high temperature to soften it. The temperatures to which steel is heated for this process varies according to the constituent metals of the steel alloy.
Quenching is when steel is heated and then rapidly cooled in water or oil, making the steel hard and brittle. Hereafter, the steel can be tempered - a particular type of annealing process - to make it more ductile and fracture-resistant.
Slag is a partly vitreous byproduct of iron. Basically, it is the crappy bits of carbonized metal when it has been heated and used a lot.
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