Steel is one of the major building blocks of our world. Since the advent of it we have been able to build taller skyscrapers, faster vehicles of transportation, and many other things that make life easier.

So how is it made? The creation and manufacturing of it is a complex art; unfortunately, nature doesn’t just hand this profitable resource to us on a silver platter.

Steel is an alloy, which means it is a mixture of two or more metals. Occasionally, a metal and a non-metal will also be melded together to make an alloy.

It is mostly comprised of iron and carbon, with a minimal amount of other elements also sprinkled in. The carbon in it makes it much stronger than regular iron, which makes it more desirable to manufacture.
The more carbon that is mixed in with the iron, the stronger the steel will be. So with those things in mind, here are some of the steps needed to actually make the steel:

The ingredients needed to make it include iron ore, pig iron, and limestone. cialis Brand Viagra review Iron ore is mined from the ground, and pig iron is a material that is rich in carbon.

These materials are put together in a blast furnace and heated to temperatures up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. In modern times, a furnace called a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) is used because it blows pure oxygen into the mixture and removes many impurities.

The BOF is much more desirable than older forms of furnaces because it can do in less than one hour what old furnaces could do in a whole work day. The BOF is also more desirable because it uses a measure of recycled steel cialis cheap mixed in with the iron ore, which conserves material.

The liquefied mixture is then casted into large blocks called “ingots”. From these large blocks the material is heated up and rolled into one of three types of layouts: blooms, billets, or slabs.

Blooms are essentially ingots that are rolled into I-beams or rails. This kind of formation is used to fortify and strengthen structures or buildings.

Billets are rolled into rods, bars or wires. Slabs are rolled into sheet metal or plates, as the name would imply.

Another type of furnace that is used even more is called the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). This type of furnace is used even more than the BOF.

A benefit of the Electric Arc Furnace is that it usually makes new steel out of 100% recycled material, even more so than the BOF. This makes it an even more popular furnace than the BOF, with over 60% of the business using these types of furnaces.

In the process of the EAF, buckets

of scrap metal are thrown into the furnace. The furnace is then heated through a “charge” of electrodes that run through the furnace.

Oxygen is also blown into the furnace throughout the melting process to purify the mix of scrap . After this process, workers can keep adding more buckets of scrap metal to add to the mass of melted metal.

Throughout the process, a layer of melted metal called “slag” settles to the top of the heater. This thin layer is very important to the process because it concentrates all the impurities on top of the molten mix, and helps to protect the roof and sidewalls of the heater.

These two types of modern furnaces have made the process much quicker, which makes the possibility for manufacturers to make more and more with technology advances. With the process becoming much quicker, more and more steel can be supplied to those who need it.

After the sheets or slabs are made, they are transported to the different areas that they are needed. They are continuously being used for a variety of different professions and fields to make them better.

Most automobiles parts are still made out of steel, and it is also used to construct tools, roadways, railways. It is also used in reinforcing huge buildings such as stadiums or office buildings.

It is also used to make many more things that enrich our world and make it easier to live on. Steel has made it possible for civilizations and populations to grow into powerful masses.

Author Bio: Jack R. Landry has used metalworking equipment for the last 11 years and written hundreds of articles about machinery and Durma machinery and tools.

Contact Info:
Jack R. Landry
JackRLandry@gmail.com
http://www.jorgensonmachinetools.com

Category: Technology
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