Filter
Clear Filter1.164 Yield Strength
The stress a material exhibits from the proportionality of stress to strain
1.163 Wrought iron
This is a type of iron, which unlike hard, brittle pig iron – such as is tapped from a blast furnace – is tough and malleable, allowing it to be forged and welded. It has a high tensile strength and is more corrosion resistant than steel.
1.162 Wire Rod
Hot rolled from low, medium and high carbon or alloy steel billet, wire rod is delivered as coil, most commonly at 5.5mm dia, but in sizes up to 60mm dia. Close control of final cooling is a critical part of production.
1.161 Welding
This method of joining metals is essential for certain types of pipemaking and is widely used in structural steel fabrication, shipbuilding etc.
1.160 Volatile matter
In coking coal this term refers to any constituents of the coal, apart from moisture, which are released (vaporised) at higher temperatures. These are usually mostly hydrocarbons, but also sulphur.
1.159 Vacuum degassing
Vacuum degassing (VD) is used following steel making to reduce the carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulphur content of moltensteel. Phosphorus can also be reduced. The process takes place under vacuum in a ladle furnace, and is frequently employed by both volume and special steels producers.
1.158 Vacuum oxygen decarburisation(VOD)
Vacuum oxygen decarburisation is a method for reducing the carbon content of molten steel. Oxygen is blown on to the surface of the metal, which is held in sealed vessel at reduced pressure. Very low carbon levels are possible. This method is often used in stainless steel production.
1.157 Tinplate
Tinplate is cold reduced steel sheet coated with a thin layer of tin. It has good corrosion resistance and food compatibility – although many products require a thin coating of lacquer to maximise the shelf life of the contents.
1.156 Toughness
Toughness is a measure of a material’s ability to resist fracture by absorbing the stress and strain imposed by sudden loading/impact. It tends to improve with increasing temperature.
1.155 Torpedo ladle
Torpedo ladles – or torpedo cars – are large, well insulated vessels used to transport liquid iron from blast furnace to steelconverter.
1.154 Ton
The ton is a unit of weight, but takes various forms. A metric ton (usually written tonne) is 1,000 kilograms (kg) and is the most widely used.
1.153 Tempering
The process by which steel or iron is softened by reheating it at a considerably lower temperature than that at which its previous hardening was done.
1.152 Scrap
All steel is 100% recyclable without loss of quality. Obsolete scrap is derived from steel-containing goods at the end of their useful lives (a drinks can, a 15-year-old car, a 50-year-old building). Revert scrap (home scrap) is steel waste produced and recycled within a steelworks. New production scrap(prompt scrap) is generated when steel is cut and formed during the manufacturing of finished products or components. The scrap is returned to steelworks and foundries.
1.151 SAW pipe
SAW is a form of electric arc welding. A power supply is used to strike an arc between a consumable electrode and the pipe. This heats the steel, and filler metal in the electrode melts and flows into the seam. Fluxes in the electrode blanket the welding operation, suppressing sparks, fumes and ultra-violet radiation. SAW is mostly associated with larger, thicker-walled pipe manufacture.
1.150 Semi
fabricated Steel-Semi–processed metals such as sheets, bars, and rod.
1.149 Specialty Steel
Steels such as electrical, alloy or stainless steels. These generally are produced in smaller volumes to meet the specific needs of customers.
1.148 Stamp charging
A method for improving the productivity of coke ovens by compacting, or stamping, the crushed coking coal prior to charging to the coke oven chamber. This increases the bulk density of the charge by 30-35% and raises oven productivity by 10% or more. It also allows the use of a greater proportion of lower quality coal, and improves CSR (coke strength after reaction with CO2) values.
1.147 Stainless Steel
Good corrosion resistance due to a high chromium content is the key characteristic. Opinions vary on the level of chromium(Cr) at which a steel becomes stainless, but it is at least 10.5%. Nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo) are often present, andmanganese, copper, titanium, silicon + other alloying elements may be added. The principal grades are austenitic (typically 16-26%Cr, 6-22Ni); ferritic (10.5-28%Cr with no/low Ni); martensitic (higher carbon content than ferritic and typically 12-19%Cr with low/no Ni); and duplex, a dual-phase austenitic/ferritic steel(Cr>21%, Ni < 8%). Austenitics are non-magnetic, easily formed, but harden rapidly during processing (typically used in the process industries, heat exchangers, cutlery). Ferritics are less corrosion resistant, easily formed and magnetic (catering, architectural, materials handling). Martensitics are magnetic, have higher strength, are less easily worked (surgical instruments, shafts, fasteners). Duplex is strong with good impact resistance (desalination, heat exchangers).
1.146 Sinter
This lumpy material is produced by integrated steel works for use as a raw material in ironmaking, and is the main way of introducing iron ore into blast furnaces. Sinter is made by mixing iron ore fines, coke and a flux, such as limestone, placing this mixture on a steel conveyor belt, and igniting it. The resulting high temperature causes the constituents to fuse into a porous clinker but not to melt. Iron ore fines are the principal iron source for steelmakers, but without such agglomeration they would be difficult to chargeto the blast furnace and, in the large volumes required, would form a dense impermeable mass once inside the furnace, seriously affecting the efficiency of the ironmaking process.
1.145 Semis
Semis is short for semi-finished steel, which is the name given to large, uniform cast pieces that require further processing in order to be transformed into finished long, flat and tubular steel products.
1.144 Super alloys
Lightweight metals that are designed to withstand in extreme condition.
1.143 Structural
Steel products that include H–beams, I–beams, and wide–flange beams that are used in building, bridges, and highway supports.
1.142 Strength
The ability of metal to resist forces that attempt to break or deform it.
1.141 Shot Peening
Stressing the surface of a material by hitting it with a selected medium
1.140 Shot Blasting
Blast cleaning using steel shot as an abrasive.
1.139 Slab
A semi-finished, hot-rolled section of flat-rolled steel, prepared for rolling down to plate or sheet. It is generally more than 1 1/2 inches thick and more than twice as wide as it is thick.
1.138 Strip
Steel rolled out into long, thin, flat strips. Steel up to about 24 inches wide is strip or narrow strip; above this, wide strip. The dividing line is sometimes said to be 18 inches, but 24 inches is more generally accepted.
1.137 Sheet
Wide, flat-rolled steel. It is generally accepted that steel less than 3 mm thick is sheet and more than 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick is plate.
1.136 Slag
The non-metallic material forming a molten layer on top of the molten steel in a steel furnace. It is made by charging suitable materials and plays an important role in the refining of the steel. Lighter than iron and will float
1.135 Semi-finished steel
Steel shapes, for example blooms, billets or slabs, that later are rolled into finished products such as beams, bars or sheet.
1.134 Rolling mill
A machine which converts semi-finished steel (semis) into finished steel products by passing them through sets of rotating cylinders which squeeze the steel into the desired shape. Rolled steel products include bar, rod, plate, beams, coil etc.
1.133 Rod
Rolled steel or steel with a circular cross section can be a bar, a rod or a round, and there is no generally accepted firm dividing line. Broadly, a rod is from 3/16 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Rods today are usually rolled in long lengths and coiled.
1.132 Refractory
A ceramic material that can resist great heat and is therefore suitable for lining furnaces. Fireclay, dolomite, magnesite and silica are examples.
1.131 Rebar (reinforcing bar)
A steel bar, normally having surface deformations, for use in reinforcing concrete.
1.130 Quenching
A heat treatment used to harden steel. Heated until in a austenitic state then cooled using air, oil, water, brine, etc
1.129 Quarto Plate
Steel plates produced from a slab rolled to a specific length, width, and thickness.
1.128 Pig iron
The product of the blast furnace, when cast in a pig bed or in a pig-casting machine. It derives its name from the fact that the channel or runner leading from the furnace branched out into side channels called sows, and then into smaller channels called pigs. Pig iron today is sold on chemical analysis.
1.127 Pre-treated
Steel that is chemically treated on the surface to prevent corrosion prior to future alterations.
1.126 Plate
Plate is thick, flat-rolled steel produced from slab or ingot, and is mostly sold as discrete pieces but also coiled. It is available in carbon, alloy and stainless grades.
1.125 Pellet
A small, round, marble-sized ball of iron ore manufactured as feed for blast furnaces
1.124 Pulverised Coal Injection
This is principally a cost reducing technique in ironmaking. It involves substituting part of the normal coke charge to a blast furnace with coal that is cheaper than the hard coking variety needed for coke making. PCI also reduces environmental impact because less cokemaking capacity is required. The low-volatile coal used for PCI can typically be 20% cheaper than coking coal. Also pulverisation is less capital intensive thancoke making. Coal is prepared by pulverising it into very small particles before injection into the furnace, typically at rates of 120-150kg per tonne of liquid iron production. This is about one third of the normal coke requirement of a blast furnace operating without PCI.
1.123 Open hearth Steelmaking
Steelmaking takes place in a shallow bath – typically of about 500 tonnes capacity – within a refractory-lined chamber. Heat energy is usually supplied by the combustion of preheated gas and air above the bath surface. The charge of cold and/or moltenpig iron and scrap can be supplemented with iron ore and limestone. It takes several hours to produce each batch of steel, so OH steelmaking is far less efficient that the BOF (and EAF) routes. It is also both more labour intensive and more polluting.
1.122 Ore
An iron–containing material used primarily in the blast furnace
1.121 Non
Ferrous Metal-Metal containing no iron
1.120 Normalising
This is a process similar to annealing, where metal is heated to a high temperature and held at this temperature for several hours to improve grain structure. But unlike with annealing, where the metal is cooled slowly in the furnace, it is cooled more swiftly by removing it from the furnace to cool in air. This makes the metal stronger and harder than it would be after annealing, and because of this the normalising process is often employed to treat steel plate used for pressure vessel fabrication. Steel casting, forging and rolling are both processes that might produce grain structures in the metal that require normalising before it is used or further processed.
1.119 Nickel
Nickel is an important constituent of stainless steel, and increases the tensile strength of carbon steel. This silvery-white metal with a high melting point (1,454oC) has corrosion resistant properties and is workable, despite being hard with good strength and toughness.
1.118 Mini–Mills
Mills that melt scrap metal into commodity products
1.117 Merchant Bar-
Merchant bar is a range of commodity carbon steel long products widely used in the manufacture and fabrication of a broad range of items. It includes round, square and hexagonal bars, angles, channels and flats. Maximum diameter or width is usually 80-100mm, although flats up to 150mm wide are included. These are a staple item for many steel stockholders, large or small.
1.116 Molybdenum
In steelmaking this high melting point metal is used as an alloying element in engineering and stainless steels. It improves corrosion resistance and hardenability, enables steel to perform at elevated temperatures – and confers higher strength at these temperatures – and improves weldability.
1.115 Metal Dusting
Breakdown of metal due to exposure to carbonaceous gasses at higher temperatures
1.114 Metal Dusting
Breakdown of metal due to exposure to carbonaceous gasses at higher temperatures.
1.113 Martensitic
A category of magnetic steels
1.112 Mechanical Properties
Physical properties of a material concerning the elasticity when force is applied.
1.111 Metric Ton
1,000 Kilograms
1.110 Mesh
Steel rods or bars welded into an open lattice for reinforcing flat concrete structures.
1.109 Metallurgical Coal
Metallurgical coke is made from low ash, low sulphur bituminous coal, with special coking properties, which is inserted into ovens and heated to 1000F to fuse fixed carbon and inherent ash and drive off most of the volatile matter. The final product is a nearly pure carbon source with sizes ranging from basketballs (foundry coke) to a fine powder (coke breeze).
1.108 Malleability
A steel which is malleable can be deformed by compressive forces without cracking or rupturing during its working into a new shape by rolling, forging, hammering etc.
1.107 Magnetite
This iron oxide is one of the two principal types of iron ore used in iron making (the other is haematite/hematite). Most of the very large reserves of this ore occur in banded iron formations, much of which can be surface mined.
1.106 Ladle Furnace
A furnace used for refining hot metal between basic oxygen furnaces, open-hearth furnaces or electric arc furnaces (EAF) and casting.
1.105 LD Slag
Liquid LD slag is produced during the LD process as pig iron is processed into crude steel. Slag is not a random product, but rather a consequence of the Linz-Donawitz process, which uses steel as well as LD slag. The slag is separated from the crude steel, separately processed, and its chemical composition analyzed. At the end of the process, the main components of the slag are iron oxide, calcium oxide, and silicon dioxide.
1.104 Levelling Line
A machine that eliminates any physical deficiencies in the sheet before shipping
1.103 Low–Carbon Steel
Steel containing less than .3% carbon. Is ductile for use in autopar.
1.102 Limestone
Limestone is a key ingredient in blast furnace ironmaking along with iron ore and coke. While the role of iron ore is to provide the metallic input and coke the process heat and reducing gases while also playing a structural role within the furnace, limestone is there to react with impurities introduced by the other two ingredients to form aslag which can be removed from the furnace without contaminating the iron. The heat inside the blast furnace (up to 1,800oC) converts limestone into calcium oxide and CO2 gas. Calcium oxide readily reacts with impurities like silica, sulphur, alumina and magnesia to form a slag. This percolates down through the furnace to settle on top of the liquid iron where it can be tapped off. The limestone used for ironmaking may be pure calcium limestone or dolomite (containing some magnesia), or a blend of the two. It is crushed and screened to approximately 10-35mm and charged to the furnace at a rate of approximately 250kg/tonne of liquid iron. Depending on its composition blast furnace slag can be used in road construction and cement production.
1.101 Lance
In steelmaking, lances are hollow steel bars which can resist very high temperatures. They are used to introduce additional elements into the melting vessel after it has been charged with its principal raw materials (molten iron and scrap for basic oxygen steelmaking, and scrap and/or direct reduced iron and/or cold pig iron in electric arc furnaces). In both types of steelmaking a lance is principally used to inject oxygen into the melt. This is essential in BOF steelmaking to achieve the chemical conversion of iron into steel, whereas in EAFs, oxygen injection is more usually associated with generating additional energy in the melt to reduce electricity consumption. In EAFs, lances are also used to inject fossil fuels such as coal/coke for slag control. Oxygen injection via lances is also an essential feature of several secondary metallurgy (steel refining) techniques.
1.100 Lump ore
This is one of the three forms in which iron ore is purchased by integrated steel mills (the other two being fines and pellets). It is generally in the size range 10-40mm and commands a price premium over fines (which need to be sintered into a lumpy charge for use in the blast furnace), but lump ore is cheaper than pellets.
1.99 Long Products
Steel that includes rods, bars, and structural products. Described as long rather than flat
1.98 Ingot
Steel cast in a metal mold ready for rolling or forging. It is distinct from a casting, which is not rolled or forged. Ingots are usually rectangular, called slabs; square, called blooms; polygonal, eight- or 12-sided for forging. Squares and polygonal ingots can be fluted or corrugated to increase the surface area and reduce the tendency to crack while cooling.
1.97 Iron ore
This is found in commercial quantities in various parts of the world, the largest and best deposits being in Brazil and Australia.Ore can have up to around 65% ferrous (iron) content, but often it is lower and can be less than half this. Lower grades need to be concentrated (beneficiated) prior to shipment.
1.96 Interstitial-free steel
This is flat-rolled steel which is completely deoxidised and with very low carbon content. It has very good deep drawing characteristics, and as such is widely used in the automotive industry for body panels and similar highly formed pressed components.
1.95 Ingot casting
Liquid steel cast in a mould into an unwrought mass. Now largely superseded by continuous casting.
1.94 Idling
Idling is a temporary cessation of production with the inactive plant maintained in good order in readiness for a quick restart. It is distinct from planned maintenance shutdowns.
1.93 Induction Furnace
Unlike the electric arc furnace (EAF) which provides heat energy via electrodes submerged within the furnace charge, induction furnaces heat the charge indirectly. An alternating electrical current is passed through a coil surrounding the refractory-lined furnace vessel. This creates magnetic fields which cause electrical currents (eddy currents) in the iron/steel scrap charge, heating and melting it. Once the charge is in a molten state the eddy currents generate a stirring action. The capital cost of the induction furnace is lower than the EAF, it uses less power per tonne melted and there are no recurring electrode costs. However there is a size constraint. They typically range from 5-100t capacity for steel melting, but most operating units are towards the lower end. This makes them smaller than most EAFs. Induction furnaces are mainly used by foundries, except in India where they also account for several million tonnes/year of mainstream steel production. Although cleaner than the cupola furnace, which is also popular with foundries, the induction furnace does require a reliable electricity supply.
1.92 Integrated steel Plant
A steelworks which operates the complete cycle of production processes – taking in iron ore, coal and other raw materials, and delivering finished steel products
1.91 Hydroforming
This is a way of producing fully formed steel parts by using internal hydraulic pressure within a tubular blank to achieve the desired final shape.The most common applications are in the automotive sector where hydroforming is used to shape tubular parts into important structural components like engine support cradles, suspension parts, impact beams and some bodywork items.
1.90 High strength, low alloy (HLSA)
High strength low alloy is a term applied to flat rolled steels which, through the addition of small amounts of various specialised alloying elements, exhibit good strength with excellent formability. Corrosion resistance can also be enhanced. Typically these steels have moderately low carbon content (0.05-0.1%) and use one or more of the alloying elements niobium (columbium), titanium and vanadium at around the 0.01-0.05% level, hence their alternative name micro alloyed steels. HSLA steels have found widespread use in applications such as the automotive industry, where good formability is needed during body panel production, but strength is required for the in-service conditions encountered by vehicles.
1.89 Hot strip mill
Asteel producing mill in which hot rolling takes place.
1.88 Heavy sections
Beams and columns used to build large structures such as multi-storey buildings and bridges.
1.87 Hot rolled coil (HRC)
The most common form of flat steel product. Rolled on a hot strip mill, it is typically 2-25mm thick and up to 2,250mm wide.
1.86 Hematite or Haematite
An iron oxide mineral (Fe2O3) widely used in the production of pig iron in a blast furnace. It is generally cheaper and easier to beneficiate than magnetite (Fe3O4), and also requires a lot less energy to crush and grind. However, it can contain impurities.
1.85 Heat treatment
This involves the heating and then cooling of metal, and is used to alter steel’s internal structure, and therefore its properties, without changing its shape and size. Although often associated with increasing the strength of steel, it can improve formability, restore ductility or make the steel softer. Heat treatment techniques include annealing, carburising and quenching.
1.84 Hot Briquetted Iron
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) is a premium form of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) that has been compacted at a temperature greater than 650° C at time of compaction and has a density greater than 5000 kilograms per cubic meter (5000 kg/m3).
1.83 Hardness
Hardness defines a material’s ability to resist permanent deformation or changes to its shape when under load, or to resist cutting, scratching or other forms of abrasion. So in general, the harder a material the greater its wear resistance.
1.82 Hardgrovegrindability index (HGI)
This measure of grindability of coal was developed by an American, Ralph M. Hardgrove. The test involved indicates how difficult it would be to grind a particular coal to a certain particle size. Grindability is assigned an oH value (e.g. 55oH), and the smaller the numerical oH value, the more difficult the coal is to grind.
1.81 Gross tonnes (gt)
Gross tonnes (gt) are a measure of the total internal volume of a ship. One important application is in setting crewing levels. See also deadweight tonnes, lightweight tonnes and compensated gross tonnes.
1.80 Gauge
To determine the exact dimensions, capacity, quantity, or force of; measure.
1.79 Greenfield
This describes the construction of anything from a manufacturing or distribution facility to a retail or housing development on previously undeveloped land. It may be agricultural land, an urban open space, or just open country.
1.78 Grade
The metal content of an ore measured in grams per tonne or as a percentage.
1.77 Green House Gases
Greenhouse gases are released mainly by burning fossil fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas; they include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Steelmaking produces large quantities of CO2. The so-called “greenhouse effect”, whereby the Earth’s atmosphere traps the sun’s energy, is exacerbated by the release of greenhouse gases because they act like the glass in a greenhouse –letting sunlight in, but preventing its heat from escaping.
1.76 Global Warming
Global warming is a term used to describe the increase in the Earth’s temperature due to man-made and other emissions of “greenhouse gases” over the last 300 years or so.
1.75 Gangue
The worthless minerals extracted when mining an ore deposit.
1.74 Gal-annealed sheet
A hot-dip galvanised sheet which after the zinc coating stage on a continuous galvanising line passes through a further furnace. This re-heating enables iron in the carbon steel strip to migrate into the zinc layer to form a zinc-iron alloy.
1.73 Galvanizing
This is the application of a thin layer of zinc or zinc-aluminium alloy to steel to provide corrosion resistance.
1.72 Flotation
A liquid concentration process in which the desirable mineral particles attach themselves to bubbles and float away from the waste particles.
1.71 Ferro-nickel
This is an alloy of nickel and iron which provides a convenient way of adding nickel units during the production of stainless steel, other nickel containing steels, and foundry alloys.
1.70 Feasibility study
A detailed study looking at the technical, economic, social and legal viability of a mining project. Risks are identified and quantified. Provides enough information to decide whether or not the project should go ahead. A bankable feasibility study is the basis on which lenders provide the necessary capital for a project.
1.69 Ferrochrome
A common material used in the production of stainless steel.
1.68 Fuming
A process for recovering of zinc and lead from molten lead blast furnace slag by injecting coal; the metals are removed as vapors in the gas stream, and are deoxidized to form a fume that is collected.
1.67 Formability
This describes the ability of steel to undergo deformation into a new shape without losing its structural integrity, and to retain the new shape without partly or fully springing back to its original profile, or curling at the edges into an unwanted shape. Formable steels will have good ductility (ability to change shape without failure). It is because of its strength and good formability, along with its relatively low cost and ease of joining, that steel finds such a wide range of applications.
1.66 Foil
Metal that has a maximum width of .005 inches
1.65 Fatigue
A condition that leads to a fracture of material due to constant or repeated stress that exert less pressure than the tensile strength of the material.
1.63 Ferroalloy
A metal product commonly used as a raw material feed in steelmaking, usually containing iron and other metals to aid various stages of the steelmaking process such as deoxidation, desulfurization and adding strength. Examples: ferrochrome, ferromanganese and ferrosilicon.
1.62 Flux
Limestone or other slag-forming material charged to a furnace to remove impurities from the iron or steel.
1.61 free on board
Prices denote the so-called free-on-board payment, for material that a consumer or agent will give when he picks it up at a dealer’s dock. The f.o.b. prices are usually less than delivered-to-works prices for the same items.
1.60 Fabricator
Aproducer of intermediate products that does not also produce primary metal. Examples include brass, wire and rod mills, which buy copper and other primary or secondary metals to produce brass and other copper alloys, or take raw forms of metal and make building, magnet, telecommunications and/or industrial wire, rod, and similar products.
1.59 Flat-rolled Steel
Steel processed on rolls with flat faces as opposed to grooved or cut faces. Flat-rolled products include sheet, strip and tin plate, among others.
1.58 Forging
Forming metal into a fixed shape by hammering, pressing, or rolling
1.57 Energy optimising furnace (EOF)
The energy optimising furnace (EOF) burns coal, enhanced by oxygen injection, to generate the thermal energy needed to preheat and then melt a mixture of scrap and pig iron, or other steelmaking raw materials, in an enclosed hearth. It is a vertical process with the hearth at the base, and chambers above in which scrap etc is preheated by off-gases before descending into the melting zone. Steel is tapped off at the bottom of the vessel. The technology was pioneered in Brazil, but most working examples are in India, and commercial units are typically in the 500,000-600,000 tonnes/year range. The EOF is recognised as a way of producing good quality steel with relatively low investment and operating costs, and is ideal where power networks cannot support the heavy electrical loads imposed by electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. However, the EOF may be more environmentally damaging than the EAF.
1.56 Emissions Reduction Units (ERU)
Emissions Reduction Units are carbon credits, each with a value of one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, which are granted to projects in the Joint Implementation (JI) scheme (see separate entry). Like Certified Emissions Reductions they can be used under the European Emissions Trading System (ETS), but only to account for a certain percentage of a plant’s emissions.
1.55 Ex-works
The ex-works price of a consignment is the price at the plant/works gate. No transport included, as distinct from CFR, C&F, CIF etc.
1.54 Extrusion
Shaped metal formed by forcing the bloom, bar, or rod through a die of the appropriate Shape.
1.53 ERW pipe
Both electric resistance welded (ERW) and submerged arc welded (SAW) tube or pipe is mostly produced by first forming steel sheet or plate into a cylinder and then welding the longitudinal gap to form a seam. With ERW the seam is progressively welded using a combination of heat and pressure. Resistance to electric current generates heat in the weld locality, taking the temperature of the steel to just below its melting point. Simultaneously, mill rolls located around the pipe force the two edges of the formed sheet/plate together to join them. ERW is generally used for smaller diameter tube/pipe with relatively low wall thicknesses
1.52 Electrical Steels
The hallmark of these sheet steels is their good magnetic properties. They concentrate magnetic fields and are easily magnetised and demagnetised.Electrical steels have a low carbon content but can contain up to around 3% Si – hence the alternative name silicon steel – and come in two forms: grain-oriented (GO) and non-grain-oriented (NGO).
1.51 Electric arc furnace (EAF)
Electric arc furnaces produce steel directly from scrap. This can be supplemented by other inputs like direct reduced iron and pig iron. They account for about one third of global steel output. Basic oxygen furnace (converter) steelmaking accounts for the rest.
1.51 ECCS
Electrolytic chromium/chromium oxide coated steel, is cold rolled coil with a thin coating of metallic chromium (next to the substrate) and chromium hydroxide surface layer.
1.50 Dual phase steel
These steels are so named because their microstructure contains two phases, typically combinations of ferritic and martensitic phases, or austenitic and ferritic phases. These are high strength steels, which usually have a ferritic/martensitic microstructure in the case of carbon steels, and an austenitic/ferritic structure in the case of stainless steels. A ferritic steel’s structure is low in carbon and relatively soft, an austenitic steel is soft and ductile but capable of a higher carbon content than ferrite, while a martensitic structure is very strong and hard. Dual-phase carbon steels are a class of high-strength low-alloy steels which are particularly attractive in applications such as the automotive industry because of their combination of high strength, good forming properties and excellent energy absorption characteristics. Dual-phase stainless steels are well suited to very demanding operating environments because of their excellent corrosion resistance.
1.49 Desulphurisation
To achieve high quality steels with the desired range of physical properties, various impurities need to be removed from the liquid metal before it is cast and further processed. One of the most detrimental impurities is sulphur, since it affects both the overall quality of the steel and its surface condition. The only exception is that in controlled amounts it can confer some advantages to machining grades of steel. Sulphur content is reduced to required levels by adding a reagent (a substance which creates a reaction) to the hot metal. The most commonly used reagents are lime, calcium carbide and magnesium. Magnesium has emerged as a favoured additive as it has a high affinity for sulphur. Also, unlike the other two reagents, magnesium dissolves in the melt, which results in a more effective reaction. With blast furnace based steelmaking, desulphurisation is usually performed on the liquid iron prior to the steelmaking stage. With the EAF route it is performed in the ladle furnace.
1.48 Deep drawing steel
Deep drawing is a mechanical process in which steel sheet is severely deformed to make a pronounced shape with a uniform thickness – such as a can body, canister, box or specific component. Consequently, deep drawing steels have properties that allow a rapid and radical change in shape in a die without tearing or rupture.
1.47 Decarburisation
In steelmaking, decarburisation, or the reduction of carbon content, is one of the key roles of the furnace process for converting iron into steel. It is achieved by blowing oxygen over molten iron where it combines with and removes carbon as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. But once steel has been cast and rolled, further decarburisation may occur at the surface during subsequent heat treatment or rolling. This is because when steel is hot, carbon reacts with oxygen resulting in a low carbon composition in the outer layers of the steel. Loss of strength and ductility and surface cracking are typical effects, and this may be undesirable, depending on the intended applications for the metal. Decarburisation can be prevented or inhibited by restricting the duration of heat treatment or processing the steel in an inert atmosphere.
1.46 Ductility
The ability to form, shape, or alter the state of steel at room temperature without being damaged.
1.45 Direct-reduced iron (DRI)
A metallic iron product made from iron ore pellets, lumps or fines that is reduced (by removing only the oxygen) from the ore at a temperature below the melting point of the iron. DRI is used as feedstock in electric-arc furnaces, blast furnaces and in other iron and steelmaking processes.
1.44 Chemical Treatment
Chemicals applied to the surface of steel to resist oxidation and corrosion
1.43 Cavitation
Rapid formation and depletion of air bubbles that can damage the material due to severe turbulent flow.
1.42 Conversion Cost
Resources spent to process material in a single stage, from one type to another. The costs of converting iron ore to hot metal or bauxite to aluminum can be isolated for analysis.
1.41 Creep
Strain caused by stress over time.
1.40 Corrosion
The gradual degradation or alteration of metal caused by atmosphere, moisture, or other agents.
1.39 Consumption
Measures the physical use of a metal by end users. Metal consumption estimates, unlike steel demand figures, account for changes in inventories.
1.38 Cladding
Method of applying a stainless steel coating to carbon steel or lower alloy steel (i.e., steel with alloying element content below 5%).
1.37 Case hardening
A method of heat treatment to increase the hardness, and therefore the wear and abrasion resistance, of the surface of low carbon steels, while leaving a softer interior which is tougher and more fracture resistant. The hardness is usually achieved by dissolving either carbon or nitrogen in the surface layer of the steel (processes which are respectively known as carburising and nitriding).
1.36 Crude steel
The normal measure of steel output. Crude steel is either liquid steel or cast steel before being further worked.
1.34 Cold rolled coil (CRC)
Flat rolled steel that has been rolled on a cold strip mill to reduce thickness and improve flatness. This form of gauge reduction also referred to as cold reduction.
1.33 Coated Steel
This usually refers to steel which is coated with a thin layer of zinc, tin, paint or plastic in a continuous process prior to sale to traders, stockists and end users. It is more accurate to call it continuously coated steel to distinguish it from batch coated steel. Most coated steel is in coil or sheet form, but some long products, such as wire, are galvanized. See also: coat, galvanizing and tinplate.
1.32 Carbon Steel
Plain ordinary grades of steel with no significant alloy content.
1.31 Countervailing Duties
Countervailing duties on imports are sought when the supplying country’s production and/or exports are directly or indirectly subsidised to the extent that they cause or threaten material injury to domestic producers of these goods.
1.30 Corex
This is an ironmaking technology which, unlike the blast furnace, uses steaming (non-coking) coals, so avoiding the higher cost of coke. It is a two-stage process where lump ore, pellets or sintered iron ore, or a mixture of these, is firstly charged to a reduction shaft where it is transformed into direct reduced iron by a reducing gas. The hot DRI then enters a melter/gasifier, along with coal and oxygen, where liquid iron and slag are produced and periodically tapped off. Corex was developed by VAI (now Siemens-VAI), and after first operating commercially in the 1980s is now in service with a handful of steelmakers in Asia and in South Africa. The developer says Corex’s emission values already comfortably meet future European standards. Competing technologies include Finex, HIsmelt and Technored.
1.29 Coking coal
Unlike thermal or steaming coal used in power stations or for industrial or domestic heating, coking (or metallurgical) coal has unique properties that suit it to iron making. A key characteristic is that when heated in the absence of air, this coal, unlike steaming coal, will form the hard, sponge-like material known as coke. As steelmakers are looking to produce high iron purity, the coal needs to have high carbon, but relatively low ash, sulphur and phosphorus content. Also, coke should not physically break down as it travels down through the blast furnace (along with iron ore and limestone), so helping to retain permeability in the ironmaking burden. The terms “hard”, “semi-hard” and “semi-soft” actually refer to the coal’s readiness to form coke (“hard” is best), and not its physical hardness. However, “hard” coal does happen to produce physically hard coke.
1.28 Coke oven
Coke, iron ore, and limestone are the principal inputs for blast furnace (BF) ironmaking. Coke provides thermal energy, combines with the oxygen in the ore to release iron, and ensures a permeable physical structure within the furnace to allow hot gases to move upwards, heating the incoming materials, and molten iron and slag to move downwards for tapping. The quality of coke has a significant influence on furnace productivity and iron production costs. Coke is produced by heating coal to about 1,100oC in a reducing (oxygen deficient) atmosphere. This is done in coke ovens, and volatile compounds like tars are released along with hydrogen and methane to leave a carbon-rich product. Desirable qualities of coke are high carbon content; low sulfur, phosphorus, and moisture content; low ash residue; and physical strength. Coke consumption per tonne of liquid iron produced has fallen significantly over time and currently is around 400kg. Consumption, and costs, can be further reduced by the injection of pulverized (non-coking) coal.
1.27 Charge
In steelmaking this is the collective term for the principal raw material inputs to a blast furnace (iron ore, coke, limestone), electric arc furnace (scrap and/or direct reduced iron) and basic oxygen furnace or steel converter (liquid pig iron, scrap).
1.26 cost and freight (CFR)
Contracts settled on a cost and freight (CFR) basis require the seller, in addition to paying for the goods, to arrange and meet the cost of transporting them to the agreed port of destination. Risk passes to the buyer as goods cross the ship’s rail. Additionally, it might be specified that the seller provide appropriate marine insurance. (The terms cost and freight (C&F) and cost, insurance and freight (CIF) were replaced some years ago.)
1.25 Casting
The process of pouring molten metal into a mould so that the cooled, solid metal retains the shape of the mould.
1.24 Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was invented and patented in 1855 by Henry Bessemer. This was the first inexpensive industrial process to make steel from molten big iron. Although process had been used outside Europe for hundreds of years before this, this was the first time it was used on an industrial scale. The main principle of the process is using oxidation to remove impurities from the molten iron by blowing air through the iron. The oxidation of the iron raises the temperature to keep it molten during the operation. A large container called the bessemer converter is used. This is made from steel with a special lining of silica and clay dolomite.
1.23 Butt-weld pipe
The standard pipe used in plumbing. heated skelp in passed continuously through welding rolls, which from the tube and squeeze the hot edges together to make a solid weld.
1.22 Brownfield Expansion
A "Brownfield" contrast to a "Greenfield" (or a facility new from the ground up). Brownfield Expansions means adding on to an existing facility.
1.21 Basic Oxygen furnace(BOF)
Basic oxygen furnace ( BOF ) is a pear shaped vessel where the pig iron from blast furnace, and ferrous scrap, is refined into steel by injecting a jet high- purity oxygen through the hot metal.
1.20 Backwaedation
Market condition where the spot, or current price for a metal is higher than the three-month delivery price. This usually indicates immediate demand is perceived to be stronger than long-term demand. Not considered to be a "normal" market state.
1.19 Bake herdening
The steel sheet used for automotive bodywork needs to be very formable during the press shop stage of panel manufacture, but must have high strength for optimum in-service performance, These are conflicting requirement which bake hardening resolved by altering the properties of the sheet on the car production line. Once body panels have been pressed they are painted and the paint is then cured by passing through an oven.The steel has already been work hardened during pressing, but it is during you curing, at temperatures of around 170°C for a specific time, that the arrangement of the atoms in the steel change ( in a way know as strain ageing). The result in that after baking and cooling the steel has a higher strength than it did after pressing. : The method is mostly associated with outer automotive body panels which requires good dent resistance.
1.18 Baghouse
A team for the dust capture system used in steelworks and foundries.such installation usually comprise a dust separation and filtering arrangement involving an array of cloth filter bags, are a very efficient way of preventing the emission particles to the environment.
1.17 Base metal
Non precious metal, usually refers to Copper, lead, and Zinc.
1.16 Blast furnace
A tall furnace that smelts iron from ore.
1.15 Blank
A section of steel for a specific part that has not yet been stamped by the a end user. lowers labour and transportation cost.
1.14 bullet
A semi-finished piece of steel used for long products. Ex Bars channels. Two-seven inches square.
1.13 Bend
Tests that measure the ductility and malleability of steel when bent
1.12 Beam
Long pieces of square metal usually steel used in construction.
1.11 Bars
Steel formed into long shapes from Billets. two types: Merchant and reinforcing bars.