CE 40/L Construction Materials and Testing Chapter V – IRON & STEEL

Chapter V

IRON & STEEL

5.1. Iron

- one of the most abundant and widely distributed elements in earth. But it rarely
occurs in natural state. The richest source of iron is iron ores.

5.1.1. Important iron ores:

a. magnetite d. siderite
b. hematite e. pyrite
c. limonite

Iron
Chemical
Iron Ores Content, Formation and Characteristics Color
Symbol
%
FeO, Fe2O3, - very magnetic
1. Magnetite 72 - black w black streaks
Fe3O4 - crystallizes in cubical form
- blood red or deep red to
2. Hematite 70 - crystallizes in rhombohedral form
bluish-gray with red streaks
- light brown to black with
3. Limonite 2Fe2O3 ۰ 3H2O 50-60
yellowish-black streak
4. Siderite FeCO3 48 - crystallizes in rhombohedral form - yellowish brown to gray
- crystallizes in the form of - golden-yellow with greenish or
5. Pyrites FeS2 45
octahedron and dodecahedron brownish-black streaks

5.1.2. Ways to mine iron ores:

a. Open pit method
b. Shaft method

5.2. Pig Iron

- an impure iron obtained by processing the iron ore through smelting in a blast
furnace. It is found to be combined with C, Si, Mn, S and P. It is not malleable.

5.2.1. Operations involved in manufacturing pig iron

5.2.1.1. Dressing of iron ores – ores are brought out from mines, crushed to
about 50 mm cubes in ordinary crushers and impurities knocked off.
Separation of gangue (clay, quartz, etc) is done sometimes by hand-
picking or by means of mechanical devices (like magnetic separators)
For ores containing too much shales or pyrites, these are kept
exposed to atmospheric actions
5.2.1.2. Calcination of Ores – sized ores are calcined or roasted in heaps with a
view of driving off moisture, carbonic acid, etc.
5.2.1.3. Smelting – the dressed and calcined ores is now mixed with required
quantity of flux and reduced in a blast furnace. By melting the ore in
contact with coke, charcoal or anthracite in a blast furnace, the iron is
deoxidized and carburized from contact with fuel. The molten iron is
molded and called Pig Iron.

Figure 5.1 Blast Furnace

Description:

A blast furnace is usually 24 m high with 6 m width at its widest part,

the belly. The shape of the furnace as shown is obtained by placing two

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truncated cones base to base. The bottom is obtuse and the upper one is acute.
The upper cone being three-fourth of the total height is called stack or body.
The lowest cylindrical portion below the bottom truncated cone is
called hearth or crucible. The interior surface of the furnace wall is carefully
lined with fire bricks. The furnace is made narrow at the top, called Throat, to
facilitate charging the furnace with ore, coke and flux which descend into the
furnace are distributed evenly. The throat has a closing system with cast iron
cap and cone arrangement, so that charging may safely be done without
interfering with issuing gases. At the bottom of the crucible, there is a top hole
to collect molten iron at 6 to 8 hours interval. A little up there is a slag hole,
through which the floating impurities like slag is taken out.

Operation:
To start the blast furnace, the hearth is filled with wood and the boshes
(lower cone) with coke. When this fuel is ignited, the body is filled with iron
ore, limestone and coke, these being charge in rotation. Owing to the high
temperature for required for smelting of iron, large volumes of hot air at
pressure are to be supplied through the blast pipe. The blast gradually turned
on and the temperature in the furnace is slowly raised to avoid cracking of the
furnace wall. After about 20 days, the furnace works at full blast and at all
times is kept full to within about 4.5 m of the top i.e. below the gas flue. The
increase in quantity of blast forced through, increases the velocity of rising
gases (650 m/minute)
After 20 days from firing, the blast furnace works at full blast. There is
an upward current of hot gases, atmospheric nitrogen of the hot blast from the
tuyers and carbon dioxide from the combustion of the coke by the blast. The
hot gases pass through the descending column of iron ore, limestone, and coke.
In the upper part of the furnace, the carbon oxide deoxidizes the iron oxide of
the ore.

XCO + FeOx = Fe + XCO2

A part of this CO2 is again reduced to CO by the surrounding fuel. CO 2

+ C = 2CO; this process continues as the charge gradually descends till at the
fusion level.
In the slow descent, the deoxidized iron saturates itself with carbon
(3.5 to 4%) taking partly from the fuel and partly from the carbon content of
the ore. This carburizing is an indispensable part of the process; because
through this, iron can be made fusible enough to melt at the temperature
generated in the furnace.
The fuel, in addition to its functions of deoxidizing, and carbonizing,
heating and melting both iron and slag, has the role of desulphurizing the iron
by the reaction FeS + CaO + C = Fe + CAS + CO. The transfer of sulfur is
important in the consideration, whether the metal to be used is cast iron or to
be converted into wrought iron or steel.

Furnace Slag

 is a waste product of blast furnace

 slag of harder kind and not too glassy, may be profitably used in
road mending, as ballasts, in making slag cement, slag bricks and
blocks and as filter media of roughing filters.
 limestone is used to provide enough of lime to form with gangue
of the ore and the ashes of the fuel, a lime silicate, which will melt
at fusion level and will be fluid enough to run out through the slag
notch. This will also wash out the sulphur.

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 the more the gangue the ore contains, the more limestone is
required.
 it varies in color from dark gray to light green.
 too much lime makes it stony in appearance.

Collection:

After the slag is drawn off, the molten metal is tapped from the furnace
and cast in open D-shaped moulds fashioned in sand in form of pigs. The pigs
of metal are about 1 m long and 10 cm x 10 cm in section. Fig. 5.2 shows how
the molten iron is taken through a main channel and then cast into pigs. After
solidifying and cooling, the pigs are broken for further treatment for the
manufacture of cast iron, wrought iron and steel.

Characteristics:
– It contains 3-4% carbon, 0.5-3.5% silicon, 0.5-2% manganese, 0.02-
0.1% sulphur and 0.03-1% phosphorus.
– It is very hard as well as brittle.

5.2.2. Classification of Pig Iron

Pig Iron
Raw Material Manufacture Characteristics Uses
(General)
- free from S, P and Cu
1. Bessemer
Hematite ore Bessemer process - composes small parentages of - for manufacture of steel
Pig
Mn and Si to improve its quality
2. Foundry At high temperature
- it shows gray color when
Pig or Pig iron with adequate qnty - for iron founder
fractured
‘gray pig’ of fuel
3. Forge pig Molten iron At low temperature
- brittle and can be easily broken - for manufacture of
or white from blast with adequate qnty
into pieces wrought iron
pig furnace of fuel
- mottled appearance on fracture - for special strengths and
Between employed for heaviest
4. Mottled
gray pig and - possesses high percentage of class of foundry works
pig combined carbon
white pig but not for ornamental
- more lustrous and stronger castings

Pig Iron Raw

Manufacture Characteristics/Properties Uses
(Acc. to Use) Material
- for manufacture of high
1. Acid pig
Hematite duty castings, ingot
iron
ore mould castings and acid
steel
2. Basic pig - standard basic: 0.75 – 1.25 % Si - for manufacture of basic
iron - low-silicon: 0.75 % Si steel and steel castings
- dark gray, crystals leafy and large
- requires higher - carbon in form of graphite
3. Foundry
temperature - very soft - for gray cast iron castings
pig iron
(1600oC to 1700oC) - very fluid when melts and cools
slowly
- passes through a pasty condition
before melting and before
4. Forge pig - requires 1400 C to
o
- for manufacture of
solidification after fusion
iron 1500oC for fusion wrought iron
- stronger and more brittle than
gray pigs
5. Pig iron Magnetite
(charcoal) ore

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5.3. Steel

- it contains not more than 1.7 % carbon

- it is manufactured mostly by removing a portion of Carbon from pig iron and
refining it

5.5.1 Methods in the Manufacture

5.5.1.1. Cementation process

a. Pig iron is completely decarbonized into almost pure wrought iron
b. The WI bars are placed between layers of charcoal powder in dome-
shaped furnace (cementation furnace) and are heated at very high
temperature for two weeks
c. WI gets combined with C during this period producing “blister
steel”
* blister steel is covered with blisters having fissures and
cavities

5.5.1.2. Crucible process

a. Fragment of blister steel or short length of WI mixed with charcoal
are healed in crucibles
b. The molten iron run into molds and cast resulting to steel called
“cast steel”
* cast steel is uniform in quality and extremely hard

5.5.1.3. Bessemer process

a. Acid Bessemer
b. Basic Bessemer

5.5.1.4. Open-Hearth process

a. Pig iron and waste pieces (scrap) of iron and steel are melted
together in the furnace heated by regenerative gases
b. C, Si, P are removed by oxidation by means of the furnace flame
aided by the oxygen of light charges of iron ore in the furnace.
Siemens’s Open-Hearth process:
- pig iron, steel scraps and iron ores rich in oxides are fused for
18 hours to remove impurities through oxidation
- soft quality steel is produced
Siemens-Martin Open-Hearth process:
- a mixture of 10% pig iron and 90% scraps of wrought iron and
steel are melted and fused in the furnace with intense heat of
2500oC.
c. Steel produced by this process is mild steel which is more
homogeneous and dependable than Bessemer steel.

5.5.1.5. Electric Smelting

a. Iron ore mixed with required quantity of reducing agent and suitable
fluxes are fed into the furnace and an arc is struck between the two
electrodes.
b. The mixture gradually melts and steel is tapped at intervals.

Uses:
a. for refining steel obtained from Bessemer or other processes
b. for preparation of special steel or steel alloys

Advantages:
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a. It can be worked in a wide range of temperature with easy control

and without smoke or ash problem.
b. Is economical when electric power is cheap, readily available at the
site and coke is dear .
c. It can be repaired easily with least cost, least manpower and least
time

5.5.1.6. Duplex process – is a combination of Bessemer and open-hearth

processes
a. Pig iron is converted into steel in the Bessemer converter (acid or
basic) and refined in the open-hearth
b. Si and a part of C are removed rapidly in the converter; P and the
rest of C are removed slowly in the open-hearth.
c. Produced steel is sometimes refined further in an electric furnace for
production of high quality steel.

5.5.1.7. L. D. process
a. Iron is melted in the LD converter by introducing a jet of oxygen
from an oxygen plant
b. High temperature burns impurities and low carbon steel free from
impurities is produced within an hour.

Advantages: Very economical as regards capital, operation, maintenance

and running costs
Disadvantages: Control of temperature in the converter is a bit difficult.

5.5.2. Characteristics and Uses:

5.5.2.1. Characteristics:
1. It has resistance both to tension and compression but is
liable to buckle if exposed to fire.
2. It is easy to forge or weld.

5.5.2.2. Uses:
It is extensively used in civil engineering constructions as well
as mechanical and electrical instruments, appliances and equipment.

5.5.3. Classification of Steel

Steel Type Manufacture Characteristics Uses

contains fissures & cavities For manufacture of
1. Blister
Cementation process - cannot be forged but can be various kinds of steel
Steel
welded
For making alloy steel by
2. Spring By heating blister steel to redness,
- can be rolled and hammered adding fraction of C, Si,
Steel rolling and hammered
W, Mn, and Cr
3. Shear By placing short length of blister Knives, shears, cutting
Steel steel bars at welding heat tools
- prepared from blister steel and
shear steel by reheating it at low - used for instruments of
- strong and uniform, compact
4. Cast Steel temperature and hammering high grade
and homogeneous steel
into bars - hard cutting tools
- crucible process
5. Bessemer boiler plates, rails and
- Bessemer converter
Steel axles, railway carriage
- chiefly used in
- high resistance to tension and
structural construction
- open-hearth process compression but liable to
6. Mild Steel - mechanical and
- Siemens-Martin buckle if exposed to fire
electrical instruments
- easy to forge or weld
and equipment
7. Whitworth By expelling gases and closing up for boilers, machine
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compressed cavities by keeping molten steel parts, guns, boring tools,

steel under 9 kg/mm2 pressure rivets, etc.

5.6 Steel Alloys

- plain carbon steel with carbon content up to 1.5 % with small percentages of Si, P,
S,
Mn.
- are formed by combining with plain carbon steel, the elements such as Ni, Cr, Vd,
W, Mo, etc.

5.6.1. Types of Steel Alloys

Types Characteristics Uses

- non-magnetic, high electrical
- railway points and crossings, rock cutting
resistance and low coefficient of
1. Manganese steel machine jaws, car wheels, rollers, heavy load
expansion
bearing rails, etc.
- very hard, durable and ductile
- for manufacture of stainless steel, blades,
- high strength, hard and has resistance
2. Chrome steel chisels, cutlery, razors, bearing balls,
to heat
permanent magnets, etc.
- armor of war vessels, naval purposes, guns,
3. Nickel steel - very hard, strong and durable
shafts, axles, crankshafts, aircraft industries
- no appreciable expansion due to
4. Invar - surveying and scientific instruments
temperature effects
5. Chrome nickel - strong, hard and tough - armor plating, gear axles, shafts, rock cutting
steel - elastic and ductile machinery
- cutting tools, magnets, small generators and
6. Tungsten steel electrical instrument
- as alloy material
7. Chrome tungsten - cutting tools of lathe and other machines
8. Cobalt steel - permanent magnets
9. Silicon steel - hard and strong
10. Titanium - very high tensile strength
- engine frames, crankshafts, springs, axles,
11. Vanadium - has shock resistance, hard and strong
etc.
- has increased hardness and tensile
12. Molybdenum - automobile and aircraft industry
strength at high temperature
13. Carbon steel - hard and elastic - rail tires, guns, armor plates and boiler
- has resistance to temperature and
14. Clad steel
corrosion
- has corrosion-resisting property
15. Stainless steel - surgical instruments, hardware fittings, etc.
- can be forged, rolled and welded
- does not respond to quenching or
16. High strength - cranes, shovels, scrapers and structural steel
tempering
steel sections
- high corrosion resistance
- resistance against shock, corrosion,
17. Spring steel - various types of springs and shock absorbers
fatigue and temperature
- it contains the ff:
18. Free cutting steel - used to suit specific requirements
S: 0.3 %, C: 0.08 – 0.45 %

5.7. Defects in Steel Ingots and Steel Castings

5.7.1. Piping

- formed in molten steel ingot is cast in cold iron mold

- is formed due to the difference in rate of solidifying and
contraction of the interior and exterior portions
- it makes steel ingot unsound
- can be reduced by retarding the rate of cooling of the entire molten
mass by: a) preheating the mold top or b) covering the mold with
burning fuel or molten slag.

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5.7.2. Blow-holes

- occurs during solidification

- gases dissolved in molten mass come out but entrapped gases
which do not escape, form blow holes in the solid mass
- may be prevented by adding to the molten mass shortly before it
solidifies, either silicon or aluminum as little as 0.002 %

5.7.3. Segregation

- occurs also during solidification

- solidification starts from exterior portion to interior gradually,
expelling into the interior molten mass the impurities like C, P, and
S thus these elements are segregated or concentrated in the last
cooling portion of the ingot
- it helps purify the rejected portion of the ingot therefore it is
promoted

5.8. Heat Treatment of Steel

- a treatment given to steel involving heating and cooling operations, with a view to
inducing in the metal certain physical properties

 Hardening – is a process when steel is heated above 850 oC and suddenly cooled
by immersing the hot steel into water producing hard steel. This process makes
steel brittle.
 Softening – if hot steel is cooled slowly resulting to soft steel.
 Forging – soft steel is hammered to desired shape
 Tempering – hardened steel is reheated gradually then cooled to the required
temperature by quenching it in a bath of mercury, oil, water, etc.
- is adopted to bring toughness to the hardened steel
- necessary in manufacturing surgical instruments and appliances,
chisels and shears, razors, swords, knives and spring
 Quenching – sets permanently the structural changes in iron caused during
heating
 Annealing – the hardened steel is brought to red hot condition and then cooled
gradually inside the furnace
 Normalizing – similar to annealing, but the rate of cooling is slower.
- the process further refines steel and improves its elastic property
 Case hardening or carburizing – converts the exterior surface of WI into steel such
that the exterior part becomes hard to resist wear and tear whereas the interior
part has the property of toughness.
a. WI is placed in an iron box filled with bone dust and is subjected to a red
heat for 8 hours depending upon the depth of hard coating required
b. The red hot iron at the surface combines with a small quantity of C then
turned into steel of thickness varying from 2-10 mm
 Patenting – a process of rendering high carbon steel wires ductile by heating it
above the critical range and cooled in molten salt or lead.
 Austempering – process of heating steel above the critical range of 746 oC and
cooled in a bath of molten salt or lead at 316oC.
 Martempering – steel is heated above the critical temperature and then quenched in
a molten salt bath, the temperature of which being slightly above that at which
martensite forms
- this process renders the steel hard, tough and ductile and internal
stress and distortion are reduced

5.9. Preservation of Iron and Steel

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5.9.1. Galvanizing
- is a process by which iron is coated with a thin film of zinc so that iron
surface does not come in contact with air and water
- it begins by removing scales and rusts in iron then pickling it in dilute HCl
- wash it then plunge into a molten bath of zinc which is covered with a
layer of Sal-ammoniac (NH4Cl) to keep it from evaporating.
5.9.2. Tin Plating
- is done to cover the iron surface with a thin film of tin instead of zinc
- iron piece is pickled in dilute H2SO4 to remove dust and scales and scoured
and washed for removal of acid
- piece of iron is immersed and passed through baths of molten tin for
perfect
coating
- the coated iron piece is finished off by passing through rollers in a grease
bath to squeeze off the excess tin.
5.9.3. Enameling
- this process is done to put preliminary glaze to iron
- iron piece is cleaned properly
5.9.4. Painting
5.9.5. Coal Tarring
5.9.6. Electroplating
5.9.7. Metal Spraying
5.9.8. Plastic Spraying
5.9.9. Sheradizing
5.9.10. Parkersing

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