Chapter One

MANUFACTURING AND FABRICATION OF STEEL

INTRODUCTION
Steel refers to any iron-carbon alloy with significantly higher proportion of iron in the alloy. Steel
may usually contain other alloying elements as well in varying proportions. Indeed, the properties
of steel are highly dependent on the proportions of alloying elements and, thus, the proportions of
these elements are closely controlled during the steel manufacturing process. The nature of heat
treatment of the metal also affects the properties of steel.
This Chapter presents both the steel-making and steel-fabrication processes. The first refers to the
conversion of iron or into usable steel products while the latter addreses the preparation of various
steel element for use in constructable deliverables.

STEEL MAKING
The long steel-making process starts in the mine or quarry, where it´s obtained. In nature, it is a rock,
as shown in Fig. 1, with iron, oxide, dirt and a variety of other impurities. The major component of
this “iron rock”, as it comes from the mining area is iron and it occurs more often than not as oxide
ores, mainly hermatite (Fe2O3) and
magnetite (Fe3O4), while, to a much smaller
extent, it is also found as its sulfide and
carbonate. Other occurrences such as
titanomagnetite (Fe2TiO4) are also there in
nature.
Steel is by far the most important metal when
it comes of the magnitude of its engineering
applications. This is generally attributed to
the low price and high strength of the metal
that it is used structurally in many buildings
and as sheet steel it is the major component Fig. 1 Iron rock from ore.
of a variety of structural- and other
engineering solutions both for structural- and non-structural ones. While steel has got several
attractive features and engineering properties, it has also got its own shortcomings. The major
disadvantage of steel is that it will oxidize under moist conditions to form rust. Typical steel would
have a mass density of about 7700kg/m3 and a melting point of about 1650°C.

STEEL MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Steelmaking, otherwise referred to as the steel manufacturing process, is the process for producing
steel from iron ore and scrap. The steel manufacturing process is undertaken by the using blast
furnaces of various arrangements and may also involve rotary kilns along the way.

The main operations in all forms of blast furnace or other arrangements for steel-making cover
heating, removal of impurities through melts and gasses and, finally, collecting the molten iron for

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further processing. Thus, the three stages are essentially: preparing the mineral of iron from oar
material, production of molten iron and the final steel manufacturing. These stages can be summarized
as follows:

Stage One: Preparation of the mineral

This early stage of preparing the mineral involves extracting the “iron rock” process from the ore. As
noted earlier, this is a naturally-occurring rock with large proportion of iron and a variety of other
components such as oxides, dirt and other impurities that come along from the ore. These impurities
may include contents such as clay and sand that may be separated through a magnetic separator or
similar means and others such as sulfides and carbonates that may be obtained in low-scale ores and
usually first roasted to convert them into the oxide. The first process in this stage, thus, involves the
removal of such impurities.

The second process of preparing the mineral of iron involves washing to remove dirt, crushing the
“iron rock” into “iron sand” and, then, sieving the sand to separate it from other ore element.

This first stage is, thus, essentially involves ore extraction and advance impurity cleaning operations.

Stage Two: Production of Molten Iron

This stage is essentially the production of iron where major alloy components from ore are removed or
extensively reduced in proportion. In this stage of steel production process, the Primary Concentrate,
derived from Stage One, is mixed with limestone and coal and heated. The iron oxides are reduced in
the solid state to metallic iron, which then melts, and the impurities are removed either as slag or gas.

Various setups have been adapted to handle the process in this stage; blast furnace and rotary kilns are
among those used in this stage. In all forms of arrangement, however, the fundamental concept of
producing melted iron remains the same while the procedure may vary. Thus,

At this stage, air reacts with the carbon from the coal to produce carbon dioxide and heat:
C + O2 → CO2
The carbon dioxide then reacts with more carbon to produce carbon monoxide, the principal
reductant, in an exothermic reaction:
C + CO2 → 2CO
Some of the carbon monoxide burns with the oxygen to produce heat, whilst the remainder
reduces the magnetite and other forms of “sand iron” to iron in a reaction that is almost
thermo-chemically neutral. The entire process is, thus, as follows1:
CO + O2 → 2CO2
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2
Fe3O4 + 4CO → 3Fe + 4CO2

1
Magnetite can be regarded as 1:1 combination of wustite (FeO) and haematite (Fe2O3). The separate reduction processes
from these two components are:

FeO + CO → Fe + CO2
mol Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2

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The last two reactions are commonly referred to as the reduction separation process and the region of
the various forms of furnaces where these reactions take place is referred to as the reduction zone, a
zone where the solid iron oxides are reduced to metallic iron. In this region the air reacts with the
carbon from the coal to produce carbon dioxide and heat.

In conventional ironmaking, this reduction occurs in a blast furnace and, at times, in rotary kilns
followed by indirect reduction in an electric melter. The rotary-kiln technology is comparatively more
recent and it is mainly employed where the iron ore is of titanomagnetite (Fe2TiO4) type. As the
titanium dioxide present in the ore produces a slag which blocks conventional blast furnaces due to its
high melting point.

Molten iron and slag are both tapped periodically by drilling a hole through the refractory sidewalls
at special tapping points, higher up for the slag and lower down on the opposite side for the molten
iron. The slag constitutes various kinds of non-iron oxides and smaller amounts of sulfides and
oxides of iron, manganese and vanadium.

The oxides produced in this manner are either evolved as gases, or combine with limestone to form an
immiscible slag which floats on the surface of the liquid metal and so is easily separated thereby leaving
behind steel that has got the desired properties for eventual production of a variety of steel-based
elements for construction inputs; there include, those for use in steel structures such as hot-rolled and
cold-formed steel members, flat sheets and plates, reinforcement bars, bolts, hooks, cables and a
number of other components.

Furnace Arrangements
Two arrangements of steel-making process in which the above basic reactions take place are now
presented:

The Common Blast Furnace

Arrangement

In the classical blast furnace

arrangement, coke, limestone and
the usable part of the “iron rock”
as processed in sage One above
are fed into the furnace. Coke is
a fuel with few impurities and
high carbon content, usually
made from coal. Likewise,
limestone a sedimentary rock
consisting predominantly of
calcium carbonate. Hot air is
injected from nozzles at the
bottom of the furnace and this
arrangement accelerates the
reaction and the temperature rises
higher and may reach over Fig. 3 Production of molten iron: blast furnace arrangement.
1500°C.

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The molten minerals precipitate on the lower portion of the blast furnace, called crucible. Pig iron, the
usable portion, accumulates at the bottom and the slag stays above it. These two main portions are
separated both flown out of the furnace differently.

The pig iron is generally allowed to cool in molds following which it is transported to steel companies
for further processing into various types of elements. It is to be noted that the pig iron produced in this
manner may contain too much carbon and impurities in the composition and, thus, these need to be
reduced further before he former becomes steel.

The Multi-Stage Blast Furnace Arrangement

Another variant of the steel-making process involves use of several forms of multi-stage blast furnace.
In this arrangement, too, the three-stage operation will take place; these are as follows:
The multi-hearth furnaces
The main operation in this stage is the use of blast furnaces to heat, remove impurities through melts
and gasses and finally collecting the molten iron.

There can be as many as desired multi-hearth furnaces, each of which feeds a rotary kiln. The
furnaces pre-heat the materials fed into the rotary kiln and reduce the amount of volatile matter
present in the coal from about 44% to about 9%. This is important because the large volumes of gas
produced during the emission of the volatile matter would otherwise interfere with the processes in
the rotary kiln.

There can be several hearths in each furnace and the feedstock passes down through these. In the
first few hearths, hot gases from the lower stages preheat the material in the absence of air to about
450oC. Air is introduced in the middle hearths to allow combustion of the volatile material, so as
to increase the temperature to about 650oC. The supply of air is adjusted to control the percentage
of residual volatiles and coal char in the product. In the remaining few hearths, the char and the
primary concentrate equilibrate and the final temperature is adjusted to 620oC. The total residence
time in the multi-hearth furnace is 30 - 40 minutes.

The multi-hearth furnaces also have natural gas burners at various levels. These are used to restart the
furnace after shutdown and to maintain the temperature if the supply of materials is interrupted.

The waste gas from the multi-hearth furnace contains water vapor and other volatile compounds
from the coal (e.g. carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other combustion products) as well as
suspended coal and primary concentrate dust particles. These solids are removed and returned to the
furnace. This gas along with gas from the melter (mainly carbon monoxide) is mixed with air and
burnt. The heat so produced is used to raise steam for the production of electricity. As well as
providing a valuable source of energy, this combustion of the waste gases is necessary to meet
emission controls.

The rotary kilns

There can be as many as desired rotary kilns in the multi-hearth type furnace arrangement. Here
about 80% of the iron of the primary concentrate is reduced to metallic iron over several hours
period, generally around 12-hr period. The kilns are generally long and wide depending on their
designs closely resembling those used for cement production. Thus, kilns of around 60 to 70m long
and with diameters of 4.0 to 5.0m can be arranged.

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The pre-heated coal char and primary concentrate from the furnaces is mixed with limestone and fed
into the kiln. In the first third of the kiln, known as the pre-heating zone, the feed from the multi-
hearth furnace is further heated to 900 - 1000oC. This increase in temperature is partly a result of the
passage of hot gases from further along the kiln and partly a result of the combustion of the
remaining volatile matter in the coal. The last two-thirds of the kiln is known as the reduction zone,
and is where the solid iron oxides are reduced to metallic iron.

In a similar manner the titanomagnetite is reduced to iron and titanium dioxide. The product from the
kiln is known as Reduced Primary Concentrate and Char (RPCC) and is nearly 70% metallic iron.
Unchanged ore, unburnt char, titanium oxide and coal ash account for the rest of the mixture. This hot
(950oC) mixture is then discharged to the melters.

Figure 3 Multi-hearth type furnace.

In this latter part of the kiln the temperatures can reach 1100oC. Higher temperatures would lead to an
increase in the percentage reduction of the concentrate, but unfortunately they also produce accretions
of solids on the walls of the kiln which reduce its efficiency and damage the refractory lining.

Air is injected into the kiln at nine evenly spaced points along its length. In the kiln the limestone is
converted to lime (calcium oxide) which then acts as a flux in the melters. The waste gases from the
kiln are scrubbed to remove solids and burnt to remove any flammable compounds before being
vented to the air. There are currently plans to use the energy from this process for the co-generation of
electricity.

The melters

The hot reduced primary concentrate from the kilns is fed into a couple of melters. These melters can
be built in various sizes and configurations and may hold as much as a total charge of 1000 tons of
iron and 900 tons of slag. Lime and primary concentrate may also be added to control the composition
of liquid iron in the melter. The lime reacts predominantly with sulfur from the coal. Power is supplied
by continuously renewed carbon electrode pairs which pass a large electric current through the
contents of the melter.

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The temperature in the melters rises to 1500oC, and this causes the reduced primary concentrate to
melt and form two layers. The lower layer is of molten iron with some elements, especially carbon,
dissolved in it. The upper layer is liquid oxide slag and this supports the solid feed. During the melting
process reduction of the remaining iron containing compounds occurs. The electrodes are immersed in
the molten slag and most of the heat is generated in this layer.

One problem affecting the melters is that the refractory lining is subject to attack by the molten slag.
In order to combat this, the solid feed in introduced around the perimeter of the melter to provide a
protective barrier. The gas produced in the melter is mainly carbon monoxide and this presents both
toxic and explosion hazards. It is recovered and burnt for co-generation of electricity.

Stage Three: Production of Steel

The iron produced as per the process in Stage Two in both methods discussed above always contains
high levels of impurities making it very brittle thereby making the product unacceptable as a
construction material. In this
Stage, therefore, carbon and other
impurities are further reduced
inside a converter. The Stage of
steel-making is, thus, concerned
with the removal of these
impurities so that the desired
flexibility of the end product is
achieved.

The process of improving this

characteristic involves oxidizing
the elements concerned by
blowing pure oxygen through a
lance inserted into the molten
alloy. The process of blowing Fig. 4 Final stage of producing steel.
oxygen has got different
arrangements; one being as shown in Fig. 4. Accordingly, in this final stage, scrap is added to the pig
iron obtained from Stage Two, so the scrap is recycled. Oxygen is injected in order to burn the carbon
and eliminate the impurities following the slag is removed. The liquid iron becomes ready to get the
final shape.

There are other furnace arrangements in practice and course participants are advised to scan through
various literatures in order to have better understanding of the state-of-the-art technology in steel
making. For instance, the electric arc furnace is among the new developments in this area.

STEEL FABRICATION
Steel fabrication is a process that involves the preparation of steel members and a variety of other
details for putting steel products for use in various structural (and non-structural) arrangements. It
generally covers cutting, milling, chiseling, chamfering, drilling, lathing and grinding and related
activities with strict dimensioning process as well as routing (and moving such items on an assembly
line to the point of even do the packing for shipment).

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The steel f abrication process involves use

of high-end machinery and the state-of-
the-art goes as far as employing computer
interface of the entire process from
structural design process through the CNC
(Computer Numerical Control)
technology. CNC machines and tools, one
being as shown in Figs. 5, are employed to
do those noted above and more.

There are many types of CNC machines,

Fig. 5a A CNC machine.
which can be classified into the following
categories based on different methods.

Classification according to functions (parts)

According to the functions or types of machined parts, CNC machines can be classified into five
types: CNC milling machines, CNC lathes, CNC drilling machines, CNC plasma cutters, and CNC
grinders two of which are shown in Fig. 6.
− CNC milling machines: used to create shapes, slots, holes, notches, grooves, pockets, and specialty
faces, and perform the machining process of manufacturing CNC milling parts, the rotary cutting
tools on the mill to remove material from the stationary workpiece.
− CNC lathes: used to manufacture
cylindrical objects, and perform the
process of producing CNC turning
parts, a cutting tool will shape the
workpiece while the material block is
turning rapidly on a spindle.
− CNC drilling machines: used to drill
hole in the workpiece, the tool can
locate the position for drilling quickly
and accurately, sophisticated drilling
machines can also perform reaming,
counter-boring, and tapping holes. Figure 5b A CNC machine.
− CNC plasma cutters: a machine carries
a plasma torch, which is for cutting metals, involves cutting through electrically conductive
materials by an accelerated jet of hot plasma.
− CNC grinders: a machine uses a rotary wheel to abrade the material by grinding or grating it into
the desired shape, it’s e asier to program than milling machines and lathes.
Indeed, there are other variants of these five classifications including those such as layout marking
CNC machines.

Classification according to motion type

Classification by motion, CNC machines can be divided into point-to-point systems and contouring
systems.

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− Point to point systems: the material and tool are placed at certain fixed relative positions at which
they retaining until the cutter finishes the process and retracts, this type equipment including
drilling, boring and tapping machines.

− Contouring systems: the machine tool

cuts the material following a contour of a
part, so it works in a continuous path, this
type equipment including lathes, mills
and routing machines.

Classification according to number of axis

When classified by the number of axis, CNC

machines can generally be divided into five
groups: 2-axis machines, 2.5-axis machines, 3-
axis machines, 4-axis machines and 5-axis
machines.

− 2-axis CNC machines: A machine gives

access to only two axis, like the lathe
machines, the tool moves in 2 directions,
like X and Z.

− 2.5-axis CNC machines: These are also a 3-

axis system; but the movement is not in
three-dimensional, the X and Y-axis moved
to the position first and then the third axis
starts to work, such as the drilling and
Fig. 6 Cutting and drilling CNC machines in action.
tapping machines.

− 3-axis CNC machines: Three axes (X, Y

and Z) move simultaneously in three- dimensional, it’s the most widely used and versatile machine
that can achieve high accuracy and precision, can be used for automatic/interactive operation,
milling slots, drilling holes, and cutting sharp edges.

− 4-axis CNC machines: The 3-axis machine with one more rotation on A-axis or B-axis, the
common example is a vertical machine or horizontal machine. In the case of 4-axis machining,
milling is performed on the additional axis, while the operation on the X, Y and Z is the same as
the 3-axis system, and the rotation on the A or B axis is around the X-axis.

− 5-axis CNC machines: the 3-axis machine with extra rotation along two directions (Y and Z) on
A-axis and B-axis, the rotations are respectively given by the bed and spindle movement (pivot
point). 5-axis machines are advanced CNC machines and its multidimensional rotation and tool
movement allows the creation of precise and intricate parts due to the improved access to undercuts
and deep pockets, unparalleled finish and speed, often used for high-level applications, like
aerospace parts, artificial bones, titanium pieces, oil and gas machine parts, military products and
more.

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Classification according to control loop

The classification of CNC machines according to the control loop can get the types: open loop system
and closed loop system.

− Open-loop CNC machine refers to a system where the communication between the controller
system and the motor is one way. The process for an open-loop system is simple, CNC software
creates the information with necessary step and direction signals based on the user’s purpose, the
computer relays this information to the controller which then energizes the motor, and no feedback.
Open-loop CNC machines use stepper motors.

− Closed-loop CNC machine has a feedback system to monitor the output of the motors, also able to
correct errors in position, velocity, and acceleration. The feedback can be returned to the CNC
controller or computer, and the former type is more common, the system with feedback fed into the
signal generator or computer usually exists in high-end machines.

Course participants are strongly advised to read further on CNC technology, design /detailing software
and their potential interface with CNC machines.

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