Basic Terms of the Engineering Steel Industry
The following are the Basic Terms and Definitions of the Engineering Steel Industry
Alloy Steel
A steel to which one or more alloying elements other than carbon have been added, e.g. nickel (Ni), chrome (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), manganese (Mn), boron(B), vanadium(V), silicon (Si) etc. to achieve a particular physical property.
Annealing
A process which involves heating steel to, and holding at a suitable temperature, followed by relatively slow cooling. The purpose of annealing may be to remove stresses, to soften the steel, to improve machinability, to improve cold working properties or to obtain a desired structure. The annealing process usually involves allowing the steel to cool slowly in the furnace.
Basic Oxygen Steelmaking
It is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon rich molten pig iron is made into steel. Blowing Oxygen through the pig iron removes impurities and lowers the carbon content. The hearth of the furnace is made from a basic refractory such as dolomite or magnesite, as opposed to steel melted in a furnace with an acid lining. This allows the removal of sulphur and phosphorous and in this respect it is superior.
Billet
A square steel (or round) product with radius corners, produced by either hot rolling, or direct continually casting for larger sizes.