Ferrous Metals

Ferrous Metals
• Metals and their alloys have been a class of
indispensable engineering materials.
• In facts in all types of ‘Heavy’ Engineering
construction.
• Use of metallic is taken for granted. These materials
also find extensive application in engineering Industry.
• As such any description of engineering materials
without metallic materials will be a practically
incomplete effort. We may give a few example before
entering into detailed discussion of these materials.

Ferrous Metals
Ferrous Materials
• Such as steel and cast Iron have been and are being widely used
for a variety of structural purposes.
• Building Frames, Beams, Columns, Reinforcements, bars etc. and
heavy Gates and Roofing's sheets are made almost entirely of
ferrous metals.
Non- Ferrous Metals
• Like aluminum and its alloys are fast becoming engineering
materials of great importance ranking next to steel.
• Aluminum sheets, Rods, bars and frames are finding extensive
application in non- load and light loading bearing situations in a
building construction.
• Among the other metals and alloys that are valuable as engineering
applications may be mentioned copper, brass, bronze, Zinc, Lead,
and Nickel.

Ferrous Metals
• The ferrous group of metal include all types of Iron,
Steel, and their alloys.
• It is typical of this group that Iron (Fe) in one form or
another, is the principle component of all ferrous
materials. At present, the role of ferrous metals in the
engineering Industries can be easily described as most
dominating.
• In all jobs ranging from manufacturing of Primitive
type of agricultural implements to advance types of air
crafts, ferrous metals and their alloys occupy a
prominent position. In the automotive, buildings and
bridge construction, railways light and heavy machinery,
shipping and transportation and in many other fields of
engineering activities ferrous metal and alloys are always
there in or form or another.

Ferrous Metals
This is explained by number of reasons.’
• The wide abundance of Iron ore in almost
all parts of the world
• The economic extraction of Iron from its
ores.
• The flexibility that can be induced in the
mechanical properties of Iron by combining
it with other metals and by heat treatment and
such other methods.

Ferrous Metals
• The annual global production of ferrous metals
has been and remain far in excess than the
combined production of all non- ferrous metals
has been and remain far in excess than the
combined production of all non- ferrous metal
produced in all the countries of the world.

Pig Iron
• It is the first or basic form in which iron is
prepared as a metal from its ores.
• It is therefore, impure and crude and
requires subsequent processing to develop
cast Iron, wrought Iron and steel which are
common ferrous metals used in Industry and
Construction.

Manufacture
• Pig Iron is Manufactured in the following
Stages:
• Selection of Ore
• Dressing of Ore
• Calcinations, Roasting, and Smelting

Selection of Ore
• Iron Occurs in nature in Combined form as Oxide, Sulphates, Carbonates,
and Silicates etc, Such natural raw sources from which iron can be
extracted economically are called iron ores. Following are common Iron
Ore:
• Hematite (Fe2 O3) It is rich ore containing 70 % Iron. It has a dark brown
to red color and is the most common iron ore of our country. It is also
called Red Iron Ore.
• Magnetite ( Fe3 O4) It is the black iron ore and has the richest Percentage
(72.4%) of Iron This is the main Iron Ore in Many other Countries but not
in India.
• Siderite (FeCO3) It is also called the spastic iron ore. It contains 48.2 %
Iron.
• Siderite is only rarely used as Iron ore in countries where it occurs in
abundance. Primarily, most of the Iron is produced in the world either from
Hematite or from Magnetite.
• The selection of Suitable Ore is Controlled by two major factors: Its
occurrence in abundance at a suitable place and its Quality (Purity).

Dressing of Ore
• The Ore, as it is extracted from the earth, is in big
lumps containing many other useless or gangue
minerals.
• The Size of the ore must be reduced to that within
required limits and also the useless association must be
separated.
• The combined Process of reduction in size and
removal of impurities is called ore dressing. This is
achieved by passing the ore through a series of
crushers and washing mills. The latter wash away clay
and other impurities from the crushed ore.

Blast Furnace Treatment
• The blast furnace is a cylindrical Shell like vessel
made of Steel It is 15- 30 m high and 6- 8 m in
diameter.
• It tappers towards the top. The lower part appears as an
inverted cone. The Interior of the furnace is lined with
refractory bricks, the furnace is provided with
• (i) Hopper for loading at the top.
• (ii) the gas outlet again at the top;
• (iii) The tuyers for injecting hot gases, near the base;
• (iv) Cooling Pipes just around the tuyers.

Blast Furnace Treatment
• Besides the main furnace, a blast furnace plant
requires following additional equipments:
• (a) Engine: for creating and supplying the air
blast for the furnace.
• (b) Stoves, for pre-heating the blast of air before
it blows into the furnace;
• (c) Coke Ovens for converting coal to coke by
heating the same at 1050 0C or more.
• Equipments for cleaning the blast furnace gas, for
storage of raw materials and for receiving the
molten iron from the blast furnace.

Operation
• The blast furnace operation is a continuous
process after it is started in the following
manner.
• (a) A Blast of air is first created by blowing the
engines. This blast passes through stoves at 500
0C- 600 0 C and then is made to enter the furnace
through the tuyers in the lower region.
• (b) Meanwhile, a charge is kept ready at the
top in the hopper. The charge consists of
alternate layers of Coke, Ore and fluxes
(Limestone etc) in pre-determined proportions.

Operation
• (c) When the hot blast has heated the furnace to a desired extent, the
charges is introduced into the furnace by operating the hopper.
• (d) The hot gases burn the fuel part of the charge thereby creating still
higher temperature.
• (e) The hot molten ore gets reduced by reacting with carbon monoxide
from the coke; Iron (Fe) is produced in the molten form.
• (f) The molten iron and impurities (as Slag) collect in the lowermost
region of the furnace where from they are removed periodically.
• (g) New batches of charge are introduced at the top.
• After the first charge and removal of the first melt of Iron, Slag, the
operation becomes continuous; charges is introduced at regular
Intervals at the top through the hopper and the molten products are
drawn of from the lower zone.

Working Zones
• Following three working zones may be distinguished in a blast
furnace:
• (i) Stack Zone It is the largest zone and extends from the top to
the middle of the furnace. The charge coming from above and the
hot gasses rising from below interact resulting in the dehydration of
ore temperature range from 400 0 C to 600 0C in this Zone.
• (ii) The Bosch Zone It forms an Inverted cone and is the hottest
Zone. It receives the hot air from the blower through the tuyers, and
the dehydrated charge from the stack zone.
• (iii) The Hearth Zone It forms the lowermost part of the
furnace. It serves as a receiving pot for the molten iron and slag.
Since the iron and slag have different densities, they form layers,
slag floating above the iron melt. These are drawn out from separate
holes provided within the blast furnace corresponding the hearth
zones.

Types of Pig Iron
• Following are a few type of pig iron distinguished on the basis of the
properties
• Grey Pig Iron.
• It is distinguished by a typical grey colored surface of Iron when
broken fresh. It is soft in character and rich in Carbon. It is produced when
the raw material are burnt at a very high temperature.
• White Pig Iron
• The broken surface shows dull white appearance. This type contains
sulphur, as the main impurity and hence is considered as inferior in
Grade. It is also called forge Pig Iron, as it is hard and brittle and can be
converted only by using pressure.
• Bressemer Pig Iron
• This type is practically free from sulphur and phosphorous. Therefore, It is
used for the manufacturing of steel in the Bessemer Process

Cast Iron
• Cast Iron consists of essentially of remolded pig
Iron. It contains carbon from 2-4 % and small
proportions of manganese, Silicon, and Sulphur.
• The remelting of pig Iron is done in a special furnace
called Cupola. A Cupola is in essence a small sized
blast furnace.
• It is about 5 m in height, about 1 m in dia and
cylindrical in shape. The cylinder has an inner lining of
refractory bricks and is provided with tuyers near the
bottom for injecting the supply of air blast.

Cast Iron
• The role of various impurities that are deliberately kept
in the cast iron is as follows:
• Phosphorous
• It is increases the fluidity of the cast iron which is an
important property. Its percentage varies between 1 – 1.5
• Sulphur
• Its presence causes rapid solidification Its content is
generally maintained below 0.1 % to get the best result.
• Manganese
• Gives the cast iron its hardness. But its percentage should
be below 0.7 % otherwise the metal will be very brittle.

Classification of Cast Iron
• Following are the common types of Cast Iron:
Grey Cast Iron:
• In this type, carbon is present in the flacky, graphite form. It
has a typically grayish color. The usual composition of grey
cast Iron is:
• Iron 92 %
• Carbon 0.5 %
• Silicon 2-3 %
• Grey cast Iron is soft and ductile. It finds application in
making casting, dies, moulds, machine frames and pipes.

White Cast Iron:
• It is that variety of Cast Iron in Which Carbon is present in
the combined form as Iron Carbide ( FeC) and not graphite.
It has a shining white color and metallic lustier. The metal is
very strong, hard and resistant to wear and tear and heat. It
is quite brittle as well
• The usual composition of white Cast Iron is as follows:
• Iron 94 %
• Carbon 2.5 – 3.0%
• Silicon 0.5- 1.0 %
• White Iron is difficult to machine

Malleable Cast Iron.
• It is actually “ white Cast Iron” in which
property of malleability has been developed by
the process of heat treatment.
• The white cast Iron is subjected to the process of
annealing. After that, it is cooled gradually to
room temperature.
• The malleable Cast Iron find extensive
application in
• Automobile Industry for making real axle
housing, Stearing, hubs and pedals.

Alloy Cast Iron
• This Group includes those types of Cast
Iron in which one or more allowing element
has been incorporated with a view of
increasing the utility of the metal. The Usual
alloying material are nickel and chromium.

Properties of Cast Iron
The composition of Cast Iron depends on
three factors
• The composition of Cast Iron
• The Rate of cooling
• The Nature of Heat treatment.

• Following are General account of the properties
Carbon:
• The amount of carbon and the nature in which
carbon is present in the cast iron effects the
property of Cast Iron, When the carbon is present
as Graphite Cast Iron is Soft and weak.
• But when Carbon is present as Cementite, the
metal is hard and Strong.

Alloying Element
• Nickel:
• It may be added in amount varying from 0.5 to 20 %
• Chromium:
• It is also added in small Proportion to Cast Iron
• Molybdenum:
• This alloying element is added to increase the hardness of Cast Iron.
• Heat Treatment
• This type of treatment changes the properties of Cast Iron to a Great
Extent Impurities
• The Influence of Certain Common Impurities like Phosphorous,
Sulphur, Silicon, and Manganese is Quite Pronounced.

Wrought Iron
• It is purest form of Iron containing all
Impurities below a limit of 0.5 %.
• Carbon is included in these impurities, its
proportions being generally less than 0.12 %.
Besides, Wrought Iron always Contain a small
Proportion of slag as a silicate Compound.
• The source material for the manufacturing
of Wrought Iron Puddling Process and
Aston Process

Puddling Process
• This consists of heating the pig iron in a small
reveberatory furnace called Puddling Furnace.
The furnace has lining of Iron Oxide Bricks.
The charge is Heated to 1200 0 C.
• At this temperature, melt is oxidized on coming
in contact with iron oxide lining, To ensure that
more and more fused metal comes in contact
with iron oxide lining the molten charge is
regularly stirred or puddled through puddling
holes. Hence the name of the process.

Aston Process
• In this process, pig Iron is first refined by heating in a
Bessemer Converter.
• All the Impurities get removed by directing a strong current
of air over the molten material . The molten pig Iron is Cast
into moulds.
• A mixture of Iron Oxide is put into the mixing machine
where it is first granulated. When Still hot slag is poured
on to it from the slag ladles.
• The Slag is essentially at a lower temperature than pig
Iron. The pouring results in abrupt solidification of good
amount of slag. This step is called shooting the iron slag
balls so formed are subjected to pressing machine where the
extra quality of slag is squeezed out of them. The resulting
material is Wrought Iron.

Properties and Uses
• Following are the most Important Properties of
Wrought Iron
• Strength It has a tensile strength varying
between 2500 to 4000 kg/ cm3
• Physical: Wrought Iron is Bluish in Color, has a
silky lustre and fibrous Structure. It is malleable,
Ductile and tough.
• Density: The metal has density of 7.8 gm/cc3 and
a melting point of 1500 0 C
• Wrought Iron shows good resistance to fatigue
and sudden shock.

Steel
• Steel is essentially a variety of Iron containing
0.1 to 1.5 % carbon in the form of Cementite (
Iron Carbide, Fe3 C) Besides Carbon, many
other metals may also be present in addition to
Iron, Giving Rise to a great varieties of Steel.
• If the percentage of carbon exceed 1.5, the
material will become more like cast Iron
because the carbon will then tend to occur as
Graphite (free Carbon). On the other hand, with
decrease in the carbon content the material would
resemble more to wrought iron or the pure iron

Steel
• The best thing about steel is that it has very
high compressive strength of Cast Iron and
very high tensile strength of Wrought Iron. As
such it is suited for all types of Situation as a
structural Material.
• Steel is a versatile material of modern age. Its
properties can be varied over a wide range by
varying its composition and by subjecting it to
various mechanical and heat treatment
process.

Manufacturing of Steel
• Steel is at present manufactured by many
processes that fall under three broad
headings namely Bessemer Process, the open
Hearth Process and the electric process.

The Bessemer Process
• This method takes its names after Bessemer
Converter which is used for steel making.
• The converter is an egg or pear shaped vessel
supported on trunions in such a way that it can
be tilted and even rotated about its horizontal
axis. The inner walls of the converter are lined
with a refractory material.
• when the refractory bricks are made up of clay or
Silica, the lining is acidic in character.

• The process is then called acidic Bessemer
Process, but when the lining is made up of lime
of magnesium bricks, it is basic in character.
The process is then called Bessemer Process.
• The Raw material for making steel in the
Bessemer Process is Pig Iron. In the acid
process, the pig iron must be free from
phosphorous and sulphur.
• In the basic process, however, these impurities are
tolerated, and removed by the addition of lime.

Following are the main stages in manufacturing of Steel:
• Stage I
• The Bessemer Converter is first tilted to a horizontal position.
Molten Pig Iron is then fed directly from the furnace. Air is also
simultaneously blown into the converter through the tuyers and the
converter is straightened up.
• Stage II
• Air is kept blowing continuously through the charge. During
this Process, most of the impurities of the pig iron like silicon,
carbon, manganese, sulphur and phosphorous get oxidized on
reacting with iron oxide formed as a result of reaction of Iron and
air.
2 FeO + Si = 2 Fe + SiO2
FeO + Mn = Fe + MnO

Stage 3
• When Oxidation Process has progressed sufficiently,
predetermined quantities of ferrmanganese or
spiegleisen are added. This material serves two purposes ;
• (i) It supplies carbon content for the steel
• (ii) It deoxidized any Iron oxide left during oxidation of
other impurities.
Stage 4
• Converter is then tilted into the discharge position and
molten metal poured into moulds of special rectangular
shapes. The solidified steel is known as ingot, which is the
starting material for preparing other steel shapes.

Open Hearth Process
• This is one of the most common processes of steel making. It
consists of an elaborate assembly of mechanical and
metallurgical devices.
• The main part of the plant is known as Hearth which consists of
steel pan lined with a thick layer of refractory material. The
refractory lining may be either acidic or basic in character. The
hearth has varying dimensions and may accommodate steel up to
3000 tons in one charge. The plant is provided with various
openings such as charge door stapping holes and entry ports for
gases.
• The raw material or the charge consists of
• Molten or Cold Pig Iron
• Scrap of Iron or Steel
• Limestone

Open Hearth Process
Manufacture for steel in this process
• Stage I
• The molten charge of the raw material is loaded into the hearth.
• Stage II
• A mixture of Hot air and coal Gas is blown in and made to pass over the
charge. The gas mixture starts burning and raises the temperature of the
molten charge further to boiling. The charge is allowed to remain in this
boiling period for some time it is during this period impurities get removed
from the charge by oxidation.
• Stage III
• This is the finished stage or the final stage during which predetermined
quantities of ferro- manganese are added, some coke is also added to
accelerate the process of deoxidization.
• Stage IV
• Molten steel is drained into special rectangular moulds to give the cold
steel the typical shape of ingots.

Classification of Steels
• Steels have been classified in many ways such as on the basis
of method used in their manufacturing
• It is however, the classification on the basis of their chemical
composition that is very commonly adopted .
• Two major group of steel are
• The Plain Carbon Steels
• The Alloy Steels

The Plain Carbon Steels
• This is the first major group of steel. In them carbon is
the only controlling component besides Iron, they are
further sub-divided into three sub types.
• Low Carbon Steel
• Medium Carbon Steel
• High Carbon Steel
• Function of Carbon in Steels. Carbon in steel plays very
vital role in controlling their properties.

Alloy Steel
• These are steel made with the addition of a
definite proportion of a selected element in
addition to carbon at the manufacturing
stage. The alloy steel show some specific
properties that are related to alloying elements.

Structural Steels
• All those types of steels that may be used in
civil engineering are sometimes classified as
structural steels.
• Concrete is the most common material of
construction. Plain Concrete has very high
compressive strength but very low resistance
against bending and tensile forces. This
shortcoming of concrete is overcome by
incorporation in it steel reinforcement.

Structural Steels
Prestressing Steel
• This is another use of structural steel, In the process
the steel reinforcement is tensioned at the time of
placement of concrete.
• After this, when the equipment for creating tension
in the steel member is removed, the steel tends to
come to its original shape.
• But being enclosed within the set concrete it fails to do
so. The result is that compressive strength of the
concrete and the tensile strength of the steel come to
establish a useful balance. The most important useful
property is their high yield strength in tension.

Structural Steels
Bridge Wire Steel
• In the Construction of suspension bridges use of
steel cables of proper qualities is a very important
consideration such steel should posses following
set of properties.
• i) high strength
• ii) high toughness
• iii) high resistance to fatigue
• iv) high resistance to corrosion

Structural Steels
Cladding Sheets
• These are thin sheets of proper quality of
steel that are used to cover the walls and
columns and other structure in a building.
The cladding steels are generally from the
category of stainless steel with a composition
having chromium and nickel they may be
given attractive finish by coating with
vitereous enamel or polyvinyl chloride.

Structural Steels
Railway Steel
• Steels find extensive application in railways; from
rails, for construction of bridges, for erecting
signal gentries etc, the steel for making rail must
be :
• Very strong in Compression and bending
• Very resistant against wear
• Very stable against fatigue
• Very stable against shock and impact.

Steel Shapes
• Iron and steel are made available to the
industry in specified shapes like ingots, sheets,
plates, wires, pipes, rods sections and so on.
• (A) Casting It is defined as a method by which
specified shapes, are produced by pouring
molten, metal into specially prepared moulds,
where it is allowed to cool the shapes so obtained
are designated as casting.
• In fact, in steel casting forms the first step in
the process of giving shapes.

Ingots
• These are the basic casting of the metal and
are made by the melt pouring from the
furnace into rectangular moulds.
• A single ingot is a rectangular block with a
length of 2- 3 m and cross section between 40
– 100 cm
• Following defects may develop into casting if
proper care is not taken at the time of making
ingots.

Ingots
Blow holes
• These are small hole like openings, continuously or
discontinuous that may develop on the ingots. These
are produced when the gases escape from the metal at
the time of cooling in the mould.
Segregation
• These are concentration or localized accumulations
of impurities in the interior of ingots. During the
cooling process, impurities are rejected by the primary
metal from the surface. The cooling proceed from the
surface to the interior.

Ingots
Ingotism
• It signifies the development of a very coarse
crystalline structure in the ingot. This
structure develop because of slow rate of
cooling.
Pipe
• It is defined as a central continuous cavity
developing within an ingot. It is considered
as a major defect in the ingots.

Ingots
Control of defects
• Blowholes and ingotism are cured by
mechanical working, it can be prevented by
adopting such methods of cooling in which
the top portion remain hot till the end so
that the pipe is formed in the exterior region of
the ingot. It can be removed by cutting off a
thickness of external length of the ingot.

Mechanical Working
• All those method in which desired shape of
iron or steel are produced by applying
pressure in one way or another are grouped
under mechanical working.
• Three main processes included under this head
are: Rolling, Forging and Pressing.

Mechanical Working
Rolling
• By rolling is understood reduction of iron or steel blocks
to the desired dimensions and shapes by passing them
through a set of rolls in motion.
• The plant where this operation is performed is called a
Rolling Mill.
• A Rolling mill may have numerous set of rolls. These rolls
are made of Cast Iron, high carbon Steel or Special alloy
Steel in a great variety of shapes and sizes depending upon
the nature of the shape to be produced.
• The process of rolling is further divided into hot rolling
and cold rolling depending on whether the metal to be
rolled is in hot condition or in a cold condition.

Mechanical Working
Hot Rolling
• It is a very common process for obtaining
shapes from metals, it involves subjecting a
preheated metal to series of rolls.
Cold Rolling
• It is invariable a finishing process aimed at
obtaining shapes of very accurate
dimensions that are not possible with hot
rolling.

Mechanical Working
Forging
• It is a mechanical process for obtaining the
desired shapes of a metal by giving blows to the
metal held within dies.
• This is generally achieved by first heating the
metal to a specified temperature and then
giving blows of definite pressure.
• Blows are given by hand hammers if the part to
be forged are of small size, for bigger product
steam hammers are used.

Mechanical Working
Pressing
• It is a method of mechanically working the
shape of a metal and involves application of
heavy load on the metal placed on anvil
through a hydraulic press.
• During the application of pressure, many original
defects of the metal get removed.
• The method is used for making armor plates,
heavy shafts and other such thick parts.

Drawing
• This is a method of shaping metals into
wires of various cross-sections.
• It involves stretching the metal through a
series of tapered dies, each die having a hole
slightly smaller than the preceding one.

Tubular Products
• The two most common methods in the welding
process. Are welding and seamless drawing,
• Welding Tubular products are obtained by two
methods
• Butt Welding
• Lap Welding
• Seamless pipes: It consists of pipe which has been
obtained without welding, it is carved out of solid
metallic billet.

Extrusion
• It is a method of shaping the metal by
forcing it through a die of requisite shape
under great pressure applied via ram or
plunger.
• In this method shapes can be formed by hot
extrusion or cold extrusion using preheated or
cold metal

Powder Metallurgy
• This method involves converting the metal to a proper grain size as the first
step.
• The metallic powder is then compacted under pressure to the desired shape.
The shapes so obtained are then heated or sintered very carefully.
The method offers following
Advantages:
• Shapes Obtained by powder metallurgy requires least or no subsequent
machining.
• It is very economical and more shapes can be produced per unit time.
• Very intricate shapes are not possible
Disadvantages:
• The cost of preparing metallic powder may be quite prohibitive
• The ductility and strength of shapes obtained are inferior
• The maximum size and shape is considerably limited

References
• Building Construction : Dr B.C. Punmia
• Civil Engineering Material : Prof. Singh
• Internet Web Sites

Ferrous Metals

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