This chapter discusses how aluminum and other alloying constituents are added to prepare a furnace charge for the melting process, and how it is cast into billets of various aluminum alloys. Fundamental aspects of billet casting are covered to give an overview of the casting process. The melting practice is discussed, as well as grain refining and degassing. Charge material, grain refining, degassing, filtration of melt, casting systems, and casting variables are discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of casting defects.

This chapter discusses the extrusion technology of soft- and medium-strength aluminum alloys. The relative extrudability ratings of some soft- and medium-grade alloys are given. The chapter presents useful extrusion parameters and their relationships associated with day-to-day production practices in the aluminum extrusion industry. Useful parameters discussed include: extrusion runout; extrusion pressure; ram or extrusion speed control; and butt or extrusion discard thickness control. The chapter provides fundamental approaches to introducing and developing the design of experiments (DOE) for the aluminum extrusion plant to improve overall productivity. It also focuses on heat treatment of aluminum alloys.

This chapter presents a discussion on the importance, types, applications, and advantages of advanced high-strength steel. It also provides a discussion on steelmaking technology.

The melting furnace is a critically important piece of equipment in a foundry; it influences the balance between the metal required by molding machines and the melting capacity. This chapter presents the features, types, advantages, and applications of furnaces suitable for iron and steels such as cupolas, induction furnaces, and arc furnaces.

This chapter highlights the different melting, holding, and dosing furnaces that are available for the alternative casting processes used for the production of aluminum castings. Melting furnaces are grouped into four broad categories: crucible furnaces; reverberatory furnaces (or reverbs); stack melting furnaces (also called stack melters), tower melting furnaces, or jet melting furnaces; and electric coreless induction furnaces are detailed in this chapter. Factors influencing the choice of the melting, holding, and dozing equipment are presented. Equipment for recycling machined chips is also addressed.

The manufacture of all aluminum wrought products begins with an ingot or a continuous strip solidified from the liquid state. During molten metal processing (MMP), aluminum undergoes a series of operations that are described in this chapter including melting and alloying, recycling, molten metal treatment, control of inclusions, ingot grain refinement, and direct chill (DC) or continuous casting.

This chapter provides a brief overview of iron and steel manufacturing and the major equipment involved in the process as well as identifying where casting fits into the overall process. In addition, it provides an overview of cast iron manufacturing, including the processes involved in converting pig iron into cast iron and steel.

This chapter describes the general characteristics of major types of steel annealing, including the process of normalization, which is a process that refines or normalizes the microstructure of steel. The first part of the chapter begins with an overview of the three-stage process of recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. This is followed by discussions on annealing processes, namely subcritical annealing, critical-range annealing, full annealing, isothermal annealing, annealing for microstructure, and solution or quench annealing. Next, the chapter describes two undesirable reactions that occur during annealing: decarburization and scaling. Information on the gases and gas mixtures used for controlled atmospheres is then provided. The second part of the chapter focuses on the processes involved in normalizing, along with information on furnace equipment for normalizing. In addition, the chapter includes information on processes involved in induction heating of steel.

Many of the structural characteristics of steel products are a result of changes that occur during solidification, particularly volume contractions and solute redistribution. This chapter discusses the solidification process and how it affects the quality and behaviors of steel. It explains how steel shrinks as it solidifies, causing issues such as pipe and voids, and how differences in the solubility of solid and liquid steel lead to compositional heterogeneities or segregation. It describes the dendritic nature of solidification, peritectic and eutectic reactions, microporosity, macro- and microsegregation, and hot cracking, as well as the effects of solidification and remelting on castings, ingots, and continuous cast products. It explains how to determine where defects originate in continuous casters and how to control alumina, sulfide, and nitride inclusions.

This chapter provides an account of the pre-Columbian history of metal discovery in America and then reviews the development of metallurgy in the Middle Ages from early wrought iron practices to the use of coke in iron casting. It discusses the influence of the family of Abraham Darby in England in the development of ironmaking.

This chapter is a chronological account of the development of ironmaking in colonial America from 1645 to 1870. The discussion covers the spread of ironmaking in many of the colonies in the northeast, canal building in Pennsylvania, the replacement of charcoal by anthracite coal in ironmaking, the life of ironmaking pioneer John Fritz, and the rapid increase in ironmaking for the railroads.

This chapter focuses on the evolution of steel production from 1870 to 1900. It begins with a review of the life of the inventor of the air-boiling process, William Kelly. This is followed by a discussion on how Bessemer's air-blowing process entered the steel production industry and the development of the Kelly-Bessemer process by Alexander Holley. The chapter then discusses how Andrew Carnegie lowered the cost to produce steel, how he entered the iron and steelmaking industry, and how Captain Billy Jones joined Carnegie to expand Carnegie steel. The chapter further provides information on the great strike of 1892 at Homestead and the rapid growth in steel markets. It ends with a discussion about the factors that led Carnegie to sell his steel empire.

This chapter provides a detailed account of the development of tool steel technology. It begins with a record of steelmaking in ancient and medieval times. The crucible melting process involved in making steel is then discussed. This is followed by a description of the increasing use of alloys for tool steels. The chapter provides information on the research investigations into the metallurgy of high-speed tool steels at MIT, Union Carbide, and Carbon Laboratories. The major research effort involved in substituting molybdenum for tungsten in high-speed tool steels is discussed. The chapter also describes the role of the Cleveland Twist Drill Company as the first adopter of molybdenum high-speed steel. It ends with a discussion on the advanced work on high-speed steels by Swedish researchers.

This chapter discusses the development of stainless steel. It begins with some information on the discovery of stainless steel. This is followed by a discussion on the most important patents issued for stainless steel. Applications of stainless steel beyond their original use in cutlery and tableware are then presented. Information on the development of alloys for specific applications and on the argon oxygen decarburization process is also provided. The chapter ends with a discussion on the major use for stainless steel after WWII.

This chapter covers the biographies and literary and research work of pioneers in metals research, namely Henry Marion Howe, Albert Sauveur, Isaiah (Zay) Jeffries, Paul Dyer Merica, Edgar C. Bain, Samuel Leslie Hoyt, and Francis L. VerSnyder.

This chapter discusses the formation and growth of various integrated steel companies from 1901 to 1959, namely the United States Steel Corporation, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and a few of the notable smaller steel companies. The chapter discusses labor unrest and the growth of organized labor in the steel industry in the twentieth century.

This chapter is an account of the various events that led to the decline of the integrated steel industry during the 1950s. These include the steel strike of 1959, the improvements in technology and increase in imports since 1950s, widespread closures of steel companies, the decline of the minimill industry, and the rapid growth of Mittal Steel.

This chapter discusses the rise of steel minimills in the late 1960s through the leadership of F. Kenneth Iverson and Gerald Heffernan. The discussion covers the development of processes for flat products, flanged beams, and railroad rails. The chapter also covers the growth of the minimill industry along with the consolidation of the industry into large corporations. The chapter ends by providing information on novel processes developed for making iron.