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 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.

This chapter explains how to recognize decarburization and related defects. It includes images showing how decarburization appears in various steels, discusses stock removal practices, and describes common defects and flaws such as quench cracks and where they are typically found.

This chapter traces the history of steelmaking over three millennia, from the discovery of martensite in a mining tool dating from the twelfth century B.C. to the nineteenth century development of the Bessemer and Siemens processes. It also describes the work of early metallographers who discovered many phases and microstructures associated with steel and gave them their now familiar names. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion on the emergence of continuous casting and the subsequent development of strip casting production techniques.

This chapter presents a brief description of the three-step process: melting, decarburizing, and alloying. It also discusses the following processes: wild process, rustless process, and Linde Argon-Oxygen decarburization process.

This chapter describes cast steel features that may be identified or attributed to component failure during heat treatment or subsequent processing or service, namely porosity (generated by the presence of gas as well as by shrinkage pores), decarburization, cold joint, and inclusions.

This chapter discusses the classification, composition, properties, and applications of five types of stainless steels: austenitic, ferritic, duplex, martensitic, and precipitation-hardening steels. It discusses the process involved in argon oxygen decarburization that is used to refine stainless steel. The chapter also provides information on the classification and composition of stainless steel castings. It concludes with a brief description of the Schaeffler constitution diagram which is useful in predicting the type of stainless steel as a function of its alloy content.

Diffusion is the primary mechanism by which carbon atoms move or migrate in iron. It is driven by concentration gradients and aided by heat. This chapter provides a practical understanding of the diffusion process and its role in the production and treatment of steel. It discusses the factors that determine diffusion rates and distances, including time, temperature, and the relative size of the atoms involved. It also describes two heat treating methods, carburizing and decarburizing, where carbon diffusion plays a central role.

This appendix discusses in brief the sources of decarburization of steels as well as the effect of heat treatment on the process.

Microstructures can be altered intentionally or unintentionally. In some cases, metallographers must diagnose what may have happened to the steel or cast iron based on the microstructural details. This chapter discusses how microstructure in steels and cast irons can be intentionally altered during heat treatment, solidification, and deformation (hot and cold working). Some specific examples are then shown to illustrate what can go wrong through unintentional changes in microstructure, for example, the loss of carbon from the surface of the steel by the process known as decarburization or the buildup of brittle carbides on the grain boundaries of an austenitic stainless steel by the process known as sensitization.