Steel: The Son of Iron

 

Steel

Steel is everywhere around us. Steel is believed to be used about more than 3000 years ago, although not of the best grade, was yet a miracle of its time. It is never easy for a material to thrive for these many centuries without large uses. Steel is one material which has versatile applications and unparalleled strength for the cost. Steel is the backbone of major structures, automobiles, equipment and what not. From uplifting civilisations to kindling revolutions, steel has played a major role in the shaping of humanity as we know it today.

 

Evolution

We know that everything evolved in different ages like the stone age, steel age and the iron age. At all these periods, steel evolved in a massive manner to the various types we get today. Steel played a major part in the industrial economy right from the 18th century

Evolution of steel was never a single man’s idea. As years passed, human needs also changed. In 1856, ways to reduce oxygen in steel was formed. This was the biggest revolution to the steel industry. Slowly, humans found various techniques to refine steel. From digging underground to discover different ores to the high quality AESS architectural steel which we use today. Every century bought changes to the steel used. Basically, steel is just an iron alloy with not much carbon content. They are added with some additional material for extra properties. Steel is even called the “son of iron” due to its quality, longevity and versatility.

 

So how is Steel made?

Making steel requires a lot of man effort and machines too. They go through a myriad of processes to become the steel we use.

Here are some of the basic processes used to refine steel.

Casting- This is the primary process. Here the steel gets melted and is poured as mould

Forging- After casting is over, some heavy machinery is used to shape the steel.

Rolling- Rollers are used to give the material some uniformity in thickness.

Drawing- The surface is given a good finish and the structure is developed to withstand forces. The properties of the material as a whole gets a lot improved.

Extruding- This creates a new shape which then gets exported to various markets.

Akshay harish.S


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