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Cast steel is a ferrous alloy with a maximum carbon concentration of around 0.75 percent. Steel castings are solid metal items created by filling a mold with liquid steel. Cast steel has worse mechanical qualities than wrought steel with the same chemical composition. Cast steel compensates for this disadvantage by enabling the formation of complex shapes in fewer steps.

Cast Steel Manufacturing

Steel casting comes from the late 1750s, far later than the casting of other metals. Steel's high melting point and lack of metal melting and processing technologies slowed the development of the steel casting industry. These difficulties were addressed because of advancements in furnace technology.

Furnaces are refractory-lined containers that hold the "charge," or material to be melted, and supply energy for melting. In a contemporary steel foundry, two furnace types are used: electric arc and induction.

Cast Steel Properties

Cast steels may be made with a variety of characteristics. Cast steel's physical qualities vary greatly depending on its chemical composition and heat treatment. They are chosen to meet the performance needs of the specified application.

Steels working at higher temperatures suffer from decreased mechanical qualities and early failure owing to oxidation, hydrogen damage, sulfite scaling, and carbide instability.

A material's capacity to tolerate abrasion. The carbon concentration determines the most excellent hardness achievable in steel, or hardenability.

Amount of force required to distort a material. Steel with higher carbon content and hardness has a higher strength.

A metal's capacity to deform under tensile stress. Steel with lower carbon content and lower hardness is more ductile.

The capacity of a steel casting to be welded flawlessly. Weldability is primarily determined by the steel casting's chemical composition and heat treatment.

The ability to deal with stress. Toughness is frequently coupled with increased flexibility.

A material's resistance to friction and usage. Cast steel has comparable wear resistance to wrought steels of similar composition.

A material's resistance to oxidization and rust. Cast steel has corrosion resistance comparable to wrought steel. High-alloy steels with high chromium and nickel levels are extremely oxidation resistant.

At low temperatures, the hardness of cast steel is greatly diminished. Alloying and particular heat treatments can increase a casting's resistance to loads and strains.

The ease with which a steel casting may be reshaped by removing material via machining (cutting, grinding, or drilling). Hardness, strength, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion all impact machinability.

Grades of cast steel

Standards bodies such as ASTM International, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the Society of Automotive Engineers have developed steel classes to categorize steels with specific chemical compositions and resultant physical qualities. To suit consumer demand for certain qualities or standardize specific production grades, foundries may produce their own internal steel grades.

Wrought steel requirements are frequently used to categorize different cast alloys based on their main alloying constituents. However, cast steel compositions may not always correspond to wrought steel compositions.

Testing of cast steel

By varying the composition and heat treatments of cast steels, carbon and alloy steel casting can have a wide range of mechanical characteristics. Before product completion, foundries use specialized testing procedures to assess mechanical qualities.

The industry has two forms of cast steel testing: destructive and non-destructive. To visually verify the internal soundness of a component, destructive testing necessitates the destruction of a test casting. Non-destructive testing ensures the internal and exterior soundness without causing damage to the casting.

Steel casting procedures have been known for thousands of years and have been frequently utilized for sculpting (particularly in bronze), precious metal jewelry, and weapons and tools.