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The Basics of Ferrous Metallurgy

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Plastic Mold Steels

Continuously growing activity in the area of the engineering plastics led to the necessity of developing new low-cost, high-performance plastic mold steels.
Precipitation hardening tool steels are being proposed for such an application, yielding improved mechanical properties and lower overall costs and lead-times.

Press Hardened Steels (PHS)

Press Hardening Steels (PHS) are a unique group of materials which are mostly comprised of different kinds of boron-alloyed manganese steels and gain wide application to produce high strength structural body elements.
As part of the AHSS group of steels, PHS play an important part in the ever increasing challenges of light weighting vehicles whilst maintaining durability and passive safety.

Production of HIC Resistant Steels

Hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) represents a common challenge, especially in the petroleum and refinery industry where the purity and overall quality of the steel is of paramount importance.
The production process for HIC resistant steels includes critical desulphurization techniques including the injection of magnesium and stirring by bottom argon injection.

Properties of Maraging Steels

The 18% Ni-maraging steels, which belong to the family of iron-base alloys, are strengthened by a process of martensitic transformation, followed by age or precipitation hardening. Precipitation hardenable stainless steels are also in this group. Maraging steels work well in electro-mechanical components where ultra-high strength is required, along with good dimensional stability during heat treatment.

Pyrometallurgy

Pyrometallurgy is the oldest technique for metal extraction from the ore and mainly involves volatilization of non-ferrous metals like zinc, lead and cadmium out of an oxidised solid mixture by means of reduction by coke or coal.
Regarding the treatment of steel mill residues, there are some key processes covered including Waelz Technology, Rotary Hearth, and PRIMUS.

Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) Steels

RPV steels are a critical focus of material use in nuclear power plants since their integrity is fundamental to the environmental and safety issues that can be potentially catastrophic in the event of failure.
Exposure to very high levels of neutron irradiation means that embrittlement is a key concern and so great focus is put onto the correct chemical composition of the steels to ensure the correct properties are exhibited to combat these extreme conditions.