Steel casting is a specialized form of
casting
Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...
involving various types of
steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
cast to either final/net or
near-net shape. Steel castings are used when
iron castings cannot deliver enough strength or shock resistance.
[Oberg, p. 1332]
Examples of items that are steel castings include:
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
turbine wheels,
forging presses,
gear
A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...
s,
railroad truck frames,
valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
bodies,
pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy.
Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
casings,
mining
Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
machinery
A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...
,
marine equipment
Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool
A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...
,
turbocharger
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...
turbines
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...
and engine
cylinder block
In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure that contains the cylinders and other components. The engine block in an early automotive engine consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was attach ...
s.
[
Steel castings are categorized into two general groups: ]carbon steel
Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
* no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...
s and alloy steel
Alloy steel is steel that is Alloy, alloyed with a variety of elements in amounts between 1.0% and 50% by weight, typically to improve its List of materials properties#Mechanical properties, mechanical properties.
Types
Alloy steels divide into ...
s.[
]
Steel castability
Steel is more difficult to cast than iron. It has a higher melting point and greater shrinkage rate, which requires consideration during mold design. Risers should be given more capacity to draw from as the metal cools and shrinks. Attention should be paid to the thickness of mold cavities, as thinner areas will cool quicker than thicker areas, which can create internal stress points that can lead to fracture.
Molten steel is also less fluid than molten iron, making it more difficult to pour and fill intricate gaps in a mold cavity. Molten steel is also more likely to react with internal mold surfaces, making for more unpredictable results.
Machinability
Cast parts often require machining to achieve accurate tolerances and desired surface finishes. Carbon steel is the easiest type of steel to machine. High-carbon steel can be more time consuming to cut or grind, and will wear tools faster. Low-carbon steel can get gummy, making it difficult to work with.
Generally, the presence of alloys used to increase mechanical performance often makes machining more difficult.
Damping ability
Casting is often a valuable means to creating intricate parts used in machine applications where vibration is often a factor. Cast steel typically has a lower damping ability than cast iron, which can lead to excess vibration and noise in the form of ringing or squealing.
Impact and wear resistance
Most steels offer a good balance of strength and ductility, which makes them extremely tough. This allows them to withstand significant stress and strain without fracturing. Steel can also be fairly wear-resistant. Alloy additions can increase both impact and wear resistance.
Steel casting alloys
Alloy steel castings are broken down into two categories: low-alloy steels and high-alloy steels.
Terminology
In present-day vocabulary, the term ''cast steel'' is almost always used in its sense
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...
referring to steel castings. Between the late 19th and mid 20th centuries, this was not always true, which is worth understanding if one is reading historical documents; see ''cast steel
Steel casting is a specialized form of casting involving various types of steel cast to either final/net or near-net shape. Steel castings are used when iron castings cannot deliver enough strength or shock resistance.Oberg, p. 1332
Examples ...
'' for details.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steel Casting
Casting (manufacturing)
Steel