Essential Guide to Metals and Manufacturing

Copyright © 2019 by Krishan Katyal.

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Rev. date: 09/19/2020

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CONTENTS

Introduction to Essential Guide to Metals and Manufacturing

Disclaimer and Warning

Chapter 1 Making of Iron and Steel

Chapter 2 Making of Cast Iron

Chapter 3 General Classification of Steels

Chapter 4 Material Properties and Testing

Chapter 5 Nonferrous and Precious (Noble) Metals

Chapter 6 Heat Treatment of Steel

Chapter 7 Ferrous and Nonferrous Metal Casting and Powder Metallurgy

Chapter 8 Metal Cutting Processes for Metal Fabrication

Chapter 9 Thread Systems

Chapter 10 Shaping of Materials

Chapter 11 Welding Methods

Chapter 12 Machining and Related Processes

Chapter 13 Machinery Components and Electrical Systems

Chapter 14 Fluid Power Systems

Chapter 15 Lubrication of the Equipment

Chapter 16 Plastics

Chapter 17 Quality Control in Manufacturing

Chapter 18 Engineering Drawings

References

INTRODUCTION TO ESSENTIAL GUIDE

TO METALS AND MANUFACTURING

D URING MY SEVERAL years of industrial experience, I was fortunate to work for five Chicago area’s leading manufacturing companies. These companies are leaders in the field of CNC machine tools, consumer electric appliances, diesel electric locomotives, and systems for concrete bridges, dams, and buildings and are manufacturers of power press coil handling equipment.

The topics covered in this book are based on my actual experience and mechanical engineering education. The following key areas are covered in this book:

1. Materials—ferrous and nonferrous—for castings, heat treatment, and testing

2. Welding, forging, metal fabrication processes, and quality control guidelines

3. CNC and other machinery

4. Hydraulics and lubrication systems

5. Mechanical and electrical components

6. Blueprint reading

The book introduces you to several metals, processes, and technologies. This book is for people who want to know processes but do not want to spend too much time reading dedicated texts. In my opinion, an average new design or manufacturing engineer, purchasing manager, or any person just starting with a metal processing company may benefit from the titles of various chapters in this book. This book gives a glimpse of major current suppliers (2018) in their respective fields.

The information in this book is based on actual experiences. I have reviewed hundreds of articles, websites, books, and trade magazines. It took nearly twenty years to gather the topics discussed in this book. I have tried to give credit to every author whenever I can. Some acknowledgments are included in the chapter, and some are listed in the separate reference list.

I have looked at hundreds of websites for this book. Based on them, I have listed brief profiles of steel companies, machine builders, forging and casting companies, and quality and welding equipment suppliers. Some of the companies were contacted for information. Most of them did not respond to the request. The websites listed and the companies can be a source of information for your business.

All chapters in this book are independent of each other. You can read any chapter first. This book is written in plain English, with simple words and no theoretical formulas. All sketches were drawn based on present prevailing concepts. These sketches are for explanation only and not to be used to design products and processes.

I thank my wife, Suman, for her support and my sixth grader grandson, Yash Gupta, who kept me on track by asking, Nana, when are you going to finish your book? Thank you, Yash.

Also, I would like to thank my parents, Murari Lal and Lakshmi Devi; brothers, Bishamber Lal, Rajinder, Surinder, and Sushil; and sister, Sanjogta Talwar, for their support throughout my engineering college studies. Also, I am thankful to my daughter, Rewa; son, Navin; son-in-law, Sachin; grandson, Amar; and granddaughter, Arya, for their continued encouragement for this book.

Also, I am thankful to Shri GS Institute of Technology and Science, Indore, India, for providing me an opportunity to finish my mechanical engineering degree. Also, I am thankful to IIT Chicago, College of DuPage and Joliet Jr. College in Illinois for introducing me to new technologies.

I am thankful to Littell Machine Co., Sunbeam Appliances, Electro-Motive Diesel (previously part of General Motors and now a division of Caterpillar), Toyoda Machinery (Japanese owned), and DYWIDAG-Systems International (German owned) for giving me an opportunity to work at their plants.

Also, I am thankful to the hundreds of contract manufacturers involved with machine shops, plastic injection molders, plastics fabricators, sheet metal, forgings, castings, heavy steel plate fabricators, and digital printing companies in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan that allowed me to visit their facilities in the last seven years.

I am thankful to the publisher for their support.

My sincere hope is that the subjects discussed here, and listed websites may help the readers to develop greater understanding of metals and manufacturing methods. And I hope this brief guide helps readers in contributing and improving the enterprise they choose.

Thank you!

Krishan Katyal

January 24, 2019

Lisle IL 60532

DISCLAIMER AND WARNING

T HIS BOOK WAS written by the author with nearly forty-years of experience in manufacturing and engineering with leading technology companies in Chicago. This book is a summary of specialties in metals and manufacturing.

Every effort was made to provide you the latest information (January 2019) available on the websites of several companies. In this book, I have provided a glimpse of websites of hundreds of companies that could be beneficial to you. Some of the companies were contacted by me asking if I could include their pictures in the book. Most of the companies listed in the book were not contacted.

Websites of companies listed in this book were not paid. The companies listed may or may not be suitable for your business. Please use your own judgment for sourcing their equipment or services.

The information in this book is based on nearly twenty years of studying hundreds of articles in over two dozen trade journals, websites, and several textbooks. There is every possibility that the information may not be true due to advancement in technology. Word processing software was used during the write-up, so there are chances of spelling mistakes. Also, wrong content may appear from material and equipment suppliers.

All technologies described in the book are for your information only. Please seek the advice of a professional in her or his field to design and manufacture your product.

It takes years to master the topics discussed in this book. There is no quick way of learning, what I described in less than three hundred pages here. Before using information about metals and processes, please verify with other professionals and other reliable sources. Keeping in view the above situations, the reader of this book will not hold the author and the publisher responsible for anything caused directly or indirectly by using this book.

Thank you!

Krishan K. Katyal

Author: Essential Guide to Metals and Manufacturing

January 31, 2019

CHAPTER 1

Making of Iron and Steel

Topics covered are steel production capabilities of major countries, making of pig iron, iron ores, making of steel, type of steel melting furnaces, suppliers of furnaces, stainless steel, and glimpse of major US plants.

I N NATURE, THERE are about 120 elements. These elements exist on earth with combined forms. These groups are further divided into organic and inorganic elements. Any group that has carbon and hydrogen is called an organic element. Petroleum is an example of an organic compound. Items such as steel, copper, gold, and aluminum are called inorganic.

The study of composition of elements starts with the smallest particle called atom. The atom consists of a positively charged nucleus with particles called protons and negatively charge electrons. The combination of two atoms is called a molecule. The following are some of the chemical symbols for a few elements:

Hydrogen—H, Carbon—C, Aluminum—Al, Silicon—Si, Sulfur—S,

Titanium—Ti, Vanadium—V, Molybdenum—Mo, Copper—Cu, Iron—Fe

Steel is a key metal in the growth of any nation. In this chapter, we will discuss the making of iron and steel.

Steel is an alloy of carbon and iron. The steel contains maximum 2% carbon. In addition, steel carries manganese, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur. Steel is used extensively for industry, transportation, buildings, and bridges. Steel is used in various forms and strengths. Steel could be recycled after its use in cars, trucks, and ships. In the presence of water and oxygen, steel rusts. For usage outside, steel is galvanized and painted to protect it from rusting.

According to www.worldsteel.org, the worldwide output of crude steel in 2016 was 1,630 million metric tons. For sixty-four countries, the output of steel for the month of November 2017 alone was 136 million metric tons. And production for the month of May 2018 was 154 million tons. Per Worldsteel.org, there are 3,500 grades of steel.

Based on a World Steel 2017 report, the following are 2016 crude steel production numbers from the major countries in millions of metric tons:

The following are some the major steel producing companies (from World Steel Association) with their 2016 crude steel production:

Stainless steel is produced by adding nickel and chromium to steel. Per World Steel website for the first nine months of 2017, the worldwide production of stainless steel was thirty-six million tons.

Making of Pig Iron

The steel is manufactured from pig iron. The pig iron is manufactured in a blast furnace. The blast furnaces are usually about 7 to 12 meters in diameter and 30 to 60 meters high with daily output of 350 to 12,000 metric tons.

Based on AIST—2011 (Association for Iron & Steel Technology—www.aist.org) web information, there are over twenty-eight operating blast furnaces in US. Beside smaller blast furnaces, there are two large blast furnaces in the world. One furnace is located in Germany. It is part of Thyssenkrupp Company (joint venture Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp). This furnace has an output of 12,000 metric tons (info from YouTube) per day.

At the same time, based on the February 20, 2016, report of www.nwi.com (Northwest Indiana Times), number 7 furnace owned by ArcelorMittal at East Chicago, Indiana (Indiana Harbor) can produce 11,500 tons of pig iron every day.

The raw material for charging the blast furnace usually consists of iron ore, coke (coal), and limestone.

The iron-rich ore from the mines is ground to size and magnetically separated and washed to remove impurities. The actual iron ore may have a concentration of 20% to 30% iron content is further turned into small pellets. The following are names of certain iron ores:

The blast furnace is fabricated with steel. It is lined with refractory bricks. Using special carriage and weighing systems, the blast furnace is loaded from the top in layers with iron ore, coke, and limestone. The furnace is furnished with a blast of hot air through Tuyeres, which are water cooled and located near the base. The ore has oxides, and the process of removing oxygen is called smelting.

The heating of the raw material is done by hot gases. These hot gases are produced separately in stoves, which are lined with bricks to retain heat. The hot gases are pushed through the mixed material in the blast furnace. The rising heat and gases are recirculated back to stoves.

The combined iron ore, coke, and limestone takes about six to eight hours to melt. Once the blast furnace starts, it runs continuously for a few years with a few maintenance stops. The temperature at the molten iron stage could reach to 1,450°C, while the top reaches to 250°C or more.

Heavy molten metal sinks to the bottom of the furnace. Limestone chemically binds with the impurities to form slag. Slag floats on top of the molten metal and is extracted. Slag is used for making concrete bricks. The molten pig iron is removed from the bottom of blast furnace every three to five hours.

The molten pig iron is poured into special bottle cars, which take the material to steelmaking facilities. Also, pig iron is solidified in long troughs. The molten pig iron is hard and brittle when solidified. The pig iron has 3.8% to 4.7% carbon content. The solidified pieces are sold to foundries to make gray iron.

Making of Steel

The pig iron has a lot of carbon, and it needs to be burned off by the decarburization process. The molten iron or cast ingots from the blast furnace are transferred to any one of following processes:

A. Open hearth furnace

B. Basic oxygen furnace (BOF)

C. Electric arc furnace

D. Induction furnace

Open Hearth Furnace

This is an older method of making steel, but it is still being used by several plants. It is large hearth measures forty feet by eighty feet and can make five hundred to six hundred tons of steel in one heat. It uses air, liquid fuel, or natural gas to heat the molten metal from the blast furnace. It also uses a blast of oxygen to speed up the production. Single heat can take eight to ten hours to melt. The molten steel is tapped from the bottom.

Basic Oxygen Furnace

This can make one hundred to three hundred tons of steel per hour. The furnace uses gaseous fuel to heat the molten pig iron. In addition, the process uses oxygen, which is pumped into the molten pig iron. The temperature in the furnace can reach up to 3,000°F. For certain properties, additional elements are added to the molten metal. After the chemical reaction, the molten steel is poured into ingot molds using a continuous caster.

Electric Arc Furnace

To produce clean steel, the electric arc furnace uses high-quality scrap Iron. It also uses pig iron. The furnace is lined with refractory bricks. The furnace uses three carbon electrodes (three-phase power supply) to melt the steel. The resistance to heavy current creates the heat and melts the charge. Ferroalloys are added to the furnace to make special alloy steels and stainless steels. No air is used in the electric arc furnace. Depending on the load, it takes three to six hours to finish a heat. This process also creates slag, which is removed from the top. Due to the absence of oxygen and other gases, high-quality steel is produced with this process.

During the steelmaking cycle, three steps take place:

1. Oxidation—This step involves oxidation of iron ore (FeO) to Fe (solid).

2. Deoxidation—To improve the microstructure, steel is deoxidized to convert to the following:

• Rimmed steel—It is used for sheet products.

• Capped steel—It is similar to rimmed steel.

• Semi killed steel (deoxidized with aluminum or silicon)—It is used for forgings and cold extrusion.

• Killed steel—It is completely deoxidized. It is a tougher steel and used for pressure vessels.

3. Ladle refining—This is done to remove dissolved gases or sulfur on other inclusions.

Induction Furnaces

For making steel from scrap, induction furnaces are used. This furnace requires scrap with known composition. It uses non-conducting crucible to hold scrap. The crucible is surrounded by water-cooled copper tubes.

Induction furnaces from Inductotherm are available from 350 kg to 100 mt capacity. For more information, visit the following websites:

• www.ajaxtocco.com

• www.inductotherm.com (This website [December 2018] claims to have built 36,500 melting and heating systems for metals.)

• www.inductiontech.com

• http://buyersguide.aist.org/pages/Steelmaking/Electric_arc_furnaces/index.html

• https://goempco.dudaone.com/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_furnace

Ingot Handling

Molten steel from the processes is also poured in ingot molds. The poured ingots could be in the shape of a rectangle or square. The ingots are removed from their molds. The ingots are carried to the soaking pits. The temperature of these pits could be 2,200°F. The purpose of this treatment is to improve the chemistry of each ingot.

The ingots are then transferred to rolling mills to shape the material into angles, channels, or W-beams. Also, the steel slabs are put through hot strip mill to form flat rolled coil. The coils are further processed by tempering cold rolling surface texture and applying tin.

Common Steel Alloys

Commercially you can buy steel bars with designation 86L20, 41L40, 4140 annealed, 41L5, and with other alloys.

Stainless Steel

Corrosion resistance to stainless steel is provided by excess of chromium. Stainless steel contains carbon, manganese, silica, nickel, and about 10% to 18% chromium. The following are some of the common stainless steels:

1. Martensitic—Least common stainless steel. It contains 4%–12% chromium. Common designations are 403, 410, 470, 501, and 504. This category of steel is magnetic and could be hardened. Steel 403 has 70 ksi (70,000 pounds per square inch) tensile and 35 ksi yield strength.

2. Ferritic—This steel contains about 10% chromium. They are less ductile. They are nonhardenable (magnetic). Type 409 is a low cost used for automotive exhaust systems.

A. No. 405 contains 11.5% chromium and has 60 ksi tensile and 25 ksi yield.

B. No. 446 contains 23% chromium.

C. Common grades are 430 and 434.

3. Austenitic (most common)—They can develop high strength. Common designations are 201, 205, 301, 303, etc. S.S. 201—95 ksi tensile strength and 45 ksi yield strength—highly ductile. Type 203 and 303 are free to machine. These are nonmagnetic stainless steels and provide highest corrosion resistance. Type 316 is more expensive than 304 because of higher nickel and molybdenum. Type 316 is higher corrosion resistant and strong.

4. Precipitation hardening grade—17-4 / type 630—It is high strength with corrosion resistance. Other common grades are PH