AISI 2MM 42MM 904l 304 Stainless Steel Pipe Mirror Surface Tube For Construction

History of Iron Production

As the production of iron turned from artisan craft to industrial process, new names were established for the end products of the smelting process, -“smelting” being the process of heating iron-bearing ore to extract the element and melt it. Once separated and molten, liquid iron was poured into molds called ingots, also termed “sows”, producing the initial form, “crude iron”. Sows were broken up into smaller pieces for further processing. From “sows” came smaller “pigs” – where the term “pig iron” originates.

A blacksmith would heat small ingots at the forge and hammer them to refine the “pig iron” into the more useful material, wrought iron, crushing the voids and dispersing the impurities. While the impurities might not be removed, the forging process redistributed large contaminant clusters to smaller sizes that had less propensity to weaken the structure of the elemental metal.

Creation of Steel

With the addition of very small amounts of carbon, added to the molten iron, the alloy known as steel was created. Dispersed carbon atoms disrupt and distort the crystal lattice of the iron which increases the mechanical properties. Subsequent thermomechanical processing such as forging was, and still is, an essential step in assuring the cast structure of the initial ingot is transformed, assuring consistent mechanical properties by dispersing clusters of impurities or alloying elements and crushing voids that would weaken the final product. The hot work of forging also drives the recrystallization of the alloy, producing a “fine grain” microstructure. This maximizes steel toughness and fatigue properties.

304 Stainless Steel Pipe Specification

Available Sizes