what's the differece between many types of steel ?
what's the difference between many types of steel ?
Carbon steel This is the most widely used kind of steel. Its carbon content is under 2 percent and is usually less than 1 percent. It often also contains a little manganese.
Stainless Steel. This is the most corrosion-resistant kind of steel. It normally contains at least 12 percent (and sometimes up to 30 percent) chromium, and it usually also contains nickel. A very popular stainless steel formulation is 18-8, 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.
These contain a little carbon, and sometimes silicon, but they mainly contain added metals, such as manganese (hardness), nickel (strength), molybdenum (improved wear), tungsten (high temperature strength), chromium (corrosion resistance), and vanadium (toughness).
This steel is coated with zinc to protect against corrosion. The coating is usually done by a hot dip process.
Electroplated Steel. This steel has a coating of another metal, usually tin, applied by the use of an electric current. Tin-plated steel is widely used for making cans and other containers.
This is very hard steel made by tempering (heating to a very high temperature and then quickly cooling).
Damascus Steel. This was a very high quality ancient steel with a beautiful wavy surface pattern used in making sword blades. It seems to have come mainly from India.
Wootz Steel. This was actually a European mispronunciation of ukku, the very fine steel made in ancient India that they called "wook." (It is probably the same material as Damascus steel.)
Steel plants vary widely in size. Some large integrated plants include coke ovens, blast furnaces, several kinds of steelmaking furnaces, and various mills for rolling the steel into sheets or slabs. Some companies dig their own ore and run their own coal mines and limestone quarries, and some even operate their own railroads and barges. Other steel plants consist of a single electric furnace for melting scrap with a small mill for turning the melted steel into bars. These scrap recycling plants are known as "Minimills," and they now account for about half of steel production in the United States. There were about 160 steel plants operating in the United States in 2003, and most of them were minimills