.

FEATURE

*Dr. Jayanta Kr.

D.G.M (Tech)
Institute of Steel Development & Growth
INSDAG

World's economic growth is contingent upon the

growth of the iron. and steel industry.
Consumption of steel is taken to be an indicator of
economic development. While steel continues to
have a stronghold in traditional sectors such as
construction, housing and transportation, special
steels are increasingly used in engineering
industries
such as power
generation,
petrochemicals and fertilizers. The contemporary
structural steel demands properties such as:
improved toughness at lower temperature, higher
yield strengths for lower cross sectional area of
structure,
higher elongations,
improved
weldability
to reduce construction
time,
improved elevated temperature
properties,
improved fracture toughness, seismic resistance,
improved fatigue resistance.
There is an
increasing end user demand to improve the
seismic, fire resistance, toughness, yield to
tensile ratio consistency and/or weldability in
construction steels. The process metallurgy is the
key technology to produce the microstructural
control
through
on-line
heat treatment
immediately after accelerated cooling during the
Thermo mechanical controlled process.

Applications of value-added high strength low

alloy steels can reduce the overall material and
construction costs for many advanced high
strength structural
and civil engineering
applications. The unique metallurgical attributes
that niobium provides to structural steels create.
the opportunity to successfully meet stringent
mechanical, corrosion and elevated temperature
demands. These structural products are now
specified in a variety of applications and markets.
This trend has continued until now and today we
have many varieties of steel produced by adding
appropriate quantities of alloying elements such
as carbon, manganese, silicon, chromium, nickel
and molybdenum etc to suit the needs of broad
and diverse range of applications.
Classification of Steel
There are broadly two types of steel according to
its composition: carbon steel and alloy steel.
Carbon steel can be divided into three categories
viz low carbon steel, medium carbon steel and
high carbon steel. Alloying steel is produced
using alloying elements like manganese, silicon,
nickel, chromium, etc. The classification of steel
is shown in Figure 1.

Fig: 1Different types of Steel

15

Steel as per Composition: Carbon Steel: Carbon

steel is the steel where main interstitial alloying
constituent is carbon. These steels by definition
do not contain any alloying element in specified
proportions (i.e. beyond those normally present
in commercially produced steel in industry).
Non-alloy steel is divided into three categories
namely Low carbon steel or Mild steel (normally
containing up to 0.3%carbon), Medium carbon
steel (normally containing 0.3 - 0.6% carbon),
High carbon steel (normally containing more
than 0.6% carbon),Non-alloy steel constitutes
approx. 90% of total steel production, of which,
mild steel takes the lion's share.

Alloy Steel: Steel. which is produced

with
intended amount of one or more alloying
elements in specified proportions to impart
specific physical, mechanical, metallurgical and
electrical properties. Common alloying elements
are manganese, silicon, nickel, lead, copper,
chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, niobium,
vanadium etc. Alloy Steel is divided in to three
categories
namely High alloy steel: The
percentage of alloying agent is above lO per cent.
For example like stainless steel. These are high
alloy steel which essentially contains chromium
(normally more than lO.5% with/without nickel
or other alloying elements. As the name implies,
stainless Steel resist staining/corrosion
and
maintains strength at high temperatures. Used
widely in Utensils, architectures and in Industrial
applications, automotive and food processing
products as well as medical and health equipment.

Special Steel: To produce Steel a special care has

to be taken so as to attain the special/desired
properties, such as, cleanliness, surface qualities
and mechanical/ metallurgical properties. In
layman's language, all steel other than mild steel
fall under the category of special steel. But
metallurgical, even mild steel/low carbon steel
i.e. containing less than 0.25 per cent-0.30 per
cent carbon, may still fall under the category of
special steel if any special properties is specified

16

in the steel. Examples are DD / EDDsteel,

Forging Quality steel, Free Cutting steel, Heat
resistant steel etc.
Technology & Steel Making
Improvement of the metallurgical purity of steel
resulted from development of the oxygen-blown
converter in the fifties of the last century and high
capacity electric arc furnaces used earlier for
alloy steels smelting. Smelting of constructional
steels in electric furnaces gains the growing
importance due to ecological reasons. Today's
structural steel demands properties such as:
~ improved toughness at lower temperature
~ higher yield strengths
sectional area of structure

for lower

cross

~ higher elongations
~ .improved weldability to reduce construction
time
~ improved elevated temperature properties
~ improved fracture toughness
~ seismic resistance
~ improved fatigue resistance

Basic oxygen steelmaking: This is one ofthe two

main steelmaking processes. Hot metal from the
blast furnace is converted into steel and scrap and
alloy additions are made. Thru control of the
oxygen lance and furnace stirring to decarburise
and dephosphorise the steel. The steel must be
tapped within the required composition, time and
temperature limits.

Electric arc furnace steelmaking: The electric

arc furnace (EAF) is the second of the two main
steelmaking processes. It is the major production
route for recycling steel scrap, often into higher
quality steel. Base on scrap mixed charge them
into the electric arc furnace where it is melted by
applying a high electric current through three
graphite electrodes. Once melted, the steel is

FEATURE.

refined throughthe injection of carbon and

oxygen, and the addition of various elements and
alloys to achieve the requiredcomposition before
you deliver the molten steel to a ladle.

Secondary steelmaking: Refine liquid steel from

the electric arc or basic oxygen steelmaking
furnace with a ladle of molten steel together with
vacuum degassing, ladlearc furnaces, chemical
re-heating and stirring station facilities. You must
select which ones to use and deliver the liquid
steel to the appropriate continuous caster within
specification, with the required inclusion content,
at the right time and temperature and at minimum
cost.This involves driving the ladle cars and
cranes.

Continuous Casting/Hotrolling: The hot rolling

processes for rolling different products like 1beam for construction applications from a bloom
in a universal beam mill or an ultra-low carbon
steel strip for car body panels
Thermo Mechanical Controlled Processing:In
addition to the traditional hot rolling, controlled
hot rolling, normalising,
quenching
and
tempering, various combinations of hot rolling
practice and controlled cooling have opened new
opportunities to develop high strength steels with
attractive properties. These high performance
steels in addition to high strength have higher
ductility, better fracture toughness, better
weldability, better cold formability and better
corrosion resistance.

QST Steels: Process considerably increases the

yield strength and the toughness of the steel. Due
to much lower carbon equivalent values when
compared with conventional structural steel
grades, the weldability and the ductility of the
steel grades are significantly improved. Over the
years, the application possibilities of hot rolled
beams in QST steel grades evolved so that these
sections have become an integral part of
sophisticated applications such as the American
'strong column-weak beam' concept for high-rise

structures in seismic areas as well as for members

of offshore structures.

Steel Products
Semi-Finished

Steel

Products

(semis):

Intermediate solid steel products obtained by hot

rolling/forging
of ingots (in conventional
process) or by continuous casting of liquid steel
are known as semis. These are called so since they
are intended for further rolling/forging to produce
finished steel products. Various typ~s of semis .
are:

Blooms: Semi-finished

products usually in
square (at times in rectangular) section of cross
sectional size exceeding 5"x5" (l25mm X
125mm) are called blooms. These are inputs for
producing heavy sections and sheet piling section
normally by hot rolling.

Billets: Semi-finished product which are similar

to blooms but of smaller cross sectional size
(usually less than or 5"x5"I7"x7") are called
billets. These are used as input material for
production of finished steel long products viz.
bars & rods, light sections etc.

Slabs: Semi-finished

rectangular, wide, steel

product intended for production of finished hot .
rolled flat products viz plates, sheets, strips etc
are called slabs. They are normally of width 150250mm wherein width is at-least 3 or 4 times of
thickness.

Thin Slabs: In modern thin slab casting machine,

liquid steel is continuously cast into much thinner .
slabs of 35-50mm directly which are used for
production of finished hot rolled flat products
upon heating online.
Fi,!-ished Steel: Products obtained upon hot
rolling/forging
of Semi-finished
steel
(blooms/billets/slabs).These
covers 2 broad
categories of products, namely Long Products
and Flat Products:

Long

Products:

Finished

steel

products

17

produced normally by hot rolling/forging of

bloom/billets/pencil
ingots into useable
shape/sizes. These are normally supplied in
straight length! cut length except wire rods which
are supplied in irregularly wound coils. Different
types oflong products are:
Bars & Rods: Long steel products obtained
normally by hot rolling/forging of billets/blooms
are called bars and rods. They include rounds,
flats (flat bars), squares, hexagons, octagonsetc.
which find direct use in a wide variety of products
in engineering, & agricultural, house hold,
furniture sector etc. with/without
further
processmg.
TMT (Thermo Mechanically Treated) Bars:
Hot rolled round bars/rods with indentations/ribs
normally supplied in straight length or in folded
bundles are used directly in civilconstruction ..
Wire Rod: Hot rolled plain bar/rods (i.e. without
indentation) in coil form, normally used to
produce Steel Wires and at times Steel Bright
Bars. Wires: Wires are produced by cold
drawingof wire rod through a die. They are
normally supplied in coils.
Angles, Shapes & Section: Hot rolled structural
sections obtained by hot rolling of blooms/billets.
They include Angles, Chalmels, Girders, Joist, I
Beams, H Beams etc used in civil/mechanical
construction.
Rails: Hot rolled Rail Sections obtained upon hot
rolling of blooms/billets. Used in rail ways/tram
ways, on which rail/tram moves.
Bright Bars: There are cold drawn! ground/
peeled plain bars produced from hot rolled plain
bars/wire rods.
Flat Products (Flat Rolled Products): Finished
steel & thin flat product are produced from
slabs/thin slabs in rolling mills using flat rolls.
These are supplied in Hot Rolled (HR), Cold

18

Rolled(CR) or in coated condition depending

upon the requirement. Different types of flat
products are:
Plate: Thick flat finished product of width: +500
mm & Thickness: (+) 5 mm which are supplied in
cut/straight length. Plates are normally produced/
supplied in as hot rolled condition with or without
specific heat treatments.
Sheet: Thin flat finished steel products, Width:
+500 mm, Thickness: (-) 5mm, Supplied in
cut/straight length. Sheets are produced/ supplied
in hot rolled /cold rolled/coated condition and
accordingly, known as Hot Rolled (HR) Sheets or
Cold Rolled (CR) Sheets or Coated Sheets.
Strips: Hot/cold/coated Flat rolled products,
supplied in regularly wound coils of super
imposed layers. Accordingly, these are known as
HRStripsor
CR Strips or Coated Strips.
Depending upon width, strips are sub-classified
as Wide Strips: and Narrow Strips.
Engineering Steels
Engineering steels are extensively used in the
automotive, aerospace, railway, oil and gas,
mining, power generation, defence, agriculture,
chemical, construction, general engineering and
manufacturing sectors. Cars, buses, trucks and
off-road vehicles account for over halfthe market
for engineering
steels. Using interactive
exercises and examples, this module explores the
wide range of engineering steels, from plain
carbon steels to high alloy, ultra high strength
steels. In each case the composition and
processingmethods used to ensure the steel is
suitable for its intended application
are
examined. The construction industry is the largest
market ror steel products with wide variety of
types, shapes, properties and applications in
buildings and other major structures. Fabrication
and corrosion, fireprotection methods are also
studied.

FEAT

Plain &Micro Alloyed Steel: The refinement of

ferrite grain in steel can improve strength by 75125 MPa. Further, increase in strength can be
achieved through precipitation
hardening.
Generally Ti, Nb and V are used for grain
refinement and precipitation hardening. These
elements are added upto a maximum of 0.2 wt per
cent, and are known as micro alloying elements.

E410
600
E
450
E650

I
BR

(CE), BR
Max
Mn
0.20
0.44Semi
0.42Semi
1.50
0.20
P
S0.40
0.20
0.41
1.65
0.23
0.045
1.60
0.040
0.045
0.040
1.55
0,045
0,045
0,040
0.45
0.43Semi
0.41Semi
0.44
0.50
0.39
UTS
0.47Semi
killed/killed
0,020
Si
-Killed
0.52Semi
0.50
0.22
0.015
0.025
050
0.55Semi
0.50Semi
1.70
0.54Semi
0.45
.BO
730
650
570
780
BO
mpa410
0.22CQuality
Deoxidation

Controlled rolling and low finishing produce fine

austenite grain size and consequently fine ferrite
grain size, while preserving the precipitation
strengthening. Microalloyed high strength steels
are covered under Indian specification IS 2062
and their properties are given in Table 1.
Composition and yield strength of some of the
commercial grades produced in'India.

Table 1: Chemical & Mechanical

Ladle Analvsis, Percent, Max

Mode of

Properties
".

425
440
490

540

C
A

19

High Tensile Structural Steels: There has been

steady progress in the development of structural
steel. Steel processing has undergone significant
improvement.Selection
of correct steel is
important and should be based on the following
factors:Strength, Brittleness, Resistance against
corrosion, Weldability,
Resistance
against
fatigue,
Fire resistance,
Earthquake
Resistance.Structural steels can be divided into
low strength, medium strength and high strength
category. The medium strength members are
usually more widely used because they generally
combine desired strength, ease of manufacture
and economy.
Fire Resistance
Steel: This steel offers
remarkably improved yield stress at elevated
temperatures due to appropriate addition of
alloying elements such as Cr, Mo and Nb and
proper heat treatment. Thus it enhances solid
solution treatment of the alloying elements lead
to precipitation and dispersion of carbon nitrides.
Major features of fire resistant steel are: yield
point of ordinary steels i.e. allowable stress for
sustained load at elevated temperatures of around
350C falls to 2/3fd of the specified room
,temperature
yield strength. Due to this,
fireproofing specification in the case of steel
structures provide fire protection that will keep
the temperature of the steel below 350C.Fireresistant steel guarantees that the yield strength of
elevated temperatures will maintain allowable
stress for sustained loads upto 600C.
High Performance Steel: Anew grade of highperformance
structural steel, commercially
available for highway bridge construction
possesses superior weldability, toughness and
corrosion resistance compared to conventional
steels of same strength range (A 709-485W steel )
High-performance steel (HPS) can be defined as
having an optimized balance of strength,
weldability, toughness,
ductility, corrosion
resistance, and formability and these properties

20

to give maximum performance

in bridge
structures while remaining cost-effective.
Corrosion Resistance Steel: An important issue
related to steel structure is the need to avoid or
reduce corrosion. The recurring cost of corrosion
in any country is enormous. It is not only having
direct and indirect financial burden but has
considerable social impact. However, between 25 .
and 50% of the economic impact could be
prevented by the use of well'-accepted material
and selection of right corrosion prevention
measures. Material can often be selected that can
withstand even highly aggressive conditions. In
general corrosion protection is achieved by the .
presence of a surface film or oxide that has very
limited solubility in the environment. The
material choices have to be based on the specific
environment under consideration.
Earthquake Resistance Steel: Loading during an
earthquake is quasi-static in nature and therefore,
the steel must be designed in a way such that it can
withstand the forces generated during an
earthquake. The design criteria changes as per the .
extent of force generated. In general, earthquake
resistant steel should meet the following
criteria:High Yield Strength, Low Variation in
Yield Strength, Low YS/ UTS Ratio, High Yield
Point Elongation,
Good Plastic Energy
Absorption
Capacity
Under
Dynamic
Loading.Extensive
research work has been
carried out to produce steels with abovementioned attributes. Japanese Standard has
ma.de it mandatory to use Earthquake Resistant
Steel in a civil structure.
Reinforcement Bars: Plain concrete is strong in
compression and very weak in tension. Concrete
structural members must bear tension and this is
resisted by the use of steel reinforcing bars.
These bars when embodied in the concrete in
proper position in required quantity and quality
can resist the said tension effectively and

10
.0

efficiently. TMT bars are supplied in the form of

plane carbon steel with a yield strength ofF e 415
tohigh strength Fe 500/600 including ductile &
seismic. Table 2 extract from IS 1786:2008 is
indicating the same. Ductility has been
enhanced drastically with the introduction of
Thermo-mechanical
Treatment
(TMT)
technology. Now, minimum elongation value up
to 20% (for Grade 500) and 22% (Grade 415) are
offered.The cold twisted steel bars empl~y work
hardening as the strengthening mechanism.

They became quite popular for sometime but its

use is now on decline due to presence of higher
residual stresses, loss of strength on welding and
higher impact transition temperature.Due to the
above reasons cold twisted bars have been
largely replaced by controlled cooled high
. strength reinforcing bars (TMT bars). These are
having an outer layer of tempered martensite
with an inner core of ferrite and pearlite or a
mixed microstructure which include some
bainite .

. Table 2: Mechanical Properties of Reinforcement Bars

;;. . ;;.
810.0
18.0
10.0
1.08
1.25
1.06
16.0
14.5
12.0
1.10 ;;.
Fe
600
625.0
0.2 % proclf stress/yield
;;. 1.25
stress, Max. N/mm2
TSIYS
% Elongation
Total elongation at
maximum force

55

Fe 55()D

;;. 1.12
14.5

18.0
5

Stainless Steel: In an iron-chromium alloy, when

chromium content is increased to about 11%, the
resulting material is generally classified as a
stainless steel. This is because at this minimum
level of chromium, a thin protective passive film
forms spontaneously on steel, which acts as a
barrier to protect the steel from corrosion. On
further increase in chromium content, the passive
film is strengthened and achieves the ability to
repair itself, if it gets damaged in the corrosive
environment. 'Ni' addition in stainless steel
improves corrosion resistance in reducing
environments such as sulphuric acid. It also
changes the crystal structure, thereby improving
its ductility, toughness and weldability. Mo
increases pitting and crevice corrosion in
chloride environments.
Stainless steel is
attractive to the architects despite its high cost, as
it provides a combined effect of aesthetics,
strength and durability.

Conclusion
The write up briefly attempts to describe
technologies developed, implemented and in
vogue today. But iron and steel industry is faced
with challenges of newer order. Issues of global
sustenance has cast deep red eyes on present day
iron and steel technology - problems related to
carbon footprint, emissions at different stages,
energy efficiency are demanding paradigm shift
in conception of technology for this industry.
Carbon free technology, Carbon sequestration
solution, Gasified fuel technology, Microwave to
Terra Hertz technology are being talked about.
Leading steel producers are committed to value
steel as a major foundation of sustainable world.
Hence practice professionals
have greater
responsibly to use best suited materials for
construction practices.

21

References
1. Introduction

to Modern

Iron Making

by

Dr.R.H. Tupkary.
2. The making, shaping and treating of steel by
PAEnde,H.V and G.Vogt,AISI Steel

3. Teaching Resource Material,

publication (INS/PUB 51)

4. BIS Standards: IS 2062: 2008 & IS 11587

5. INSDAG Publications:
6. www.steel.keytometals.comason

The report lends a detailed insight into the Indian Sponge Iron
Industry, based on field level survey by Joint Plant Committee (JPC)
and features:

.:. Detailed analysis ofthe status and performance ofthe industry

.:. Articles from industry experts on varied issues facing the
industry
.:.

Statistical Tables on key areas of performance, operation and

facilities

.:. Directory listing of leading producers in the country

22

INSDAG

11/09/11