Français
1. Iron alloys: steels and cast irons
1.1 Advantages of iron
Iron and its alloys occupy a major place in industrial materials, with world production of around 750 million tonnes, while other metals combined account for only around 40 million tonnes. Iron is widely available, and its price per unit mass, like that of ordinary steels, is the lowest of all metals. Moreover, steel recycling is highly organized: in France, around 8 million tonnes of recovered scrap were reused, out of a total crude steel production of 17 million tonnes (1996).
the word steel comes from the Latin acies: point, cutting edge; siderurgy from the Latin sidus: star, due to the discovery of meteoritic iron, probably the first iron used by man (this usual explanation is controversial);...
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Mechanical functions and components
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Iron alloys: steels and cast irons
Aluminum alloys
