Ferrous Metals

Summary:

The basic substance used in ferrous metals such as steel and cast iron (gray and malleable) is iron. It is used in the form of pig iron.Iron is a base metal, meaning that it is an alloying agent in many different metals.

Iron is produced from iron ore that occurs chiefly in nature as an oxide, the two most important oxides being hematite and magnetite. Iron ore is reduced to pig iron in a blast furnace, and the impurities are removed in the form of slag (figure 7-5). Raw materials charged into the furnace include iron ore, coke, and limestone. The pig iron produced is used to manufacture steel or cast iron.

Common ferrous metals include:

stainless steelstungsten carbidecarbon, tool and alloy steel