Course Outline
1. Overview of the Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel and History of the Industry
The first session provides an overview of the technologies used to produce steel today and the evolution of world steel production. The general chemistry of steel is introduced to help illuminate the principles of iron- and steelmaking. This session ends with a brief history of metals production and an introduction to early iron- and steelmaking processes.
2. Ironmaking and Steelmaking
This session explains the techniques used to produce iron and steel from raw materials, including ores and recycled materials. Processes reviewed include the blast furnace, direct reduction, ferrous scrap production, basic oxygen steelmaking and electric furnace steelmaking. The important gas, slag and metal reactions will be explained, as well as the important impacts of the processes on energy and the environment. The effects of the different processing techniques will be explained, and future iron- and steelmaking developments will be explored.
2. Ironmaking and Steelmaking
This session explains the techniques used to produce iron and steel from raw materials, including ores and recycled materials. Processes reviewed include the blast furnace, direct reduction, ferrous scrap production, basic oxygen steelmaking and electric furnace steelmaking. The important gas, slag and metal reactions will be explained, as well as the important impacts of the processes on energy and the environment. The effects of the different processing techniques will be explained, and future iron- and steelmaking developments will be explored.
3. Ladle Metallurgy, Slags and Refractories
Basic, acid, and neutral slags and refractories will be introduced, along with reasons for using each. The interaction of refractories and slags with metal will be explored, including methods of reducing refractory wear and quality improvements. The use of ladle metallurgy treatment and furnaces will be explained. The principles behind other secondary steelmaking techniques will be explained, including degassers and AOD steelmaking for the production of high-quality steels such as ultralow-carbon and stainless steels. Inclusion formation, modification and removal will be discussed.
4. Solidification of Steel, Casting Defects and Prevention, and Continuous Casting of Steel
The importance of solidification on final product quality will be discussed. The history and evolution of continuous casting processes from billets, blooms, and slabs to near-net-shape processes for thin slabs, strip, beam blanks and wire will be reviewed. The effects of tundish and mold metallurgy on product quality will be explained, along with casting defect causes and methods of prevention.
5. Introduction — Hot Rolled As-Rolled End Products and Product Applications
The various end products of steel manufacturing will be introduced. The requirements and methods to produce these products will be reviewed.
6. Rolling — Incoming Material Defects and the Reheat Process and Steel Deformation
This section will provide an introduction to the theory of rolling and the effects of deformation processing on product quality and properties. The importance of the reheating process and how it affects subsequent rolling and quality will be discussed. Billets and blooms will also be reviewed.
7. Steel — Types and Properties
Characteristics, applications, and mechanical properties of steel alloys and grades will be explored. The effects of different alloying elements on steel manufacturing and final properties will be explained. An introduction of the methods of testing the properties of steel — including tensile, toughness and fatigue testing — will lead into discussions of the importance of melting, casting, rolling and forming on the final mechanical properties. The importance of selecting alloys and processing routes for specific engineering applications to achieve desired properties will be explained.
8. Downstream Processing
Steel finishing techniques, including heat treating and coating, will be reviewed. Basic steel heat treatment concepts of quenching, tempering, case hardening and in-process annealing will be introduced, along with the effects they have on steel microstructure and properties. Surface coating techniques, including galvanizing and other coatings, will be discussed.