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IRON AND STEEL

Overview

PROCESSES

• Agglomeration
  
• Coking
  
• Blast Furnace
  
• Direct Reduction
• Basic Oxygen Furnace
• Electric Arc Furnace
• Heat Treating
• Ladle Metallurgy
• Continuous Casting
• Ingot Casting
• Ladle Preheating
• Secondary Finishing
• Surface Coating
  
  

ALUMINUM

Overview

PROCESSES

• Mining/Primary Processing
  
• Recycle/Scrap Melting
  
• Aluminum Casting
  
• Aluminum Smelting
  
• Anode Baking
  
• Bauxite Mining
  
• Bauxite Refining
  
• Extrusion
  
• Forging
  
• Heat Treating
  
• Molten Handling
  
• Rolling

Preheating of aluminum billets in support of extrusion or other hot forming operations. Courtesy of Despatch Industries.

Casting
Heattreating
Mining/Primary Processing
Recycle/Scrap Melting
Aluminum Casting
Aluminum Smelting
Anode Baking
Bauxite Mining
Bauxite Refining
Extrusion
Forging
Heat Treating
Molten Handling
Rolling

Forging is the process of forming aluminum by impacting and/or squeezing a preheated aluminum blank between two halves of a die. A succession of dies may be needed to achieve the final shape.

Forging provides advantages over casting in that internal microstructure can be oriented to improve strength, and internal defects or porosity are minimized. The aluminum blank is typically heated to 600°F - 900°F, but some cold forging (Cold forging is performed on billets at room temperature. This process involves high die costs and is typically limited to high production volumes.) is also performed in the industry.