Category: Metals and Alloys

Copper is one of the metals directly available in the metallic state. It is found in minerals like copper glance malachite and azurite  It is extracted by different methods from ores. Depending on the process by which copper is extracted, they are designated as: Copper has the following properties:

Aluminium is abundantly available in the ore called bauxite. Bauxite is hydrated aluminium oxide. The manufacturing process involves the bauxite first being purified and then dissolving in molten cryolite. From this solution, aluminium is separated by electrolysis at about 900°C. Aluminium has the following properties:

Metals which do not contain any percentage of iron is generally called non-ferrous metals. The important metals that fall under the non-ferrous metal category are discussed below.

To obtain special properties, some elements such as nickel, chromium, manganese, etc., are added to the carbon steel. Steels thus formed are called alloy steels. The addition of alloying elements is effected to attain one or more of the following properties: Alloying materials have the following properties: Some of the alloy steels are discussed below:…

Steel is a very ductile alloy consisting of iron and carbon. Based on the percentage of carbon content, steel is classified as follows: 1. Manufacturing of Steel There are five processes by which steel is manufactured: (i) Bessemer Process A Bessemer convertor (a furnace) is used in this process, which is wide at the bottom…

Cast iron is an alloy of iron and carbon with the content of carbon being more than 2%. In addition, it contains impurities such as manganese, phosphorous, silicon and sulphur. The presence of manganese makes it brittle when it is more than 0.75%. The fluidity of cast iron is increased by the presence of phosphorous.…

It is the oldest form of iron made by man. It was originally produced from iron ore in a huge fire. This gives a very impure iron which needs further refining by mechanical working. Wrought iron contains high-purity iron and iron silicate. It contains a very low percentage of carbon, and the iron silicate is…

The properties of pig iron are as follows:

Three stages are involved in the manufacture of pig iron, viz., Dressing is the process in which the iron ores obtained from mines are crushed into pieces of about 25 cm diameter sizes by rock crushers. If the ores contain impurities like clay, loam and other earthy materials they are removed by washing the ores.…

Pig iron is the basic material from which wrought iron and steel are manufactured. They are extracted from iron ores, viz., magnetite, haematite, limonite and siderite. The percentage of iron content, and their chemical formula are given in Table 11.1. Pig iron is extracted from these ores in a continuous working furnace called the blast…