A
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y | Z
AGGLOMERATING PROCESSES Fine particles of limestone (flux) and iron ore are difficult to handle and transport because of dusting and decomposition, so the powdery material usually is processed into larger pieces. The raw material's properties determine the technique that is used by mills.SINTER Baked particles that stick together in roughly one-inch chunks. Normally used for iron ore dust collected from the blast furnaces.PELLETS Iron ore or limestone particles are rolled into little balls in a balling drum and hardened by heat.BRIQUETTES Small lumps are formed by pressing material together. Hot Iron Briquetting (HBI) is a concentrated iron ore substitute for scrap for use in electric furnaces.
AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute) An association of North American companies that mine iron ore and produce steel products. There are 50 member companies and more than 100 associate members, which include customers that distribute, process, or consume steel. The AISI has reorganized into a North American steel trade association, representing the interests of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
ALLOY STEEL iron-based mixture is considered to be an alloy steel when manganese is greater than 1.65%, silicon over 0.5%, copper above 0.6%, or other minimum quantities of alloying elements such as chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, or tungsten are present. An enormous variety of distinct properties can be created for the steel by substituting these elements in the recipe to increase hardness, strength, or chemical resistance. (see STEEL)
ALLOY SURCHARGE The addition to the producer's selling price included in order to offset raw material cost increases caused by higher alloy prices.
ALUMINUM Chemical symbol Al. Silvery white metal; ductile with tensile strength and malleable; resistant to corrosion, but can be attacked by acids and alkalies; good conductor of electricity. Lightweight, strong metal produced from alumina, which is processed from bauxite ore. Commercial use is only 100 years old, yet the metal is second only to steel in tonnage consumed annually. Used extensively in articles requiring lightness, corrosion resistance, or electrical conductivity. Metal is used to make transportation, packaging, building, electrical, and consumer durable products.
ANNEALING A heat or thermal treatment process by which a previously cold-rolled coil of metal is made more suitable for forming and bending. The sheet is heated to a designated temperature for a sufficient amount of time and then cooled either in batches or in a continuous annealing process.The bonds between the grains of the metal are stretched when a coil is cold rolled, leaving the steel brittle and breakable. Annealing "recrystallizes" the grain structure of steel by allowing for new bonds to be formed at the high temperature. There are two ways to anneal cold-rolled steel coils batch and continuous. (1) BATCH (BOX). Three to four coils are stacked on top of each other, and a cover is placed on top. For up to three days, the steel is heated in a non-oxygen atmosphere (so it will not rust) and slowly cooled.(2) CONTINUOUS. Normally part of a coating line, the steel is uncoiled and run through a series of vertical loops within a heater: The temperature and cooling rates are controlled to obtain the desired mechanical.
ANODIZED
(AND PAINTED) ALUMINUM		 Aluminum coated with a thin film of oxide (applied by anodic treatment) resulting in a surface with extreme hardness. A wide variety of dye-colored coatings are made possible by impregnation in the anodizing process.
ANTIMONY Chemical symbol Sb. Silvery white and lustrous, it exhibits poor heat and electrical conductivity. It is used primarily in compounds such as antimony trioxide for flame-retardants. Other applications include storage battery components (lead-antimony), ceramics, glass, friction bearings, ammunition, cable sheaths and tank linings. It also is used as an alloying agent in metal castings.
AUTO STAMPING PLANT A facility that presses a steel blank into the desired form of a car door or hood, for example, with a powerful die (pattern). The steel used must be ductile (malleable) enough to bend into shape without breaking.
B
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
BAKE HARDENABLE STEEL A cold-rolled, low-carbon sheet steel used for automotive body panel applications. Because of the steel's special processing, it has good stamping and strength characteristics, and, after paint is baked on, improved dent resistance.
BARS A relatively long, straight, rigid piece of metal; long steel products rolled from billets into such shapes as squares, rectangles, rounds, angles, channels, hexagons, and tees. In steel, "merchant bars" include rounds, flats, angles, squares, and channels that are used by fabricators to manufacture a wide variety of products such as furniture, stair railings, and farm equipment. Concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) is used to strengthen concrete in highways, bridges, and buildings.
BASIC OXYGEN FURNACE (BOF) A pear-shaped furnace, lined with refractory bricks, that refines molten iron from the blast furnace and scrap into steel. Up to 30% of the charge into the BOF can be scrap, with hot metal accounting for the rest. BOFs, which can refine a heat (batch) of steel in less than 45 minutes, replaced open-hearth furnaces in the 1950s; the latter required five to six hours to process the metal. The BOF's rapid operation, lower cost and ease of control give it a distinct advantage over previous methods. Scrap is dumped into the furnace vessel, followed by the hot metal from the blast furnace. A lance is lowered from above, through which blows a high-pressure stream of oxygen to cause chemical reactions that separate impurities as fumes or slag. Once refined, the liquid steel and slag are poured into separate containers.
BEAM A squared-off long, oblong piece of metal (usually steel) used in construction. Commonly referred to as T-bars, I-beams, H-beams.
BERYLLIUM Chemical symbol Be. A gray metal found in beryl and bertrandite ores; brittle, but tough; lighter than all metals except magnesium and lithium. Used as unalloyed metal in nuclear reactors and weapons, and as an alloy with copper for electronic, aerospace, and automotive applications. Beryllium-copper is an alloy of copper and beryllium (about 3%) with fractional amounts of nickel or cobalt. These alloys have remarkable age-hardening properties, are extremely hard, and have good electrical conductivity, so they are used extensively in electrical switches and springs.
BILLET Rectangular semi-finished steel form (hot rolled from ingot or sheared from continuous caster's output) destined for further processing into rod, bar, structural, or tubing product. A billet is different from a slab because of its outer dimensions; billets are normally two to seven inches square, while slabs are 30-80 inches wide and 2-10 inches thick. Both shapes are generally continually cast, but they may differ greatly in their chemistry.
BISMUTH Chemical symbol Bi. A soft, course crystalline heavy metal with a silvery white color and pinkish tinge; usually produced as a by-product of copper, lead and other metals. Has a thermal conductivity lower than all other metals except mercury. Used as alloying agent but leading use is in pharmaceuticals.
BLACK PLATE A lightweight, thin, uncoated cold-reduced steel strip or sheet 12-to-32 inches wide with a dark oxide coloring prior to pickling that serves as the substrate (raw material) to be coated in the tin mill. Black plate ranges in thickness up to 275 lbs (base box weight). It is sold uncoated, enameled, painted, tin-coated, or terne-coated.
BLANKING An early step in preparing flat-rolled metal for use by an end user. A blank is a section of sheet that has the same outer dimensions as a specified part to be stamped. Metal processors may offer blanking for their customers to reduce their labor and transportation costs as excess metal can be trimmed prior to shipment. (see STAMPING)
BLOOM Nearly square semi-finished steel product (hot rolled from ingot or sheared from continuous caster's output) whose cross-section is more than eight inches. Destined for further processing into rod, bar, or tubing product, but most commonly for such structural products as I-beams, H-beams, and sheet piling.
BLAST FURNACE A towering cylinder lined with heat-resistant (refractory) bricks, used by integrated steel mills to smelt iron from its ore. Its name comes from the "blast" of hot air and gases forced up through the iron ore, coke and limestone that load the furnace.
BRASS An alloy that is 70% copper, 30% zinc. One of the most widely used of the copper-zinc alloys; malleable and ductile; excellent cold-working but poor hot-working and machining properties; excellent for soft-soldering; good for silver alloy brazing or oxyacetylene welding, but fair for resistance or carbon-arc welding. Used for drawn cartridges, tubes, eyelet machine items, and snap fasteners.
BRONZE An alloy containing 90% copper and 10% tin. Used for screws, wire, hardware, wear plates, bushings, and springs; it is somewhat stronger than copper and brass, and has equal or better ductility.
BURR The very subtle ridge on the edge of strip steel left by cutting operations such as slitting, trimming, shearing, or blanking. For example, as a steel processor trims the sides of the sheet steel parallel or cuts a sheet of steel into strips, its edges will bend with the direction of the cut.
BUTT-WELD PIPE The standard steel pipe used in plumbing. Heated skelp is passed continuously through welding rolls, which form the tube and squeeze the hot edges together to make a solid weld.
C
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
CADMIUM Chemical symbol Cd. Cadmium is produced primarily as a by-product of zinc refining, but also is recovered during the beneficiation and refining of some lead ores and complex copper-zinc ores. Cadmium is bluish-white soft metal that can be cut with a knife. The principal use of cadmium, which was discovered in Germany in 1817, has been in nickel-cadmium batteries for personal, portable communications, electronic and electrical equipment. Other applications include pigments, coatings and plating, stabilizers for plastics and similar synthetics, alloys, lasers, and solar cells.
CARBON STEEL Ordinary steel made by melting iron or ferrous scrap with carbon, manganese, sulfur, silicon, and phosphorous (see STEEL).
CASING The structural steel retainer for the walls of oil and gas wells, and accounts for 75% (by weight) of the shipments of all oil country tubular goods (see OCTG). Casing is used to prevent contamination of both the surrounding water table and the well itself. Casing lasts the life of a well and is not usually removed when a well is closed.
CASTING The forming of molten metal into a particular shape by pouring the molten material into a precisely shaped mold or die. There are several casting processes used in making iron and steel shapes (green sand, dry sand, shell mold, core mold, permanent mold, ceramic mold, expandable pattern, centrifugal, continuous and die casting) with the die casting process the most popular method of casting non-ferrous metals (primarily zinc, aluminum, and magnesium and less often copper, tin, and lead).
CATHODE Primary non-ferrous metal casting to be rolled or forged into other shapes; usually copper or nickel.
CESIUM Chemical symbol Cs. A silvery-white metal refined from pollucite ore, usually as a co-product in the processing of titanium, beryllium, or lithium minerals. Cesium ignites when exposed to air; has a 28.5-degree F melting point; used in making specialized energy converters and electric power generators.
CHROMIUM Chemical symbol CR. An alloying element that is the essential raw material for conferring corrosion resistance in stainless steel. A film that naturally forms on the surface of chromium-bearing stainless steel self-repairs in the presence of oxygen if the steel is damaged mechanically or chemically; thus, preventing corrosion.
CLADDING The method of bonding one metal atop another metal; this increases corrosion resistance for steel, galvanic protection for aluminum, electrical conductivity for copper, etc.
COATED METALS Sheet and strip steel or aluminum, usually in coil form, which has been covered on one or both sides with paint, enamel, adhesive, anti-corrosive coatings, and/or laminates.
COBALT Chemical symbol Co. Gray magnetic metal of medium hardness with good corrosion resistance. Used as matrix metal in most cemented carbides. Principal function is for alloying in tool steels or superalloys because of its ability to harden ferrite (iron).
COBALT-BASED SUPERALLOYS Eight specific alloys of at least 50% cobalt blended with traces of such other metals as iron, nickel, chrome, titanium, tungsten, carbon, zirconium, and/or tantalum; used in high-temperature, high-strength, anti-corrosion applications (such as aircraft gas turbines and jet engine components).
COIL Sheet metal rolled from slab or ingot that, then, has been wound. Once rolled in a hot-strip mill, a steel coil is more than one-quarter mile long. Coils are the most efficient way to store and transport sheet metal.
COKE The basic fuel consumed in blast furnaces in the smelting of iron. Coke is a processed form of coal. About 1,000 pounds of coke are needed to process a ton of pig iron, an amount which represents more than 50% of an integrated steel mill's total energy use.Metallurgical coal burns sporadically and reduces into a sticky mass. Processed coke, however, burns steadily inside and out, and is not crushed by the weight of the iron ore in the blast furnace. Inside the narrow confines of the coke oven, coal is heated without oxygen for 18 hours to drive off gases and impurities.
COLD-REDUCING (COLD-ROLLING) Rolling of cooled metal sheet (or other form which previously has been hot-rolled) to make the steel thinner, smoother, and stronger, by applying pressure. A cold-reduction sheet mill, for example, will roll-press a sheet of metal from one-quarter inch thick into less than an eighth of an inch, while more than doubling its length.
COLD-ROLLED SHEET (AND STRIP) Sheet of steel, aluminum, copper, or alloy that has passed a cold-reduction mill to give a relatively smooth appearance. Strip has a final product width of approximately 12 inches, while sheet may be more than 80 inches wide. Cold-rolled sheet is considerably thinner and stronger than hot-rolled sheet, so it will sell for a premium.
COLD-FINISHED STEEL BARS Hot-rolled carbon steel bars after secondary cold-reduction processing with better surface quality and strength.
COLD-WORKING Rolling, hammering, or stretching metal at a low temperature (often room temperature) to create a permanent increase in the hardness and strength by making changes in the metallurgical structure and shape of the metal.
COLUMBIUM Chemical symbol Co. Refractory metal used as an alloying agent in steel making; essential for high-strength, low-alloy grades. Has some "worked metal" applications, mostly alloyed with zirconium or titanium for aerospace applications. Called Niobium (Nb) everywhere but the U.S.
CONTINUOUS CASTING A method of pouring steel directly from the furnace into a billet, bloom, or slab directly from its molten form. Continuous casting avoids the need for large, expensive mills for rolling ingots into slabs. Continuous cast slabs also solidify in a few minutes versus several hours for an ingot. Because of this, the chemical composition and mechanical properties are more uniform.Steel from the BOF or electric furnace is poured into a tundish (a shallow vessel that looks like a bathtub) atop the continuous caster. As steel carefully flows from the tundish down into the water-cooled copper mold of the caster, it solidifies into a ribbon of red-hot steel. At the bottom of the caster, torches cut the continuously flowing steel to form slabs or blooms..
CONTRACT SALES Steel products committed to customers through price agreements extending 3-12 months. About one-half of all flat-rolled steel is sold on this basis, primarily because the auto companies sign agreements to cover at least one year's model. Price increases that the steel mills might announce during the year do not generally affect the revenues from the contract side of the business.
CONVERSION COST Resources spent to process material in a single stage, from one type to another. The costs of converting iron ore to hot metal or pickling hot-rolled coil can be isolated for analysis.font>
COPPER Chemical symbol Cu. A characteristically reddish metal of bright luster; highly malleable and ductile; high heat conductivity; an excellent conductor of electricity and is celebrated for its corrosion resistance. Copper is believed to have been discovered around 8,000 B.C. near the site of a village in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. Deposits in Egypt were worked as early as 5,000 B.C. The word copper is derived from "Cyprus," and substantial quantities of the metal were mined on that Mediterranean island. Used in the pure state or alloyed by other elements to make brasses and bronzes consumed in building construction, electric and electronic products, industrial machinery, transportation equipment, and numerous consumer and general products. Copper also is alloy with other metals as nickel (creating cupro-nickel) and beryllium.
CORROSION The gradual degradation or alteration of steel caused by atmosphere, moisture, or other agents.
CULVERT PIPE Heavy gauge, galvanized steel that is spiral-formed or riveted into corrugated pipe, which is used for highway drainage applications.
CUTTING-TO-LENGTH (LENGTH-CUTTING) Uncoil sections of flat-rolled metal, and then cutting them into a desired length. Product that is cut to length is normally shipped flat-stacked.
D
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
DEBURRING Removal of the very subtle ridge on the edge of strip metal left by such cutting operations as slitting, trimming, shearing, or blanking. (see EDGE-ROLLING)
DIE CASTING The principal process for casting near-net shapes of such non-ferrous metals as zinc, aluminum, and zinc-aluminum alloy (see CASTING).
DIRECT REDUCED IRON (DRI) Processed iron ore that is iron-rich enough to be used as a scrap substitute in electric furnace steelmaking. As mini-mills expand their product abilities to sheet steel, they require much higher grades of scrap to approach integrated mill quality.Enabling the mini-mills to use iron ore without the blast furnace, DRI can serve as a low residual raw material and alleviate the mini-mills' dependence on cleaner, higher-priced scrap.The impurities in the crushed iron ore are driven off through the use of massive amounts of natural gas. While the result is 97% pure iron (compared with blast furnace hot metal, which, because it is saturated with carbon, is only 93% iron), DRI is only economically feasible in regions where natural gas is attractively priced.
DISTRUBUTOR (see SERVICE CENTER)
DRAWN-OVER-MANDREL A procedure for producing specialty DOM tubing using a drawbench to pull tubing through a die and over a mandrel, giving excellent control over the inside diameter and wall thickness. Advantages of this technique are its inside and outside surface quality and gauge tolerance. Major markets include automotive applications and hydraulic cylinders.
DRILL PIPE Pipe used in the drilling of an oil or gas well. Drill pipe is the conduit between the wellhead motor and the drill bit. Drilling mud is pumped down the center of the pipe during drilling, to lubricate the drill bit and transmit the drilled core to the surface. Because of the high stress, torque and temperature associated with well drilling, drill pipe is a seamless product.
DUCTILITY Ability of steel to undergo permanent changes in shape without fracture at room temperature.
E
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
EDGE-CONDITIONING (EDGE-ROLLING) Rolling a strip of metal to smooth the edges. By removing the burr off the coil, it is safer for users to manipulate during transport, storage, and processing. (see DEBURRING)
ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE (EAF) Steelmaking furnace where scrap is generally 100% of the charge. Heat is supplied from electricity that arcs from the graphite electrodes to the metal bath. Furnaces may be either an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). DC units consume less energy and fewer electrodes, but they are more expensive.
ELECTRIC-RESISTANCE WELDED PIPE ERW pipe is made from strips of hot-rolled steel which are passed through forming rolls and welded. While seamless pipe is traditionally stronger and more expensive than ERW pipe, ERW technology is improving and the technique now accounts for approximately 48% of annual tonnage shipments of oil country tubular goods (see OCTG).
ELECTRICAL STEEL (See SILICON ELECTRICAL STEEL)
ELECTROPLATING A batch process used to produce a zinc coating on manufactured articles. These may be functional (for corrosion protection) or decorative coatings. Electric current is used to force the deposition of negatively charged zinc ions from an acid solution onto the positively charged cathode, which is the article to be coated. Produces thin coatings generally less than 10 um (0.4 mils) thick.
ELECTROGALVANIZED Electrolytic-deposition zinc-plating process whereby the molecules on the positively charged zinc anode attach to the negatively charged steel (usually in sheet form). The thickness of the zinc coating is readily controlled; by increasing the electric charge or slowing the speed of the steel through the plating area, the coating will thicken on the metal substrate.
EMBOSSED ALUMINUM Flat-rolled aluminum with a surface appearance that has a stucco or grained look.
EXPANDED METAL A rigid, non-raveling metal sheet or plate of carbon or stainless steel, aluminum, and a variety of alloys of copper, nickel, silver, and titanium that has been slit and expanded (drawn) into an open mesh pattern that is stronger, lighter in weight, and more rigid than the original material.
EXTRUSION A shaped piece of metal (typically nonferrous), produced by forcing the bloom, bar, or rod through a die of appropriate shape.
F
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
FABRICATOR A producer of intermediate products that does not also produce primary metal. For example, a rebar (see Reinforcing Bar) fabricator purchases rebar and processes the material to the specifications of a particular construction project.
FERROALLOY A metal product commonly used as a raw material feed in steelmaking, usually containing iron and other metals, to aid various stages of the steelmaking process such as deoxidation, desulfurization, and adding strength. Examples: ferrochrome, ferromanganese, and ferrosilicon.
FERROUS Related to iron; derived from the Latin, ferrum. Ferrous metals are, therefore, iron-based metals.
FLAT-ROLLED STEEL Category of steel that includes Sheet, Strip, and Tin Plate, among others.
FLOOR PLATE Usually carbon (but also alloy and stainless) steel plate rolled with raised lug patterns to provide traction for feet and wheels; as the name suggests, used widely for flooring.
FOB PRICING FREIGHT ON BOARD PRICING. Phrase that explains whether the transportation costs of the steel are included. "FOB Mill" is the price of steel at the mill, not including shipping. FREIGHT EQUALIZATION. A common industry practice when a mill sells steel outside its geographic area; it will assume any extra shipping costs (relative to the competition) to quote the customer an equivalent price to get the business. .
FOIL Metal in any width but no more than about 0.005-inch thick.
FORGING The working of metal to some predetermined shape by hammering, upsetting, pressing, or rolling (or a combination of these processes); the metal can be hot or cold. The most common metals forged include carbon, alloy and stainless steels; very hard tool steels; aluminum; titanium; brass and copper; and high-temperature alloys containing cobalt, nickel, or molybdenum. There are four principal types of commercial forgings: drop forgings, where the shape has been formed by repeated blows by a hammer onto a bar or bullet placed between a pair of dies; upset forgings, where the cross-sectional area is increased while the thickness is decreased; roll forgings, whereby the shaping is done by two rotating rolls; and press forgings, where hydraulic pressure deforms the metal.
G
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
GALFAN Steel sheet coating that is an alloy of zinc, aluminum, and mischmetal.
GALLIUM Chemical symbol Ga. Bluish-white metal (silvery-white metal at high purity) recovered from bauxite and zinc processing. Used to make semiconductors, laser diodes, light-emitting diodes, integrated circuits, photodetectors, solar cells, and other optoelectronic devices
GALVALUME Steel sheet with a unique coating of 55% aluminum and 45% zinc that resists corrosion. The coating is applied in a continuous hot-dipped process. The product is a registered trademark of BHP Steel of Australia.
GALVANIZED Metal (usually steel) coated with a thin layer of zinc to provide corrosion resistance; i.e, rustproofing. Galvanizing methods are (1) "hot-dipped galvanizing", which consists of passing the continuous length of sheet, wire, rod, or shape through a molten bath, followed by an air stream "wipe" that controls the thickness of the zinc finish; and (2) "electro-galvanizing", which continuously zinc-coats an uncoiled sheet or unwound wire or rod electrolytically. Galvanized sheet also is known in the market as "coated sheet".
GAUGE The thickness of sheet steel. Better-quality steel has a consistent gauge to prevent weak spots or deformation.
GALVANNEALED Steel sheet covered with zinc on both sides and immediately heat-treated so thercoating becomes a zinc-iron alloy bonded to the surface.
GERMANIUM Chemical symbol Ge. A rare, grayish-white metal chemically similar to tin; obtained from processing copper and zinc. Used in the production of infrared glasses, fiber optics, electronic detectors, and semiconductors.
GOLD Chemical symbol Au. The heraldic metal. A rare yellow mineral that is the most malleable and pliable of all metals. Gold does not tarnish or corrode, and is unaffected by exposure to air or water.
H
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
HARDENED Metal processed by heat or cold-worked to resist cutting, abrasion, penetration, bending, and stretching.
HEAT TREATMENT Altering the properties of steel by subjecting it to a series of temperature changes. To increase the hardness, strength, or ductility of steel so that it is suitable for additional applications. The steel is heated and then cooled as necessary to provide changes in the structural form that will impart the desired characteristics. The time spent at each temperature and the rates of cooling have significant impact on the effect of the treatment.
HEAVY STRUCTURAL SHAPES A general term given to rolled flanged sections that have at least one dimension of their cross sections three inches or greater. The category includes beams, channels, tees, and zees if the depth dimension is three inches or greater, and angles if the length of the leg is three inches or greater.
HIGH-CARBON STEEL Steel with more than 0.3% carbon. The more carbon that is dissolved in the iron, the less formable and the tougher the steel becomes. High-carbon steel's hardness makes it suitable for plow blades, shovels, bedsprings, cutting edges, or other high-wear applications.
HIGH-STRENGTH/LOW-ALLOY STEEL Steel containing a total of less than 5% of such hardening or strengthening alloys of nickel, chromium, silicon, manganese, tungsten molybdenum, and vanadium.
HOLLOW STRUCTURAL SECTIONS Known in the market at HSS, this is high-strength, cold-formed, electric-welded structural tubing welded steel tubing used as structural elements in a broad range of construction and architectural applications, structural components for vehicles, and industrial machinery, buildings and other structures, and a variety of manufactured products. It is produced in round, square and rectangular shapes and a broad range of sizes.
Structural tubing's basic advantages lie in its high strength-to-weight ratio, attractive appearance and cost-effectiveness
HYDROFORMING A forming process in which a tube is placed into a forming die. The tube is then formed to the shape of the die through the application of internal water pressure.The hydroforming process allows for severe shape deformation, making it ideal for automotive structural parts such as engine cradles, radiator supports and body rails. Various shaped and sized holes can be punched in the tube almost anywhere during the process.
HOT BAND A coil of steel rolled on a hot-strip mill (aka, hot-rolled sheet).II-BEAM-Structural section on which the flanges are tapered and are typically not as long as the flanges on wide-flange beams. The flanges are thicker at the cross sections and thinner at the toes of the flanges. They are produced with depths of 3-24 inches.
I
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
I-BEAMS Structural sections on which the flanges are tapered and are typically not as long as the flanges on wide-flange beams. The flanges are thicker at the cross sections and thinner at the toes of the flanges. They are produced with depths of 3-24 inches.
INDIUM Chemical symbol In. Grayish-white minor metal obtained by treating smelter flue dusts and slags or other residues of base metal concentrates. Capable of marking paper (just as lead does), indium is used in low-melting alloys, solders, electrical contact coatings, infrared detectors, nuclear reactor control rods, and various electronic components.
INTERGRATED MILLS These facilities make steel by processing iron ore and other raw materials in blast furnaces. Technically, only the hot end differentiates integrated mills from mini-mills. However, the differing technological approaches to molten steel imply different scale efficiencies and, therefore, separate management styles, labor relations and product markets. Nearly all domestic integrated mills specialize in flat-rolled steel or plate.
INGOT A form of semi-finished metal (created by pouring liquid metal into molds for solidification during cooling). Ingot then is rolled or forged into other shapes. Note that steel ingots weight as much as 30 tons.
IRIDIUM Chemical symbol Ir. A yellowish mineral with the most corrosion resistance of any metal known (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
IRON A magnetic, silver-white metal of high tensile strength, ductility and malleability. Principal commercial forms are steel, cast iron, or wrought iron.
IRON-BASED SUPERALLOYS Also known as "super chrome steels," these metals are at the highest end of the range of high-temperature, high-strength steels. Besides chrome, other additives can be nickel, titanium,manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, silicon, and carbon
L
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
LEAD Chemical symbol Pb. Very soft, bluish-white metal; highly malleable and ductile; poor conductor of electricity, but good noise-dampening material; resistant to corrosion and radiation. Obtained from galena ore. Major end use is storage batteries, which accounts for 60% of world lead consumption. Also used ammunition, but has declining use in paints, plumbing equipment, and cable coverings because of its toxicity. Metal also used to dampen noise, in containers for corrosive liquids, and as radiation shields for x-rays and nuclear reactors.
LEVELING A process to flatten shape deficiencies (wavy edges and buckles) in the metal sheet prior to final shipment. Most metal sheet initially has a crowned cross-section that is flattened by leveling.
LIGHT-GAUGE STEEL Very thin steel sheet that has been temper-rolled or passed through a cold-reduction mill. Light gauge steel normally is plated with tin or chrome for use in food containers.
LONG PRODUCTS Classification of steel products that includes bar, rod and structural products, that are "long", rather than "flat".
LINE PIPE Steel pipe used in the surface transmission of oil, natural gas, and other fluids.
LONG TERNE A term applied to steel sheets that have been coated with terne (lead and tin) by immersion in a bath of the lead-tin alloy.
LOW-CARBON STEEL Steel with less than 0.005% carbon is more ductile (malleable); capable of being drawn out or rolled thin. Carbon is removed from the steel bath through vacuum degassing.
M
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
M SECTIONS (BANTAM BEAMS, JUNIOR BEAMS) Light footweight beams primarily used in the construction of pre-engineered housing. These beams are produced in lighter footweights, usually six to 10 pounds per foot, than traditional structural products.
MAGNESIUM Chemical symbol Mg. A silvery, moderately hard, strong, and light metal. Used in ductile iron production, steel desulfurization, and chemical reduction. Growing use as substitute for aluminum and zinc in die castings, due to light weight and high strength.
MANGANESE Chemical symbol Mn. A gray-white, hard, and brittle metal. Critical in the production of pig iron and steel, it usually is preprocessed with carbon or silicon prior to iron smelting or steel making. Also used in batteries and chemicals manufacture.
MECHANICAL TUBING Steel tubing products used in the manufacture of hydraulic cylinders, in mechanical parts for autos and trucks, construction and farm equipment, and in furniture, bicycles and many other applications.
MERCHANT BAR A group of commodity steel shapes that consist of rounds, squares, flats, strips, angles, and channels, which fabricators, steel service centers and manufacturers cut, bend and shape into products. Merchant products require more specialized processing than reinforcing bar.
METALLIZING A process used to produce a zinc coating on manufactured steel items by metal spraying. Zinc metal wire or powder is fed into a spray gun where it is melted and sprayed onto the part to be coated. Melting is accomplished either by combustion in an oxygen-fuel gas flame or an electric arc. Combustion gases and/or auxiliary compressed air provide the necessary velocity to spray the liquid metal onto the part.
MINI-MILLS Normally defined as steel mills that melt scrap metal to produce commodity products. Although the mini-mills are subject to the same steel processing requirements after the caster as the integrated steel companies, they differ greatly in regard to their minimum efficient size, labor relations, product markets, and management style.
MOLYBDENUM Chemical symbol Mo. A silvery-gray metal used as an alloy to strengthen steel and make it less susceptible to rust and corrosion. Key alloying element for some classes of stainless steel; in the presence of chromium, "moly" enhances the corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
N
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
NAVAL BRASS
(ADMIRALTY BRASS)		 An alloy of copper, zinc, and tin used widely in the marine industry because of resistance to saltwater corrosion; actually it's a bronze.
NICKEL Chemical symbol Ni. Hard, silvery-white metal known primarily as alloy to improve strength and corrosion resistance of other metals, notably steel. Metal is slightly magnetic metal, of medium hardness and high degree of ductility and malleability, with high resistance to chemical and atmospheric corrosion. Pure nickel is used in galvanic plating, where objects must be coated with nickel before they can be plated with chrome. When used as an alloying agent, it is of great importance in iron-based alloys in stainless steels and in copper-based alloys such as cupro-nickel as well as in nickel-based alloys such as Monel. (About 65% of all nickel is used in the making of stainless steel.)
NICKEL-BASED SUPERALLOYS Multi-alloy metals suited for high-performance, high-temperature applications. These are nickel-iron-chrome alloys (which also contain titanium, columbium, and aluminum) and nickel-chrome-iron alloys (which often also contain molybdenum, tungsten, titanium, cobalt, aluminum, and columbium).
NICKEL-SILVER Copper-based alloy that contains from 10% to 45% zinc and from 5% to 30% nickel; most often alloyed with brass.
NIOBIUM Chemical symbol Nb. Name for Columbium metal everywhere in the world but the U.S.
NON-FERROUS METALS Metals or alloys that are free of iron.
O
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
OIL COUNTRY TUBULAR GOODS Label applied to the pipe products used by petroleum exploration customers. OCTG includes casing, drill pipe and oil well tubing, which, depending on their use, may be formed through welded or seamless processes.
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer.
OSCILLATING Winding a narrow strip of moetal over a much wider roll, much like threading over a spool.
OSMIUM Chemical symbol Os. A bluish-white metal that is so hard it is difficult to fabricate (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
P
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
PICKLING Cleaning a steel coil through a series of hydrochloric acid baths that remove the oxides (rust), dirt, and oil so that further work can be done to the metal.
PIG Initial post-smelting casting of lead or iron. Named long ago when molten metal was poured through a trench in the ground to flow into shallow earthen holes, the arrangement looked like newborn pigs suckling. The central channel became known as the "sow," and the molds were "pigs."
PALLADIUM Chemical symbol Pd. A major component in the production of petrochemical catalysts (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
PILING Also known as sheet piling; a structural steel product with edges designed to interlock; used in the construction of dams or riverbank reinforcement.
PIPE Technically, a thick-walled tube used to transport fluids or gases. In the steel lexicon, "pipe" and "tube" often are used interchangeably with a given label applied primarily as a matter of historical use.
PLATE A smooth, flat, relatively thick (3/16-inch to more than one foot) mass of metal with a width of more than eight inches, often sheared into individual pieces but also rolled into coils.
PLATINUM Chemical symbol Pt. The key material in the manufacture of automotive catalysts (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
PLATINUM GROUP METALS Called the "noble metals" because they are among the scarcest of the metallic elements; more important, they are totally impervious to oxidation or corrosion. The family is six metals: Platinum, a white infusible metal with high electrical resistance; Palladium, also white, noted for its strength and high ductility; Iridium, a yellowish mineral with the most corrosion resistance of any metal known; Rhodium, a silver-white metal also found with nickel; Ruthenium, a white metal noted for its hardness; and Osmium, a bluish-white metal that is so hard it is difficult to fabricate.
PHOSPHOR-BRONZE Copper-based alloys with 3.5% to 10% tin, to which up to 1% phosphorous has been added in the molten state for deoxidizing and strengthening purposes. Because of excellent toughness, strength, fine grain, resistance to fatigue and wear, and chemical resistance, these alloys find general use as springs and in making steel fittings. It has corrosion-resistant properties comparable to copper.
POWDER METALS Fabrication technology in which fine metallic powder is compacted under high pressure and then heated at a temperature slightly below the melting point to solidify the material. Primary users of powder metal parts are auto, electronics and aerospace industries.
PRECIPITATION HARDENING (PH) A small group of stainless steels with high chromium and nickel content, with the most common types having characteristics close to those of martensitic (plain chromium stainless class with exceptional strength) steels. Heat treatment provides this class with its very high strength and hardness. Applications for PH stainless steels include shafts for pumps and valves as well as aircraft parts.
PRECIPITATION HARDENING (PH) A small group of stainless steels with high chromium and nickel content, with the most common types having characteristics close to those of martensitic (plain chromium stainless class with exceptional strength) steels. Heat treatment provides this class with its very high strength and hardness. Applications for PH stainless steels include shafts for pumps and valves as well as aircraft parts.
Q
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P | |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
Q-BOP Modified Basic Oxygen Furnace in which the oxygen and other gases are blown in from the bottom, rather than from the top. While the Q-BOP stirs the metal bath more vigorously, allowing for faster processing, the design produces essentially the same steel grades as the top-blowing basic oxygen furnace. Today's state-of-the-art furnace design combines the previous technologies: 60% of the oxygen is blown from above, with the rest blown through the bottom of the vessel.
R
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
REINFORCING BAR Also known as "concrete reinforcing bar" or "rebar"; a commodity-grade steel used to strengthen concrete in highway and building construction.
RHODIUM Chemical symbol Rh. A silver-white metal found in nickel deposits (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
ROD Round, thin semi-finished metal length that is rolled from a billet and coiled for further processing. These rolling facilities often are called "rod trains". Rod is commonly drawn into wire products or used to make bolts, nails, and other machined parts.
RUTHENIUM Chemical symbol Ru. A white metal noted for its hardness; the most expensive of the platinum group (see PLATINUM GROUP METALS).
S
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
SCALE The oxide of iron that forms on the surface of steel after heating.
SCRAP (FERROUS) Ferrous (iron-containing) material that generally is remelted and recast into new steel. Integrated steel mills use scrap for up to 25% of their basic oxygen furnace charge; 100% of the mini-mills' raw material for their electric furnaces generally is scrap.
SEAMLESS PIPE (SEAMLESS TUBE) Tubular product made from a solid billet, which is heated, then rotated under extreme pressure. This rotational pressure creates an opening in the center of the billet, which is then shaped by a mandrel to form the pipe or tube.
SECONDARY STEEL Steel that does not meet the original customer's specifications because of a defect in its chemistry, gauge or surface quality. Mills must search to find another customer (that can accept the lower quality) to take the off-spec steel at a discount. While secondary will not affect the reported yield, margins will suffer.
SEAMLESS PIPE (SEAMLESS TUBE) Tubular product made from a solid billet, which is heated, then rotated under extreme pressure. This rotational pressure creates an opening in the center of the billet, which is then shaped by a mandrel to form the pipe or tube.
SELENIUM Chemical symbol Se. A gray metal chemically similar to tellurium; excellent conductor of electricity; obtained as a by-product of the electrolytic refining of copper; used chiefly in photoelectric cells, rectifiers, and other electronic devices, and as a pigment for glass and ceramics.
SEMI-FABRICATED Partially processed metals shapes (sheet, plate, bar, rod, wire, extrusions; foil in the case of aluminum).
SEMI-FINISHED First-stage metal shapes (blooms, billets or slabs) later to be rolled into semi-fabricated and, then, finished products.
SERVICE CENTER A catchall name for an operation that buys metal, warehouses it, often processes it in some way, and then sells it in a slightly different form or amount from what was purchased from producing mills.
SHEARING Type of cutting operation in which the metal object is cut by means of a moving blade and fixed edge or by a pair of moving blades that may be either flat or curved.
SHEET STEEL Thin, flat-rolled steel. Coiled sheet steel accounts for nearly one-half of all steel shipped domestically and is created in a hot-strip mill by rolling a cast slab flat while maintaining the side dimensions. The malleable steel lengthens to several hundred feet as it is squeezed by the rolling mill. The most common differences among steel bars, strip, plate, and sheet are merely their physical dimensions of width and gauge (thickness). Product Classification by Size: Specified Thickness In Inches
Specified Width in Inches
Up to 6 Over 6 to 8 Over 8 to 12 Over 12 to 48 Over 48
0.2300+ Bar Bar Plate Plate Plate
0.2299 - 0.2040 Bar Bar Plate Plate Plate
0/2039 - 0.1800 Strip Strip Strip Sheet Plate
0.1799 - 0.0449 Strip Strip Strip Sheet Sheet
SILICON Chemical symbol Si. A non-metallic element, essential in the smelting of numerous ferrous and non-ferrous metals.SILICON-BRONZE-An alloy of copper and 1.5-3% silicon with various third elements (zinc, tin, or manganese).
SILICON ELECTRICAL STEEL A type of specialty steel created by introducing silicon during the steelmaking process. Electrical steel exhibits certain magnetic properties, which make it optimum for use in transformers, power generators and electric motors. "Grain-oriented" product has the metal's grain running parallel within the steel, permitting easy magnetization along the length of the steel (used mostly in power transformers); "non-grain-oriented" product has no preferential direction for magnetization (used mostly in electric motors).
SILVER Chemical symbol Ag. Brilliant, rare "precious metal" with high ductility, excellent thermal conductivity, low level of electrical resistance. Usually found as by-product of base metal ores, sometimes with gold. Historical use has been coinage, jewelry, tableware, but has major industrial applications in photography, dentistry, electronics, chemicals, and medicine manufacture.
SKELP Steel that is the entry material to a pipe mill. It resembles hot-rolled strip, but its properties allow for the severe forming and welding operations required for pipe production.
SLAB The most common type of semi-finished metal. In steel, semi-finished product (hot rolled from ingot or sheared from continuous caster's output) destined for further processing into strip, sheet, plate, or welded pipe product; in zinc, the primary metal casting to be rolled or forged into other shapes.
SLITTING Cutting a sheet of metal into narrower strips to match customer needs. Because mills have limited flexibility as to the widths of the sheet that they produce, service centers or independent processors normally will cut the sheet for the customer.
SPECIAL BAR QUALITY Arcane terminology used to describe a wide variety of higher-quality carbon and alloy bars that are used in the forging, machining and cold-drawing industries for the production of automotive parts, hand tools, electric motor shafts and valves. SBQ steel bars generally contains more alloys than merchant (commodity) grades of steel bars, and is made with more precise dimensions and chemistry.
SPECIALTY ALLOYS Specialty metals with proprietary chemistries and designations; often made for specific high-strength or corrosive resistant applications; sometimes considered to be the low end of the various families of superalloys.
SPECIALTY STEEL Also known as "specialty stainless steels," these are batch-produced iron-based metals with varying degrees of such additives as chrome, nickel, cobalt, titanium, manganese, copper, and molybdenum to add strength or corrosion-resistance.
SPECIALTY TUBE Refers to a wide variety of high-quality custom-made tubular products requiring critical tolerances, precise dimensional control and special metallurgical properties. Specialty tubing is used in the manufacture of automotive, construction and agricultural equipment, and in industrial applications such as hydraulic cylinders, machine parts and printing rollers. Because of the range of industrial applications, the market typically follows general economic conditions.
SPOT MARKET Sales for delivery in less than three months.
SPRING STEEL Steel strip, normally of the high-carbon or alloy type, used in the manufacture of springs because of high tensile properties.
STAINLESS STEELS Corrosion-resistant steel of a wide variety that always contain more than 10% chromium, with or without other alloying elements. Stainless steel resists corrosion attack by organic acids, weak mineral acids, and atmospheric oxidation, keeps its strength at high temperatures, and is easily maintained. The most common grades of stainless steel are: Type 304, austenitic (chromium-nickel); Type 316, austenitic with 2%-3% molybdenum; Type 409, ferritic (low chromium) for high-temperature use; Type 410, heat-treatable martensitic (medium chromium) with a high strength level Type 430, ferritic general-purpose grade with some corrosion resistance. (see STEEL, FERRITIC, AUSTENITIC, MARTENSITIC, NICKEL-BASED SUPERALLOYS)
STAMPING Process of pressing with a powerful die a metal blank into a predetermined shape (or pattern). The metal used must be ductile (malleable) enough to bend into shape without breaking.
STEEL Chemical symbol Fe. Iron smelted with carbon (more than about 0.05% and less than 2%) along with manganese, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorous. Steel is the least expensive and most widely used metal. Steel is made primarily of iron and carbon with thousands of varieties possible, depending on the content of those elements and such other alloying metals as chromium, nickel, manganese, silicon, vanadium, and molybdenum. Stainless steel is the most common of the alloy steels. (see CARBON STEEL, ALLOY STEEL, STAINLESS STEEL, SPECIALTY STEEL)
STEEL STRAPPING Banding and packaging material that is used to close and reinforce shipping units, such as bales, boxes, cartons, coils, crates, and skids.
STRENGTH Properties related to the ability of steel to oppose applied forces. Forms of strength include withstanding imposed loads without a permanent change in shape or structure and resistance to stretching.
STRIP A cold-rolled ferrous or non-ferrous metal product that is 23 15/16' and narrower; under 0.250' in thickness.
STRUCTURALS Metal product group that includes beams and, for steel, sheet piling.
STRUCTURAL TUBING (see HOLLOW STRUCTURAL SECTIONS)
SUBMERGED-ARC WELDING (SAW) SAW involves formation of an arc between a continuously-fed bare wire electrode and the workpiece. The process uses a flux to generate protective gases and slag, and to add alloying elements to the weld pool. A shielding gas is not required. Prior to welding, a thin layer of flux powder is placed on the workpiece surface. The arc moves along the joint line and as it does so, excess flux is recycled via a hopper. Remaining fused slag layers can be easily removed after welding. As the arc is completely covered by the flux layer, heat loss is extremely low. This produces a thermal efficiency as high as 60% (compared with 25% for manual metal arc). There is no visible arc light, welding is spatter-free and there is no need for fume extraction. This type of welding is very popular in large diameter pipes.
SUBSTRATE Raw material used as an input for steel processing: For example, hot-rolled steel is the substrate for cold-rolling operations.
SUPERALLOYS Lightweight metal alloys designed for continuous exposure to extreme heat or corrosive environments. Also called "high-performance specialty metals," the conventional superalloys are iron-based, cobalt-based, nickel-based, and titanium-based.
T
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
TAILORED BLANKS A section of sheet or strip that is cut-to-length and trimmed to match specifications for the manufacturer's stamping design for a particular part. Because excess steel is cut away (to save shipping costs), all that remains for the stamper is to impart the three-dimensional shape with a die press.
TANTALUM Chemical symbol Ta. A by-product of tin processing, this refractory metal is used as a barrier to corrosion of chemical processing and carbide cutting tools, and still-growing use as electronic capacitors and filaments. Melts at 2415-degree F.
TELLURIUM Chemical symbol Te. A brittle, silvery-white metal produced commercially as a by-product of copper smelting and maintained in the tellurium-copper alloy to aid in machining.
TEMPERING Re-heating a quench-hardened or normalized ferrous alloy to a temperature below the transformation range and then cooling at any rate desired. In heat treatment, re-heating hardened steel to some temperature below the A1 temperature for the purpose of decreasing hardness and/or increasing toughness.
TERNE Mixture of lead and tin.
TIN Chemical symbol Sn. Soft, silvery-white metal with high malleability and ductility, but little tensile strength. One of the earliest metals known; because of its hardening effects on copper, used to make bronze for fabrication of construction and hunting tools and war weapons as early as 3500 B.C. With a melting point of 449-degrees F and a boiling point of 4384-degrees F, tin has the longest molten-state range of any common metal; thus, its principal use as a steel coating and constituent in alloys to make bronze, pewter, die-casting alloys, and specialty titanium alloys. Used in biocides to control insect infestation, and in solders for joining pipes or electrical conductors.
TIN MILL Continuous tin-plating facility to produce tin mill steel sheet to be used in food and beverage cans and other containers.
TIN/CHROME PLATING A plating process whereby the molecules from the positively charged tin or chromium anode attach to the negatively charged sheet steel. The thickness of the coating is readily controlled through regulation of the voltage and speed of the sheet through the plating area.
TIN-FREE STEEL Chromium-coated steel. Because it is used in food cans just like tin plate, it is misclassified as a tin mill product.
TINPLATE Sheet steel that has been coated on both sides with a very thin coating of commercial pure tin by an electro-deposition process, in which the steel is made to be the cathode (negative electrode) in an electrolytic bath containing a decomposable tin salt.
TITANIUM Chemical symbol Ti. A bright white metal; very malleable and ductile. Its principal function has been as an alloy in steel making, but now is being used extensively (especially in aviation and aerospace) because of its high strength, light weight, and good corrosion resistance.
TITANIUM-BASED SUPERALLOYS Lightweight, non-corrosive alloys suitable for high-temperature applications (such as jet aircraft structural parts). Titanium alloy comes from blending with such other metals as aluminum, iron, vanadium, silicon, cobalt, tantalum, zirconium, and manganese.
TOLERANCES A customer's specifications can refer to dimensions or to the chemical properties of steel ordered. The tolerance measures the allowable difference in product specifications between what a customer orders and what the steel company delivers. There is no standard tolerance because each customer maintains its own variance objective. Tolerances are given as the specification, plus or minus an error factor; the smaller the range, the higher the cost.
TON Unit of measure for steel scrap and iron ore. GROSS TON 2,240 pounds, LONG (NET) TON 2,240 pounds, SHORT (NET) TON 2,000 pounds. Normal unit of statistical raw material input and steel output in the United States and METRIC TON 1,000 kilograms. 2,204.6 pounds or 1.102 short tons.
TOOL & DIE STEELS Also called "tool steel," any high carbon or alloy steel capable of being suitably tempered for use in the manufacture of tools and dies.
TREAD PLATE Usually carbon (but also alloy and stainless) steel plate rolled with closed surface designs of small perforated buttons or small diamond-shaped lugs; used widely for ramps, walkways, and stairs.
TUBING (see PIPE)
TUNGSTEN Chemical symbol W. Gray metal with high tensile strength; ductile and malleable, immune to atmospheric influences and all acids but strong alkalies. Extremely pliable; can be drawn into filament for incandescent bulbs, rolled into thin sheet for radio tubes; ground into powder, and mixed with carbon and then embedded in soft metal (such as cobalt) to produce carbide tools, or alloyed within steel to make abrasion-resistant tool and die steels.
V
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
VANADIUM Chemical symbol V. Vanadium is a gray metal primarily used as an alloying agent for iron and steel and as a strengthener for titanium-based alloys. Vanadium is also a catalyst in sulfuric acid production. After the steel industry, the aerospace market ranks as the second-largest end-user of the metal named for the Scandinavian love goddess Vanadis.
W
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
WIDE-FLANGE BEAM A structural steel section on which the flanges are not tapered, but have equal thickness from the tip to the web and are at right angles to the web. Wide-flange beams are differentiated by the width of the web, which can range from 3 inches to more than 40 inches, and by the weight of the beam, measured in pounds per foot.
WIDTHS The lateral dimension of rolled steel, as opposed to the length or the gauge (thickness). If width of the steel strip is not controlled during rolling, the edges must be trimmed.
WIREBAR Semi-finished form of electrolytically refined copper, designed for rolling into rod or bars and, ultimately, into strip or wire.
Y
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
YIELD The ratio of the quantity of finished shipments to the total raw steel produced, adjusted for changes in inventory and any slabs that are purchased from outside. Yield has significantly improved during the past decade, primarily as the result of the industry's conversion to continually cast steel, whose yield is superior to that of traditional ingot teeming .
Z
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J|K| L | M | N | O | P |Q| R | S | T |U| V | W |X|Y| Z
ZINC Chemical symbol Zn. Bluish-white, lustrous metal derived from ores that also contain lead, silver, copper, germanium, and cadmium. Essential nutrient element in soils and animals. Pure metal is malleable and ductile even at ordinary temperature. It can be electro-deposited, and is used primarily as a galvanized protective coating for steel (especially steel destined for use in construction, transportation, and electrical equipment). Its most important alloys are brass and bronze. Of great importance in die casting, although new ZA (zinc-aluminum) alloy is becoming a major force in die casting. Compounds and dusts used by agricultural, chemical, paint, and rubber industries.
ZINCROMETAL A cold-rolled steel sheet product with a base coat of chromium and zinc and a top coating of a weldable zinc-rich primer.
ZIRCONIUM Chemical symbol Zr. A steel-gray, strong, ductile metal obtained by chemical processing of zircon-bearing sands. Minor metal has good corrosion-resistance, especially at elevated temperatures. Used in steel making, and as structural material in nuclear reactors and cladding material for uranium.