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Steel is an alloy composed of between 0.2 and 2.0 percent carbon, with the balance being iron. From prehistory through the creation of the blast furnace, iron was produced from iron ore as wrought iron, 99.82–100 percent Fe, and the process of making steel involved adding carbon to iron, usually in a serendipitous manner, in the forge, or via the cementation process.
Steel production (in million tons) by country as of 2023. The steel industry is often considered an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development. [65] In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers had fallen to ...
Steel production (in million tons) by country in 2023. The steel industry is often considered an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development. [97] In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers had fallen to 224,000 ...
Iron and Steel in Nineteenth-Century America, An Economic Inquiry (1964) Wall, Joseph Frazier. Andrew Carnegie (1989). ISBN 0-8229-5904-6. Warren, Kenneth, Big Steel: The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901–2001. (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001) online review; Warren, Kenneth.
Steel is made from iron and carbon. Cast iron is a hard, brittle material that is difficult to work, whereas steel is malleable, relatively easily formed and versatile. On its own, iron is not strong, but a low concentration of carbon – less than 1 percent, depending on the kind of steel – gives steel strength and other important properties.
The malleability of the solid metals led to the first attempts to craft metal ornaments, tools, and weapons. Meteoric iron containing nickel was discovered from time to time and, in some respects this was superior to any industrial steel manufactured up to the 1880s when alloy steels become prominent. [80]
Sican tumi, or ceremonial knife, Peru, 850–1500 CE. Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America is the extraction, purification and alloying of metals and metal crafting by Indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to European contact in the late 15th century.
In the modern world, iron alloys, such as steel, stainless steel, cast iron and special steels, are by far the most common industrial metals, due to their mechanical properties and low cost. The iron and steel industry is thus very important economically, and iron is the cheapest metal, with a price of a few dollars per kilogram or pound.