What Are the Different Types of Steel Products?

Iron and steel products are collectively referred to as metallic materials with the metallic element iron as the main element, and their forms mainly include pig iron, steel, steel, and iron alloys.

Steel products

Table 1 Names, uses, characteristics and process symbols of steel products ^[1]

Iron and steel products generally refer to metal base products with "iron" as the main basic element. The daily forms include iron, crude steel, steel, and ferroalloys. Because ferroalloys are mainly used as deoxidizers and alloy additives during steelmaking in the production process of the iron and steel industry, ferroalloys are included in the main raw materials of steel production and not in steel products in management and statistics. Steel wire and its products are reprocessed products of steel products, not metal basic products. Therefore, statistically, iron and steel products only include other varieties of pig iron, crude steel, and steel. ^[2]

Iron is the "primary product" of steel products, and steel can be obtained after further smelting. Iron and steel are mainly distinguished according to the carbon content of iron-based products. Iron and steel have different uses in practical applications according to their different characteristics, and the use of steel is more extensive. The product directly obtained by iron smelting is crude steel (solid state is called slab or steel ingot). Crude steel needs to be processed into steel through various processing methods such as casting, rolling, forging, and extrusion. Steel is the main final product provided by the steel industry for social production and life. Steel products are complex and diverse, with tens of thousands of varieties and specifications. For details, see Chapter 6, "Steel Processing."

Iron and steel products are widely used as basic raw materials in various industries of the national economy. They are not only the "grain" of industrial production-they can be used as raw materials for the production, manufacture, and consumption of other industrial products; they are also necessities in social life-and can be used directly. For architecture, decoration and daily necessities.