Cast Iron is an iron carbon, containing additional elements such as silicon, magnesium, sulphur and phosphorus in different percentages; is characterised by a carbon level between 1.9% and 5.5%.
The iron-carbon alloys which contain less than 1.9% of carbon are classified in the steel group.
The cast iron which is obtained directly in the blast furnace from iron metals, by siderurgical processes, is called blast furnace cast iron, pig iron, basic pig iron or crude cast iron and is primarily used to produce different types of steel after passing through a refining stage.
Only part can be recast, directly after removing or adding other elements (such as silicon, manganese, sulphur and phosphorus), together with fragments of steel and cast iron, and mixed in moulds, to produce elements destined for the metallurgical industry. Properties: hard, fragile, little resistance to traction and bending, resistant to compression and corrosion, cast iron doesn’t withstand plastic processes because it’s not easily shaped, in heat nor cold, exhibits great melting property, melts at not very high temperatures, is fluid, gives healthy and compact strains and allows simple manufacture of even the most complex of parts.
