Cast iron is an iron-carbon alloy containing more than about two percent carbon by weight, which lowers its melting point below that of steel and lets it flow easily when molten, so it can be cast into complex shapes. It is more brittle than wrought iron or steel and performs poorly under tension or sudden impact, but its low cost, castability and compressive strength made it the dominant structural and machine-building metal of the early Industrial Revolution, before steel became cheap to produce.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearCast iron is attested in China from around the fifth century BCE, using blast furnace technology developed there; cast iron production reached Europe independently, much later, from around the fourteenth century CE. Primary UseEngine blocks, pipes, cookware and machine bases, and, in the nineteenth century, structural columns and bridge components, valued for low cost, castability and compressive strength. 1 Classification
Material Class Connections
Associated With
Casting, Methods Cast iron flows easily when molten and is named for how readily it is cast into shapes.
Cast iron was the structural material of the first iron bridges.
Steel, Materials Cast iron and steel are the two main iron-carbon alloys, differing in carbon content
Steel, Materials Cast iron and steel are the two main iron-carbon alloys, differing in carbon content
Cast iron is the direct product tapped from a blast furnace.
Wrought Iron, Materials Wrought iron and cast iron are the two pre-steel iron materials, distinguished chiefly by carbon content and resulting brittleness.
In Field
Sources
1. A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954material-class sentenceQuote, material-class sentence
Cast iron is an iron-carbon alloy containing more than about two percent carbon by weight, which lowers its melting point below that of steel and lets it flow easily when molten, so it can be cast into complex shapes.
Cast Iron (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWikipedia: Cast iron, lead section, first paragraphQuote, Wikipedia: Cast iron, lead section, first paragraph
Cast iron is a class of iron-carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1-3%.
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