The Application of Alloy and Special Steels in Railway Work

Abstract

MANY people are concerned about the conservation of metal, especially in these days when such things as tin cans, razor blades, etc., cause steel to disappear from the recovery cycle. The intelligent use of alloy steels may help in this conservation, provided that they are not employed in a profligate manner and that alloy elements are not allowed to go to waste in slags. Manganese is one of the most useful elements in steel manufacture, and the present consumption is said to average about 14 lb. Mn per ton of ingots'. When steel scrap is remade into ingots, much of this element is lost by oxidation, and already there is anxiety about manganese conservation. Steel melting processes which would avoid the removal of most of the manganese from the charge are, therefore, to be wel-comed, and one attempt to operate a simple fusion process for fine grain castings has been described2. Where current is cheap, it is possible that this objective may be achi-eved in electric furnaces.