Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that is widely used in construction and other applications because of its high tensile strength and low cost. Carbon, other elements, and inclusions within iron act as hardening agents that prevent the movement of dislocations that naturally exist in the iron atom crystal lattices. Steel is made by alloying iron with carbon to produce a harder, stronger metal that will take a much keener edge. Owing to its intense connections with core infrastructural segments of the economy, steel industry is of high priority and importance. Steel is one of the most common materials in the world, with more than 1.3 billion tons produced annually. It is a major component in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons. Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Iron metal has been used since ancient times; though copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures.

The mechanical properties of iron and its alloys can be evaluated using a variety of tests, including the Brinell test, Rockwell test and the Vickers hardness test. The major component of steel is iron, a metal that in its pure state is not much harder than copper. Omitting very extreme cases, iron in its solid state is, like all other metals, polycrystalline—that is, it consists of many crystals that join one another on their boundaries. The testing of steel’s properties often begins with checking hardness. This is measured by pressing a diamond pyramid or a hard steel ball into the steel at a specific load. The demand for high strength, good weldability, and higher resistance to atmospheric corrosion is met by a group called the high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels.

Types of steel are-

•             Carbon Steels

•             Alloy Steels

•             Stainless Steels

•             Tool Steels

Steel has probably the widest range of applications of any material. The wide range of alloy compositions, mechanical properties and product forms available make it a versatile material that is used in components and products that may be small or large, high-tech or low-tech, everyday or specialist.

India's steel demand is to grow at 3.4 per cent during the current year. Steel consumption in the country grew at a slower pace during April-July 2014 at 0.6 per cent, but a 30 per cent growth in exports helped swing the demand-supply balance in favor of demand. Steel production too kept pace with the consumption growth. During the four months, steel production grew 0.9 per cent to 27.39 million tonnes as compared to 27.15 million tonnes. The domestic consumption of steel has grown by12.5% in the past three years. The domestic steel consumption in the year 2006-07 was 41.14 million tonnes. The average growth rate of the Indian Iron and Steel Industry is 11.36%

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Steel and Iron Handbook describes the detailed information on the subject. The major contents of this book are- types of ferrous metals, foundry process of cast iron,  production of compacted graphite irons, production of ductile iron, malleable cast iron, principles of steelmaking, modern steel making technology, steelmaking by basic oxygen furnace, ld process plant and equipments, secondary process of steelmaking etc.

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