THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL CASTINGS IN THE UNITED STATES

By Major R. A. Bull,

Research Director, Electric Steel Founders' Research Oroup, Chicago, III., U .S.A.

[Exchange Paper on behalf of the American Foundry- men’s Association.]

Introduction.

T he su b je c t assigned th e w rite r is q u ite as diffi­

c u lt to discuss in th e space su ita b le fo r a tech n ical p ap er, as it is in te re s tin g to consider in th e stu d y of in d u s tria l developm ent. C onfident, indeed, would be th e a u th o r who could hope in a brief tr e a tis e to do ju s tic e to th e topic. T he steel-cast­

ing in d u s try in th e U n ite d S ta te s h as become highly specialised, to its g r e a t a d v a n ta g e and th a t

of consum ers of steel castings.

The first ste e l c a stin g s m ade in th e U n ited S ta te s w ere produced probably in th e y e a r 18G7 by w h at was th e n know n as th e W illiam B u tc h e r Steel W o rk s.f I t would be histo rically in te re stin g , b u t n o t of p a r tic u la r v alu e in th e co n sid eratio n of th e p re se n t s ta te of th e a r t , to go in to d e ta il re g a rd in g th e very b e g in n in g s of th is in d u s try in A merica. The e a rly efforts w ere n o t c h aracterised by any special te c h n ic a l fe a tu r e ex cep t th o se th a t n a tu ra lly a tte n d e d b o th a t hom e an d abro ad th e developm ent of m eltin g u n its, o th e r th a n th e crucible.

I t is p ro p e r to p o in t o u t t h a t pro g ress in th e m a n u fa c tu re of steel c astin g s in th e S ta te s k e p t pace w ith th e dem ands of in d u s try fo r such p ro ­ duction, as is g en e ra lly th e case in every field of in d u s tria l achievem ent. A nd i t is sig n ifican t to call a tte n tio n to th e close re la tio n sh ip t h a t h as seemed to a tte n d w ith o u t a lapse th e developm ent of steel fo u n d in g sim u ltan eo u sly w ith t h a t of r a il­

way e n g in ee rin g in A m erica. Among th e first steel c a stin g s m ade by th e W illiam B u tc h e r Steel W orks were crossing-frogs fo r th e P h ila d e lp h ia and R ea d in g R a ilro a d C om pany. These are recorded as h a v in g been so sa tisfa c to ry t h a t some of them w ere in use as la te as 1894. T he y e a r t h a t

t “ Chronology of Iro n a n d Steel,’’ 1920, b y S. L. Goodale, page 167

w itnessed th e in itia l successful efforts to m a k e

steel castin g s in A m erica, m a rk e d th e b e g in n in g o steel ra il m a n u f a c tu r e th e r e on a cem m ercial basis.

As w ill be seen, th e “ affinity ” th u s e a rly e s ta ­ blished h as b een m a in ta in e d .

D u rin g th e first score o f y e a rs a f t e r th e e arly successes a t th e B u tc h e r W orks, p ro g ress in steel- c a stin g m a n u f a c tu r e w as co n tin u o u s b u t u n ­ a tte n d e d by a n y s tr ik in g dev elo p m en t, com m er­

cially, u n til th e M idvale S teel C om pany, in 1887, achieved a g r a tif y in g re p u ta tio n in m a k in g c a st- steel p a r ts fo r o rd n a n c e . T his o pened th e eyes of m any who perceived th e possible a p p lic a tio n of steel c a stin g s to a la r g e r v a rie ty of uses. A b o u t th is tim e th e m a k in g of cast-ste e l rolls fo r m ills becam e a n im p o r ta n t p h a se o f th e in d u s try . S pecial eq u ip m e n t an d m ethods r e q u ire d fo r such p ro d u ctio n a t th e v e ry b e g in n in g in d ic a te d t h a t th e m a k in g o f such c a stin g s in th e f u t u r e w ould in ev itab ly become h ig h ly specialised.

Development for Railway Equipment.

A very im p o r ta n t im p e tu s w as g iv en steel- c a stin g m a n u f a c tu r e in A m erica in th e ’n in e tie s , w hen m ark ed success a tte n d e d th e efforts of c e rta in p io n eers in th e M iddle W e ste rn S ta te s to m a k e steel c a stin g s in g reen -san d . T he re s u lts ach iev ed by th ese e x p e rim e n te rs cam e to th e n o tic e o f o th e r m en, who a n tic ip a td t h a t g re e n -sa n d m o u ld in g , when p e rfe c te d , w ould be p e c u lia rly ap p lic a b le to th e m ak in g of c e rta in steel c a stin g s, to be s u b s ti­

tu te d fo r b u ilt-u p p a r ts used in th e c o n stru c tio n of railw ay w agons. The hopes of th e ad v o ­ cate s of g reen-sand m oulding w ere realise d . The su ita b ility of such m oulds f o r th e c a stin g s re f e r r e d to w as d e m o n s tra te d , a n d w as d u e to th e c h e a p e n ­ in g of d ire c t m a n u f a c tu r in g co sts; th e g re a tly red u ced difficulties in c o n tra c tio n a f t e r p o u rin g , in designs r a t h e r stro n g ly su scep tib le to s h rin k a g e cracks, an d th e relativ ely slig h t im p o rta n c e of th e c astin g s in th e g en eral class m e n tio n e d .

I t should n o t be in fe rre d from th e la s t s ta t e ­ m e n t t h a t to -d ay all d ry -san d steel c a s tin g s m a d e in th e S ta te s a re su p e rio r in a p p e a ra n c e to all those m ade in green-sand, o r t h a t d ry -san d is now re g a rd e d as essen tial for th e b est su rfa c e a p p e a r­

ance. I t should be k e p t in m in d t h a t a q u a rte r- c e n tu ry ago in A m erica th e b len d in g an d m ixino

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of fo u n d ry san d s w ere n o t highly developed, t h a t facilities fo r sk in -d ry in g m oulds w ere relativ ely poor, an d t h a t c lea n in g m ethods w ere crude. All of th ese fa c to rs c o n trib u te d to a com p arativ ely poor a p p e a ra n c e of th e steel c a stin g s orig in ally m ade in g reen -san d . B u t s u e t castin g s were em in en tly sa tisfa c to ry fo r such p a r ts as bolsters for railw ay tru c k s, a n d w ere fa r m ore su ita b le for t h a t p urpose th a n m any assembled m asses of m u ltitu d in o u s sm all p a r ts which these castin g s displaced, to th e g r e a t benefit of th e steel foundry in d u s try a n d to railw ay o p e ra tin g efficiency.

A fte r secu rin g th r o u g h a p p licatio n to railw ay e q u ip m en t, a m uch w id er use of its p ro d u ct, th e in d u s try in A m erica h a s m a in ta in e d w ith o u t a b re a k its v ery p ronounced alliance w ith railw ay consum ption. P ro b ab ly railw ay eq u ip m en t now calls fo r o n e -th ird of th e to n n a g e of steel castings produced in th e U n ite d S ta te s.

Specialisation of the Industry.

As th e developm ent of ra ilw a y system s has necessarily k e p t pace w ith t h a t of tr a d e and in d u s try in th e S ta te s , th e g ro w th in to n n a g e of steel castin g s needed fo r ra ilw a y e q u ip m en t h as been a tte n d e d w ith tb e developm ent of a trem en d o u s n u m b er of fields now served by th e in d u s try . I t would be a h u g e and unnecessary ta s k to* a tte m p t to e n u m e ra te these. T he logical re s u lt of a v ery w ide a p p lic a tio n of steel castings, and of la rg e q u a n titie s re q u ire d fo r each of m any such ap p licatio n s, has been t h a t m ark ed d ifferen­

tia tio n of th e in d u s try of w hich previous m ention has been m ade.

N a tu ra lly , sp ecialisatio n h a s re su lte d in th e refinem ent of c e rta in processes in c id e n ta l to th e in d u s try , t h a t are im p o rta n t as re g a rd s th e grades of castin g s produced. The a u th o r believes i t well to em phasise th is fa c t, w hich is a p p a re n tly n o t fully realised b y some fo u n d ry m en from abro ad who h ave v isited a few A m erican steel fo u n d ries, an d have p erh ap s n a tu r a lly considered th e o u tp u t of th ese as a s a tisfa c to ry index to th e c h a ra c ­ te ristic s of steel c a stin g s com m only pro d u ced in th e S ta te s. I t should be rem em bered t h a t th e re are probably a t th is tim e 300 ste e l fo u n d rie s being o p e ra te d in A m e ric a ; t h a t th e com bined cap a c ity of th ese is e stim ated a t n e a rly tw o m illion n e t

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tons* p er y e a r ; t h a t th e w idest im ag in ab le v a rie ty of uses is re p re se n te d by th e co n su m p tio n a t th e tim e th is p a p e r is being w ritte n o f p robably ^5 P er cen t, of th e in d u s tr y ’s to ta l c a p a c ity , o r abou

5 ,0 0 0 n e t to n s each w ork in g d a y ; a n d t h a t in A m erica, in d u s try is in th e h a b it of p a v in g on y fo r such refin em en t, e ith e r in in h e r e n t

q u a litie s, or in su rfa c e finish, or b o th , as th e job seems to d em and, an d as th e u ltim a te con su m er seems w illin g to p a y for.

The su rface a p p e a ra n c e of a n A m erican -m ad e steel c a stin g is s tric tly re g u la te d by econom ic c o n sid eratio n s—w hich we believe to be sound d o ctrin e. A nd we h av e no q u a rre l w ith th e p u r ­ ch aser who declines to p a y co m m en su ra tely fo r a p e rfe c tly finished su rfa c e on a steel c a s tin g w hich is to be ap p lied in a m a n n e r t h a t will p re v e n t its b e a u tifu l a p p e a ra n c e from being observed a f t e r assembly. T here a re m an y such uses fo r steel castin g s whose soundness m u s t be a b so lu te ly assured, an d whose physical p ro p e r tie s m u s t m eet e x a c tin g req u irem en ts. L ikew ise th e r e a re m an y purposes to w hich A m erican-m ade steel e a stin g s a re p u t w here slig h t su rfa c e blem ishes a re n o t p e r ­ m itte d , a n d w here re q u ire m e n ts as to s tr e n g th an d tou g h n ess v a ry from m edium to e x tr a o rd in a ry . I t is n a tu r a l th e n t h a t one m ay find in th e 300 A m eri­

can steel fo u n d ries, c astin g s of a r a t h e r w id e ra n g e as to physical p ro p e r tie s ; an d of a v ery la rg e v a rie ty as to su rfa c e a p p e a ra n c e . T he v is ito r (who m ay h av e a lim ite d o p p o rtu n ity fo r inspec­

tio n ) is, of course, im pressed by w h a t h e h a p p e n s to see. Tim e, d istan ce, a n d o th e r r o u tin g con­

sid e ra tio n s t h a t re g u la te a to u r is t’s jo u rn e y a re n o t safe facto rs in th e selection of ty p ic a l exam ples in a n im m ense, w idely sc a tte re d , a n d h ig h ly specialised in d u s try .