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Most people know that cast metals are metals that are made molten and then poured into a mold, which leads to their final finished shapes, but most people do not know the difference between wrought steel and forged steel
Wrought Steel Starts as Cast Steel
Wrought steel begins life as cast steel that is poured into ingots or molds. After it has cooled, the steel is reheated and rolled into a final finished shape. This means that wrought steel has some of the structural properties of cast steel, such as additional weight of metal required to have the same structural integrity as a similar piece of forged steel. Wrought steel is also less likely to be used in high-tension applications and it may be harder and more brittle than forged steel.
Forged Steel Can Be More Durable
According to Steel Forge.com, forged steel is more durable in certain applications because, although it begins life as a casting as well, it is hammer forged using large hydraulic hammers that force the atoms and molecules of the steel into alignment as they hit it. Wrought steel does not undergo this same process, which makes forged steel harder and less likely to crack when struck. Striking tools and axes are often made of forged steel because they are used to hit things, and the brittle nature of a cast steel would lead them to breaking rapidly if they were not forged. |
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