What is Cast Steel Used for – Common Applications of Steel Castings

The uses of cast steel products include the following major industrial departments. 

1. Power station equipment

Power station equipment is a high-tech product, and its main parts operate continuously for a long time under high load. Many parts of the thermal power stations and nuclear power station equipment also need to withstand the corrosion of high temperature and high-pressure steam, so there are strict requirements on the reliability of parts. Steel castings can meet these requirements to the maximum extent and are widely used in power station equipment.

2. Railway and rolling stock

Railway transportation is closely related to the safety of people’s lives and property. Therefore, some key components of locomotives and rolling stock, such as wheels, side frames, bolster, coupler, etc., are all traditional steel castings. The switch used for railway switch is a component that withstands strong impact and friction. The working condition is extremely bad and the shape is very complex. At present, industrial countries in various countries use high-strength cast steel.

3. Construction, machinery and vehicles

The working conditions of construction machinery and construction machinery are very poor. Most of the parts bear high loads or need to withstand impact wear. A large part of them is steel castings, such as the driving wheel, bearing wheel, rocker arm, and crawler shoe in the action system. The bucket and teeth of the excavator are also traditional high manganese steel castings. Steel castings are rarely used for general automobiles, but many steel castings are also used for special off-road vehicles and heavy trucks. The rear axle shell of heavy trucks is steel castings. Steel castings are also widely used in tracked tractors and armored vehicles, such as driving wheels, bearing wheels, driven wheels, and track shoes.

4. Mining equipment

In order to ensure operation safety, some key parts of the mining equipment are steel castings, such as the winch wheel (crown wheel) and the main parts of the mine car. As for the crusher and ball mill used for ore treatment, due to the large impact load on each part during operation, the jaw plate, hammer head, lining plate, and other parts that can withstand impact wear are all high manganese steel castings, and the frame is mostly carbon steel or low alloy steel castings.

5. Forging and metalworking equipment

The frame of forging machinery, the cross, the beam, the frame, and the rolling frame, and the bearing seat of the metal processing equipment have always been steel castings. In addition, a considerable part of the rolls of the rolling mill is steel castings.

6. Aerospace equipment

Steel castings used in aircraft have a long history. In the 1930s, steel castings were used as landing gear shells and other parts. Modern jet aircraft also used steel castings, such as engine support and the brake support plate. During the development of the missile, the monorail is required to conduct a horizontal high-speed sliding test and head impact test, and the running speed is up to 48 MHz. The sliding block and brake components used in the horizontal sliding test are all mn-mo-v low alloy steel castings. Steel castings are also used for some key parts in missile transportation, stand, and launching device. The launch pad at the bottom of the missile is made of Cr Ni Mo low alloy casting, and the wing support of the rocket shell is also made of low alloy cast steel.

7. High-pressure vessel equipment

The core parts of blowout preventers for oil and natural gas wellhead sealing are all low alloy steel or martensitic stainless steel castings, such as shell and top cover. Since these parts need to withstand pressure up to 140MPa, the surface quality and internal quality of the casting must be ensured when casting these parts.

8. Ships

Many important parts of large ships are also made of steel castings, such as the head column, tail column, anchor chain and conduit, rudder frame, cable rudder, etc.

9. Agricultural machinery

The use conditions of agricultural machines and tools are very harsh. Since the load is large and the distribution is uniform, and the ground is uneven, agricultural machines and tools must withstand distortion and vibration. Agricultural production has strong timeliness, and machines and tools must be reliable. Failure in the busy farming season will lead to significant economic losses. The rural maintenance conditions are poor, and the machines and tools must be durable Therefore, steel castings should be used for some important stressed parts of agricultural machines and tools, such as driving sprocket, track shoe, roller, guide wheel, drive wheel, etc. At present, more and more steel castings are used in agricultural machinery in industrial countries.