Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with carbon content between 0.2 and 1.7 or 2.04% by weight, depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, Vanadium and tungsten. Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of alloying elements and form of their presence in the steel (solute elements, precipitated phase) controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but is also more brittle Alloys with higher carbon content than this are known as cast iron because of their lower melting point. Steel is also to be distinguished from wrought iron containing only a very small amount of other elements, but containing 1'3% by weight of slag in the form of particles elongated in one direction, giving the iron a characteristic grain. It is more rust-resistant than steel and welds more easily. It is common today to talk about 'the iron and steel industry' as if it was a single entity, but historically they were separate products.

Forging:

Forging is the term for shaping metal by using localized compressive forces. Cold forging is done at room temperature or near room temperature. Hot forging is done at a high temperature, which makes metal easier to shape and less likely to fracture. Warm forging is done at intermediate temperature between room temperature and hot forging temperatures.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Forging results in metal that is stronger than cast or machined metal parts. This stems from the grain flow caused through forging. As the metal is pounded the grains deform to follow the shape of the part, thus the grains are unbroken throughout the part. Some modern parts take advantage of this for a high strength-to-weight ratio.

Many metals are forged cold, but iron and its alloys are almost always forged hot. This is for two reasons: first, if work hardening were allowed to progress, hard materials such as iron and steel would become extremely difficult to work with; secondly, steel can be strengthened by other means than cold-working, thus it is more economical to hot forge then heat treat. Alloys that are amenable to precipitation hardening, such as most alloys of aluminum and titanium, can also be hot forged then hardened. Other materials must be strengthened by the forging process itself.