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Known as being the second stage during the production of steel, steel billets are hot rolled and then used for further stages of metal casting. They are very soft and ductile, and steel bars or other products are then made by using the steel billets in various hot rolling or cold drawing applications.
They are created during extrusion or continuous casting processes and even by simply rolling ingot. They can be formed into a wide array of shapes, particularly square, rectangular and circular. They are most often used for the production of steel rods and bars, wire and hollow sections and plates.
Steel billets are not the same as steel bars and are “semi finished” casting products. It is billets that will used to create bars, pipes and all the rest.
Standards for billets vary, and each must feature the chemical composition necessary for producing the desired product.
Regardless of the standards it must meet, any billet is going to be readily identifiable via the coding stamped along its run. This will always include:
All billets must be guaranteed to be free of longitudinal and transverse cracks, jointing, scum, scab, shrinkage cavities and any other indications of surface and internal unsoundness that may adversely affect final product.
Other physical parameters that any billet may need to meet includes:
