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xvi THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN SWEDEN
of the greatest purity directly on account of the pure raw materials and no
desulphurisa-tion or dephosphorisation being needed afterwards. Then the electric furnace does not
produce a product superior to other methods and consequently its use must be limited
to such cases where it can economically compete with open hearth. With present
prices of fuel it may be expected that electric steel making will gain ground. In 1917
about 7.300 tons of electro steel ingots were produced.
ROLLING, FORGING, STEEL CASTINGS, &c.
In the early days, when Sweden’s iron industry was based on the manufacture
of wrought iron, the bar iron exported was chiefly hammered and even at about 1870
the rolling mills were very ineffectiv, driven by waterwheels and used mostly for rough
bars and small section iron. The introduction of steelmaking made it necessary to
build more powerful rolling mills in order to handle the bigger ingots. These mills were
then driven by water-turbines either directly or through gear transmission. This being
the case it is evident that the mills could only be erected in the immediate vicinity of
the waterfalls, or else the water had to be carried to the works by means of tubes or canals.
The inevitable result of this circumstances was that the works became crowded and
the different departments could not be placed in the best position to each other with
regard to transports.
The development of the electric power transmission has brought about a radical
change in these circumstances and especially the last few years have been characterized
by extensive reconstruction of the rolling mills. They have been made more effective,
modern conveyor systems have been introduced, and above all arrangements have been
made to meet the requirements of modern mechanical industry regarding exactness
of dimensions. The progress in this direction has been very marked, and at least
the larger works are now equipped in a perfectly up-to-date manner.
Cold rolling and cold drawing have naturally followed the development of the hot
rolling and especially with regard to the extremely high quality this steel has gained
a world wide reputation.
Forging is still largely used, especially for tool steels. Several works are further well
equipped with steam- or pneumatic hammers or presses for the manufacture of merchant
forgings, even of very large weights, and some works are also able to deliver such
forgings machined and finished.
Owing to the high quality of the product, steel castings are a speciality, particularly
well adapted for the Swedish steel works, and several works are equipped with thoroughly
up-to-date plants for this line of manufacture. This does not only refer to the mere
process of casting, but also to arrangements for annealing and heat treatment of the cas-
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