Cast iron
material · 500 BC · Ancient world
An iron alloy with a high carbon content.
Principles and materials it uses
- Blast furnace — uses. Pig iron is smelted in a blast furnace.
- Iron — is made of. Iron with carbon.
- Carbon — is made of. Cast iron is iron with lots of carbon — hard but brittle.
Where it is used
- Bessemer converter — is used in. Molten pig iron is blown with air.
- Cast-iron pan — is material for. Cast iron.
- Puddling — is used in. Converting pig iron.
- Crystal Palace — is material for. Cast iron.
- Dumbbell — is material for. Cast iron.
- Wok — is material for. Woks are cast iron.
- Landmine — is material for. The casing is cast iron.
- Heating stove — is material for. Heating stoves were cast in iron.
- Letter box — is material for. Later — cast iron.
- Pressure cooker — is material for. Papin’s digester was a cast-iron vessel.
- Centrifugal pump — is material for. The casing is cast iron.
- Impeller — is material for. An impeller is cast iron or bronze.
- Piston — is material for. Pistons are cast iron.
- Newcomen engine — is material for. The cylinder is cast iron.
- Separate condenser — is material for. Watt’s condenser is cast iron.
- Railway track — is material for. The first rails were cast iron.
- Power loom — is material for. The frames are cast iron.
- Flanged wheel — is material for. Flanged wheels are cast iron.
- Hydraulic press — is material for. Bramah’s press is cast iron.
- Hydraulic cylinder — is material for. The cylinder is cast iron.
- Paper machine — is material for. The rolls are cast iron.
- Screw-cutting lathe — is material for. The bed of Maudslay’s lathe is cast iron.
- Wheelset — is material for. Wheelsets are cast iron.
- Fire hydrant — is material for. A hydrant is cast iron.
- Steam locomotive — is material for. The cylinders and wheels are cast iron.
- Gas lamp — is material for. The posts are cast iron.
- Street light — is material for. Lamp posts are cast iron, later steel.
- Milling machine — is material for. The bed is cast iron.
- Babbage’s Difference Engine — is material for. The frame is cast iron.
- Tunnelling shield — is material for. Brunel’s shield is a cast-iron frame.
What it is a kind of
- Alloy — is a kind of. An alloy.