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An ingot is a block of steel cast in a mould, the traditional first solid form of steel before it is rolled or forged. Continuous casting has replaced ingots for almost all ordinary steel, but ingots are still poured for heavy forgings, very thick plate and special and remelted steels where a continuous caster cannot make the size or quality.
In ingot casting, liquid steel from the ladle is teemed into cast-iron moulds, either from the top or from below through a runner system (bottom pouring) that fills several moulds at once and gives a cleaner surface. A refractory hot top on the mould keeps the top liquid while the ingot solidifies so that the shrinkage cavity — the pipe — forms in a part that is cut off. The solid ingot is stripped from the mould and charged hot or cold into a soaking pit, a forge furnace or a mill.
Solidification from the outside inwards makes an ingot uneven: segregation of carbon and sulphur towards the top and centre, and a cone of loose structure at the bottom, are cropped off as scrap. Fully killed (deoxidised) and vacuum-degassed steel is used for forging ingots. For the most demanding parts — bearing, tool and aerospace steels — an ingot can be remelted under slag (electroslag remelting, ESR) or in vacuum (VAR), which gives a much cleaner and more uniform ingot.
Worldwide, well over 90% of steel is now continuously cast into slabs and billets and blooms, which is cheaper and gives a higher yield. Ingots remain for sizes and qualities a caster cannot make: the heaviest open-die forgings, extra-thick plate, mill rolls, and small heats of special steel.
GCC steelmaking is based almost entirely on continuous casting of billets, blooms and slabs for long and flat products. Ingots for heavy forgings and special steels are produced by specialist forge-masters and special-steel mills, mainly in Europe, Japan, China, Korea and India.
Ingots are an intermediate product, ordered by steel grade and size; the requirements usually come from the standard of the forging or plate that will be made from them.
| Region | Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | EN 10079 CEN-CENELEC |
Definition of steel products — includes ingots and semi-finished products |
| Europe | EN 10250 CEN-CENELEC |
Open die steel forgings for general engineering purposes — the usual destination of forging ingots |
| USA | ASTM A788/A788M ASTM |
Steel forgings, general requirements — including melting, ingot practice and discard |
Grade equivalents and the standards bodies: Steel grades & standards
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