Metals have been used for many centuries, and various types of valuable metals serve as a key component of most manufacturing and production processes.
Most metals are used in practically every element of contemporary life, particularly important in aerospace. It also includes the investigation of new materials, both pure and mixed, that have been used in a variety of sectors.
In materials science and materials engineering, metallurgy or metallurgical engineering is the study of the chemical and physical properties and behavior of metallic elements. It also involves the intermetallic compounds and the mixes of metallic elements known as alloys.
Because current applications demand new alloys with great strength and low weight, metallurgy is treated as one of the essential engineering disciplines.
A few differences exist between metallurgical work and conventional metalworking, though. The process manufacturers use to shape and craft raw metal into the shapes that most people recognize and use every day is known as metalworking.
On the other hand, metallurgy is the science of separating metal and selecting the right one. Then, the selected metals are brought into the proper chemical and alloyed state. After which, the material can now be manipulated and used for more specific purposes. Find out more about this job by reading on!
All you need to know about metallurgical engineering
Metallurgy entails a significant amount of science and hands-on experience. The primary goal of the job is often to stabilize various metals and assist in making them as robust as possible, frequently with a specific application in mind, such as aerospace.
However, not all metallurgical engineers are directly involved with the production process as others and hence have a better understanding of where the metal they’ve worked with will end up.
In metallurgical engineering, metals’ mechanical properties and physical properties are studied to determine how they may be safely turned into goods that can serve humanity. These applications can be in surgical implants, computer chips, automobiles, and even materials for space exploration.
Students studying to become metallurgical engineers or scientists will be a part of one of the few remaining metallurgical engineering programs. Aspiring metallurgical engineers can still get a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or any advanced degree linked to the job.
Many metallurgical engineers are required to study an extensive area of the job. This includes five distinct disciplines:
Mineral processing
Mineral processing is the first stage in extracting metals from their ores. Here, engineers use a variety of physical and chemical procedures to separate, extract, and concentrate rich minerals found in our planet’s crust.
For a mineral process engineer, each orebody has a unique set of challenges and processing concerns that must be addressed by adapting current technologies or inventing new technologies.
Mineral processing is not just used in the metal-bearing minerals business. It is also engaged in the industrial minerals industry. In addition to that, mineral processing technologies are used in various recycling and environmental remediation procedures.
Extractive metallurgy
The field of extractive metallurgy encompasses a diverse spectrum of technologies. Engineers who specialize in the recovery and refinement of metals and other valuable products from mineral concentrates, scrap, and other materials are known as metallurgical process engineers.
In extractive metallurgy, skill and expertise in the areas of thermal processing (pyrometallurgy), aqueous processing (hydrometallurgy), and electrolytic processing (electrometallurgy) are applied.
Accordingly, the disciplines of chemical engineering and metallurgical engineering are very similar. However, the primary difference is that metallurgical engineers are more concerned with inorganic materials, while chemical engineers are more concerned with organic materials, such as petrochemicals and biological materials.
In extractive metallurgy, the ore must be reduced physically, chemically, or electrolytically to transform a metal oxide or sulfide into a purer metal to be converted.
Following mining, massive chunks of ore feed are broken down by crushing or grinding to get particles small enough. Each particle contains either a majority of valuable minerals or a majority of waste minerals. Concentrating the valuable particles in a state conducive to separation allows the needed metal to be extracted from waste products after concentration.
In some cases, mining may not be necessary if the ore body and surrounding environment are amenable to leaching. Leaching is dissolving minerals in an orebody to produce an enriched solution. The solution is collected and then treated to recover precious metals from it. Ore bodies frequently include a combination of precious metals.
Alternatively, tailings from a prior process may be utilized as a feed in a subsequent process to recover a secondary product from the original mineral source. In addition, a concentrate may include more than one precious metal in varying concentrations. The precious metals would be separated into their respective elements once the concentrate has been treated.
Physical metallurgy
Chemical, physical, and mechanical qualities such as corrosion resistance, strength, and ductility are controlled in physical metallurgy. Here, the metals are processed into products by physical metallurgical engineers through alloying, forging, welding, casting, and powdering.
Materials engineering
In addition to metals, materials engineering employs concepts similar to those mentioned above for applications involving ceramics, glasses, polymers, and composite materials.
When it comes to creating and developing new advanced materials for applications, materials engineers employ their knowledge of the structure and characteristics of the various materials in their work.
This study is particularly strong in physical metallurgy, where students study how to transform metals into products through alloying, forging, welding, casting, and powder-processing techniques.
Materials processing
Materials processing is a branch of materials science in which similar ideas and design methods from physical metallurgy apply to the development of the best materials for applications, including ceramics, glasses, composites, polymers, and some minerals and metals.
History of metallurgy
Gold appears to be the oldest known metal used by humans, and it may be found in its natural state or “native” form. Small quantities of natural gold have been discovered in caverns in Spain that date back to the late Paleolithic period, around 40,000 years ago.
Aside from gold and silver, other metals like copper, tin and meteoric iron can also be found in their native form, allowing for a small manufacturing level in early civilizations.
Smelting
Smelting is the process of recovering certain metals from their ores by merely heating the rocks in a fire or blast furnace. Tin, lead, and copper are among the metals that may be recovered from their ores at higher temperatures.
The earliest evidence of extractive metallurgy dates back to the 5th and 6th millennia BC. It has been discovered at archaeological sites in Majdanpek, Jarkovac, and Plonik, all located in modern-day Serbia today. The Belovode site in Plocnik has been identified as the location of the world’s first copper smelting. This location yielded a copper ax that dates back to 5,500 BC and is associated with the Vina culture.
The first recorded usage of lead dates back to the late neolithic villages of Yarim Tepe and Arpachiyah in Iraq during the late neolithic period. According to the artifacts, lead smelting took place before copper smelting.
It is also reported that copper smelting took place during the same period, shortly after 6,000 BC. However, the use of lead appears to have occurred first, before copper smelting.
Early metalworking
Early metalworking has also been reported at the neighboring site of Tell Maghz Aaliyah, which appears to be much older than Tell Maghz Aaliyah and appears to be devoid of pottery.
A burial site in the west of Varna, Bulgaria, about 4 kilometers from the city center, is considered one of the most important Archaeological sites in prehistoric history. The location has been home to discovering the world’s oldest gold treasure, which dates back to 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC.
Another noteworthy example is the gold piece that dates back to 4,500 BC and was recently discovered in Durankulak, near Varna. Early metals have been discovered in places like Portugal, Spain, and Stonehenge, dating back to the third millennium BC. On the other hand, other origins are impossible to pinpoint precisely, and fresh discoveries are both continuous and continuing.
Bronze Age
Around 3,500 BC, scientists in the Near East realized that they could create a better metal, which they termed bronze, by combining copper and tin. This marked the beginning of the Bronze Age, significant technological advancement.
Iron Age
Converting iron ore into usable metal is far more complex than converting copper or tin ore into usable metal. According to archaeological evidence, the Hittites created the method around 1200 BC, marking the beginning of the Iron Age. The secret of obtaining and processing iron was a crucial aspect of the Philistines’ ability to achieve prosperity.
Metallurgy
Historically significant discoveries in ferrous metallurgy may be traced back to a diverse range of ancient cultures and civilizations. Many historic kingdoms and empires in the Middle East and Near East have been lost. These include the kingdoms and empires of antiquity, from ancient Iran to ancient Egypt, ancient Nubia, and Anatolia. This also includes the Greeks and Romans of antiquity, ancient and medieval Europe, ancient and medieval China, ancient and medieval India, and ancient and medieval Japan.
Many applications, practices, and devices associated with or involved in metallurgy were established in ancient China, including the invention of the blast furnace, the production of cast iron, the use of hydraulic-powered trip hammers, and the use of double-acting piston bellows, among other things.
A book written in the 16th century by Georg Agricola called De re Metallica details the highly developed and sophisticated procedures of mining metal ores, metal extraction, and metallurgy that were in use and are still in use today. Agricola has been dubbed the “Father of Metallurgy” by certain historians.
Metallurgy stems from the Ancient Greek metallourgós, which means “worker in metal.” It is composed of métallon, which means “mine, metal,” and érgon, which means “labor.”
In its original usage, the word was an alchemist’s phrase for extracting metals from minerals, with the suffix -urgy denoting a process, particularly one involving manufacture. It was covered in this sense in the 1797 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
In the late nineteenth century, it was broadened to include a more general scientific study of metals, alloys, and associated processes and the application of these findings.
Metals and alloys
Aluminum, copper, iron, nickel, magnesium, chromium, titanium, zinc, and silicon are the most often used engineering metals. With the notable exception of silicon, most of these metals are utilized in alloys to form other metals.
A significant and reliable amount of studies have been put into understanding the iron-carbon alloy system, which comprises steels and cast irons. Plain carbon steels are standard in low-cost, high-strength applications where neither weight nor corrosion is a significant consideration.
Ductile iron and other cast irons are also constituents of the iron-carbon system, as is steel. The usage of iron-manganese-chromium alloys in nonmagnetic applications such as directional drilling is becoming more common.
Corrosion-resistant materials such as stainless steel, particularly austenitic stainless steel, galvanized steel, titanium alloys, and copper alloys, are used where corrosion resistance is critical.
When a lightweight, sturdy item is required, such as in automotive and aerospace applications, aluminum and magnesium alloys are frequently employed as building materials.
Copper-nickel alloys are employed in highly corrosive conditions and for nonmagnetic applications, and they are also used in aerospace applications.
Using nickel-based superalloys such as Inconel in high-temperature applications such as turbochargers, gas turbines, pressure vessels, and heat exchangers is becoming increasingly popular.
Lastly, single crystal alloys are utilized for exceptionally high temperatures to reduce the amount of creep. Metal-oxide-silicon transistors and integrated circuits are made possible by high purity single crystal silicon, which is used in contemporary electronics.
Learn more about metallurgical engineering
Find out more about what a Metallurgical Engineer does here at Roar Engineering! Visit and explore our website to check out our Metallurgical Engineering Services. Do not hesitate to reach out to us via our contact page if you have any inquiries or questions.
