![]() Blast furnace usage did not expand to Europe until the 1100s. The oldest blast furnaces discovered by archaeologists date back to the Han Dynasty of China in the 1st century BCE. The term blast refers to the hot combustion air that is forced into the lower part of the furnace through pipes called tuyeres as fuel is supplied from the top. It must be refined before it can be used to make steel. It is used to smelt industrial metals, usually pig iron, a low-quality, brittle form of iron with high carbon content. This is the earliest known use of this process and represents China’s significant contribution to the history of iron casting.Īnother Chinese innovation was the blast furnace. The disadvantages are the unavoidability of defects and the fact that this process is quite labor intensive. The advantage of this process is the large variety of shapes and sizes that can be easily molded. Then molten metal is poured into the mold to create a metal casting. In this process, sand is tightly packed around an object, creating a mold. One of the biggest impacts that China had on the evolution of iron casting occurred in 645 BCE when Chinese metallurgists began using sand molding. It made turning over the soil much easier for farmers. It was revolutionized when the iron plow was invented. Before this, Chinese metallurgists worked with bronze and copper to create cast components, which were largely used in the country’s agricultural industry. These statues were cast in approximately 1024 BCE. Some of the earliest examples of iron casting in ancient China are the four statues that stand outside of the Zhongyue Temple in Dengfeng. ![]() For centuries, the production of iron remained a closely-held secret of the Hittite people until roughly 1000 BCE when Chinese metallurgists discovered the superiority and workability of iron. Between 2000 BCE and 1200 BCE, the Hittites developed a process for smelting the iron – heating its ore to purify it – expanding its usability. They found and extracted it from meteorites and used the ore to make spearheads, tools and other trinkets. During this time, they hammered or pounded the metal to create tools and weapons. Although iron and other metals had been discovered, it was not until centuries later that they could be melted and poured into a mold, such as a casting.Īrcheologists believe that iron was discovered by the Hittites of ancient Egypt somewhere between 50 BCE. Discovered by archeologists in what was then known as Mesopotamia, the earliest uncovered example of a cast component is a copper frog that dates to 3200 BCE. However, evidence provided by archeologists contradicts both beliefs. Some historians believe that iron casting began in ancient China as early as 6000 BCE while others believe that only copper and bronze castings were being made at this time. ![]() But perhaps that’s why history is so intriguing. Have you ever wondered about the history of iron casting? When did ancient man first dream of making objects out of molten metal? Even the best historians, archeologists and scientists may never truly know.
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