Semi-steel

Semi-steel casting is a lower cost method to produce a casting that is not quite as strong as a steel casting but less expensive to manufacture. It was used more commonly as a marketing term.

The carbon and silicon percentages are reduced to the amount approximately consistent with those in steel. This is done using pig iron or gray iron casting scrap and reducing the amount of carbon through the addition of relatively pure steel or wrought iron scrap in a well heated cupola furnace. The percentage of carbon is typically between foundry cast iron and wrought iron.

References

Journal of the famous Iron and Steel Institute, Vol. LXXIII, p. 511. c 1907.