Nowadays, steel is being widely used in almost all the household, whether it is for home decoration or for the kitchen appliances and materials such as dishes and spoons. Both the cast iron and forged steel fittings are essential parts of commercial buildings and houses. They are primarily used to connect pipes in the buildings including lavatory fixtures, showers, drainage pipes and waste water pipes. They are also being widely used in the aviation and car industries for the construction of trains, buses, cars and airplanes. However, if you are planning for a home improvement, you should be aware about the uses and functions of these fittings such that you can make your house equipped with proper pipes and fittings
Cast iron – it is basically a mixture of iron with two to four percentage of carbon and other materials which include manganese and silicon and also small amounts of phosphorous and sulphur. Casting iron involves melting of the iron in a furnace and then pouring it into a mould to create the desired shape.
• Forged steel – in order to make this type of steel, the blacksmith heats the steel until it becomes malleable and then presses and bends the steel to create a desired shape. This process creates stronger steel that can withstand higher pressure. It is more resistant to permanent deformation and also lasts longer than unforged steel.
When comparing the features, both cast iron fittings and forged steel fittings are durable. However, cast iron rusts more than steel and hence is not desirable for pipes that deliver drinking water. On the other hand, forged steel is more resistant to heat and lasts longer than cast iron. Moreover, due to abundance of iron, cast iron is cheaper than forged steel, which requires a mixture of several precious metals. Apart from the fittings, there are many other uses of these two metals in the various industries. The furniture industry utilises them to make chairs, tables and other accessories and the construction industry uses forged steel to build bridges, utility poles and train tracks because of its durability and also higher fatigue tolerance.