Wrought Iron

Wrought iron is an iron block obtained by solid reduction of iron ore at a lower smelting temperature in ancient times, also called forged iron. In Southwest Asia, from 1200 BC to 1000 BC, the use of wrought iron has reached a certain scale. In 800 BC, the smelting method spread to Central Europe, and it spread to England in 500 BC. In Europe and other regions, wrought iron was the main method of iron making until pig iron was smelted in the fourteenth century. Smelting wrought iron was usually done by digging holes in flat ground or foothills for furnaces, loading high-grade ore and charcoal, igniting them, and blowing them for heating. When the temperature reached about 1000 °C, the iron oxide in the ore was reduced to pure iron, and the gangue became slag, which should be extruded by forging. Wrought iron is also called sponge iron because it is loose and porous before forging.

Wrought iron has extremely low carbon content and soft texture, which is suitable for forging. In the...