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120-539: 41°40′06″N 87°26′25″W  /  41.6684°N 87.4402°W  / 41.6684; -87.4402 The Inland Steel Company was an American steel company active from 1893 until 1998. Its history as an independent firm thus spanned much of the 20th century. Originally based in East Chicago, Indiana , it was eventually headquartered in Chicago at the landmark Inland Steel Building . The company began with

240-499: A 76" hot strip mill was added, a tin mill in 1933, and in 1938, a 2.5 minutes per mile 44" hot strip mill, 59 coke ovens, and 5 open hearth furnaces were put in at Indiana Harbor. On January 3, 1939, Madeline No. 5, the newest and largest among Inland's furnaces, was blown in, with a capacity of 1000 tons/day, for a new company-wide total of 4000 tons/day. This blast furnace was built by Arthur G. McKee & Co, who had also built No. 1 in 1907. Madeline No. 6 arrived in 1942. Inland formed

360-412: A BOS process is manufactured in one-twelfth the time. Today, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel, but they use a lot of electrical energy (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap electricity. The steel industry

480-672: A Canadian subsidiary in 1953, the Caland Ore Company, when the company signed a contract to lease a high-grade iron ore deposit under Steep Rock Lake in Ontario. A large expenditure project modernized existing facilities and commissioned a new corporate headquarters building, which was completed in 1957. In 1959, Inland gained additional sources of iron ore when the company invested in The Wabash Iron Company of Canada's Labrador region. A new expansion program

600-531: A brittle alloy commonly called pig iron . Alloy steel is steel to which other alloying elements have been intentionally added to modify the characteristics of steel. Common alloying elements include: manganese , nickel , chromium , molybdenum , boron , titanium , vanadium , tungsten , cobalt , and niobium . Additional elements, most frequently considered undesirable, are also important in steel: phosphorus , sulphur , silicon , and traces of oxygen , nitrogen , and copper . Plain carbon-iron alloys with

720-713: A carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD. There is evidence that carbon steel was made in Western Tanzania by the ancestors of the Haya people as early as 2,000 years ago by a complex process of "pre-heating" allowing temperatures inside a furnace to reach 1300 to 1400 °C. Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in South Asia is found in Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu ,

840-444: A change of volume. In this case, expansion occurs. Internal stresses from this expansion generally take the form of compression on the crystals of martensite and tension on the remaining ferrite, with a fair amount of shear on both constituents. If quenching is done improperly, the internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools. At the very least, they cause internal work hardening and other microscopic imperfections. It

960-599: A citation of bravery on a bronze plaque. In 1971, the crew rescued a man whose sailboat had gone adrift on Lake Michigan. The Wilfred Sykes was one of several ships that joined the unsuccessful rescue efforts in the 1975 sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald . After the 1998 sale of Inland Steel, Wilfred Sykes came under the ownership of the Indiana Harbor Steamship Company and the management of Central Marine Logistics. The ship

1080-428: A ferrite BCC crystal form, but at higher carbon content it takes a body-centred tetragonal (BCT) structure. There is no thermal activation energy for the transformation from austenite to martensite. There is no compositional change so the atoms generally retain their same neighbours. Martensite has a lower density (it expands during the cooling) than does austenite, so that the transformation between them results in

1200-583: A hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel . Tungsten slows the formation of cementite , keeping carbon in the iron matrix and allowing martensite to preferentially form at slower quench rates, resulting in high-speed steel . The addition of lead and sulphur decrease grain size, thereby making the steel easier to turn , but also more brittle and prone to corrosion. Such alloys are nevertheless frequently used for components such as nuts, bolts, and washers in applications where toughness and corrosion resistance are not paramount. For

1320-445: A hard but brittle martensitic structure. The steel is then tempered, which is just a specialized type of annealing, to reduce brittleness. In this application the annealing (tempering) process transforms some of the martensite into cementite, or spheroidite and hence it reduces the internal stresses and defects. The result is a more ductile and fracture-resistant steel. When iron is smelted from its ore, it contains more carbon than

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1440-434: A higher than 2.1% carbon content are known as cast iron . With modern steelmaking techniques such as powder metal forming, it is possible to make very high-carbon (and other alloy material) steels, but such are not common. Cast iron is not malleable even when hot, but it can be formed by casting as it has a lower melting point than steel and good castability properties. Certain compositions of cast iron, while retaining

1560-410: A larger return on their investment, while others wanted to reinvest profits back into the company. Reinvestment would allow them to replace the old machinery that was in constant need of repair. It was decided that they would reinvest the profits, causing Adams to leave the company. He sold his shares to L.E. Block, oldest son of Joseph. The Block family led Inland Steel through its early years. In 1901,

1680-503: A monthlong strike that only ended when steel manufacturers agreed to terms recommended by the wage stabilization board, which they had initially refused. A three-year contract signed in 1956 provided annual wage increases and paid holidays, but contained a no-strike clause. This was also the year that Local 1010 joined the Coordinated Committee of Steel Companies (CCSC) for industrywide bargaining in wages and benefits. When

1800-412: A narrow range of concentrations of mixtures of carbon and iron that make steel, several different metallurgical structures, with very different properties can form. Understanding such properties is essential to making quality steel. At room temperature , the most stable form of pure iron is the body-centred cubic (BCC) structure called alpha iron or α-iron. It is a fairly soft metal that can dissolve only

1920-577: A plan for a workday consisting of three 8-hour shifts, but the company decided that the plan could not be used until the other steel firms adopted a similar one. In 1928, Inland purchased White Marble Lime Company, renaming it Inland Lime and Stone Company. Port Inland in Michigan was built around these limestone and dolomite quarries. In 1930, the firm completed a new office headquarters in East Chicago, which still survives. In 1935, Inland acquired

2040-489: A recession the following year ended the temporary steel boom. The market for domestic steel remained in a downturn until 1978. The 1980s began with another downturn for Inland and other companies in the domestic steel industry. Foreign companies offered lower prices that U.S. companies could not match. Between 1982 and 1985, Inland lost $ 456 million. During this time, the company began to sell off many of its subsidiaries, including raw materials and transportation services. Inland

2160-534: A small concentration of carbon, no more than 0.005% at 0 °C (32 °F) and 0.021 wt% at 723 °C (1,333 °F). The inclusion of carbon in alpha iron is called ferrite . At 910 °C, pure iron transforms into a face-centred cubic (FCC) structure, called gamma iron or γ-iron. The inclusion of carbon in gamma iron is called austenite. The more open FCC structure of austenite can dissolve considerably more carbon, as much as 2.1%, (38 times that of ferrite) carbon at 1,148 °C (2,098 °F), which reflects

2280-453: A steel's final rolling, it is heat treated for strength; however, this is relatively rare. Steel was known in antiquity and was produced in bloomeries and crucibles . The earliest known production of steel is seen in pieces of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia ( Kaman-Kalehöyük ) which are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BC. Wootz steel

2400-409: A storage barge. During this process, a cutter's torch ignited a fire. The galley and three staterooms were damaged. Clarence B. Randall was sold three more times before being scrapped in 1987. In 1976, the newly constructed MV Joseph L Block entered service for Inland. At 728 feet in length, she had a carrying capacity of over 37,000 tons. She had two groundings in 1990, with one minor in nature and

2520-477: A subsequent step. Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with the desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make the austenite form of the iron-carbon solution more stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature, and vanadium also increases hardness while making it less prone to metal fatigue . To inhibit corrosion, at least 11% chromium can be added to steel so that

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2640-553: A type of furnace that has scrap and pig iron thrown in and heated to a very high temperature. In August of the following year, the plant at Indiana Harbor was put into operation. It had four 40-ton open hearth furnaces, a 32' blooming mill, 7 sheet and bar mills, and a 24" universal bar mill. Company headquarters were in the Marquette Building in Chicago. In August 1906, a new 50 acre tract with 4000 feet of water frontage

2760-672: Is continuously cast into long slabs, cut and shaped into bars and extrusions and heat treated to produce a final product. Today, approximately 96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is produced as ingots. The ingots are then heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled into slabs, billets , or blooms . Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rods, and wire. Blooms are hot or cold rolled into structural steel , such as I-beams and rails . In modern steel mills these processes often occur in one assembly line , with ore coming in and finished steel products coming out. Sometimes after

2880-636: Is also very reusable: it is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally . The noun steel originates from the Proto-Germanic adjective * * stahliją or * * stakhlijan 'made of steel', which is related to * * stahlaz or * * stahliją 'standing firm'. The carbon content of steel is between 0.02% and 2.14% by weight for plain carbon steel ( iron - carbon alloys ). Too little carbon content leaves (pure) iron quite soft, ductile, and weak. Carbon contents higher than those of steel make

3000-416: Is always the main element in steel, but many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels , which are resistant to corrosion and oxidation , typically need an additional 11% chromium . Iron is the base metal of steel. Depending on the temperature, it can take two crystalline forms (allotropic forms): body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic . The interaction of the allotropes of iron with

3120-403: Is common for quench cracks to form when steel is water quenched, although they may not always be visible. There are many types of heat treating processes available to steel. The most common are annealing , quenching , and tempering . Annealing is the process of heating the steel to a sufficiently high temperature to relieve local internal stresses. It does not create a general softening of

3240-403: Is desirable. To become steel, it must be reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added. In the past, steel facilities would cast the raw steel product into ingots which would be stored until use in further refinement processes that resulted in the finished product. In modern facilities, the initial product is close to the final composition and

3360-405: Is extracted from iron ore by removing the oxygen through its combination with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon which is then lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This process, known as smelting , was first applied to metals with lower melting points, such as tin , which melts at about 250 °C (482 °F), and copper , which melts at about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F), and

3480-408: Is heat treated to contain both a ferritic and martensitic microstructure to produce a formable, high strength steel. Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel involves special alloying and heat treatments to stabilize amounts of austenite at room temperature in normally austenite-free low-alloy ferritic steels. By applying strain, the austenite undergoes a phase transition to martensite without

3600-691: Is often considered an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development . In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers had fallen to 224,000. The economic boom in China and India caused a massive increase in the demand for steel. Between 2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several Indian and Chinese steel firms have expanded to meet demand, such as Tata Steel (which bought Corus Group in 2007), Baosteel Group and Shagang Group . As of 2017 , though, ArcelorMittal

3720-551: Is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally; in the United States alone, over 82,000,000 metric tons (81,000,000 long tons; 90,000,000 short tons) were recycled in the year 2008, for an overall recycling rate of 83%. As more steel is produced than is scrapped, the amount of recycled raw materials is about 40% of the total of steel produced - in 2016, 1,628,000,000 tonnes (1.602 × 10 long tons; 1.795 × 10 short tons) of crude steel

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3840-547: Is the world's largest steel producer . In 2005, the British Geological Survey stated China was the top steel producer with about one-third of the world share; Japan , Russia , and the United States were second, third, and fourth, respectively, according to the survey. The large production capacity of steel results also in a significant amount of carbon dioxide emissions inherent related to

3960-773: The American Ship Building Company of Lorain, entered service in 1925. First owned by the Pioneer Steamship Company, she was acquired by Inland in 1936. Built at the length of 600 feet, 72 more were added to her midsection in 1950. Additional work modernized her navigational equipment, engines, and accommodations. In 1955, she was struck by the departing G. A. Tomlinson while docked in Indiana Harbor. G. A. Tomlinson suffered damages to her hull, while Philip D. Block only needed cosmetic repairs. She remained in service until she

4080-655: The Golconda area in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka , regions of India , as well as in Samanalawewa and Dehigaha Alakanda, regions of Sri Lanka . This came to be known as wootz steel , produced in South India by about the sixth century BC and exported globally. The steel technology existed prior to 326 BC in the region as they are mentioned in literature of Sangam Tamil , Arabic, and Latin as

4200-807: The Joseph Block, the N. F. Leopold was involved in several mishaps. In 1915, she grounded near Port Calcite. Two years later, an ice pack caused damage to her hull. In a 1924 collision with the Charles L. Hutchinson, both ships received minor damage, Two separate groundings in 1928 necessitated the replacement of parts in Escanaba, Michigan. The second grounding occurred 40 years later in the St. Marys River. In 1979, she collided with tug George N. Carleton in Thunder Bay. Both escaped relatively unharmed, without

4320-599: The cementation process was described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574 and was in use in Nuremberg from 1601. A similar process for case hardening armour and files was described in a book published in Naples in 1589. The process was introduced to England in about 1614 and used to produce such steel by Sir Basil Brooke at Coalbrookdale during the 1610s. The raw material for this process were bars of iron. During

4440-419: The hardness , quenching behaviour , need for annealing , tempering behaviour , yield strength , and tensile strength of the resulting steel. The increase in steel's strength compared to pure iron is possible only by reducing iron's ductility. Steel was produced in bloomery furnaces for thousands of years, but its large-scale, industrial use began only after more efficient production methods were devised in

4560-415: The largest ship on the lakes , Wilfred Sykes set five records for hauling the most tonnage of iron ore. She had incidents of grounding in 1973, 1998, and 2002. In 1997, she hit a seawall near Grand Haven, Michigan. Except for the 1973 grounding that required a trip to drydock for repairs, Wilfred Sykes escaped these incidents with only superficial damage. A boiler explosion in 1984 caused massive damage to

4680-567: The "little steel" companies to allow unionization. Inland became the first to comply with this order on August 3, when they signed a contract with the United Steelworkers of America . Strikes in both 1946 and 1947 resulted in a total wage increase of 34 cents per hour. A monthlong strike in 1949 helped workers gain another wage increase and pension plan. In the following decade, the union and Inland became hopelessly deadlocked on three separate occasions. The 1952 steel strike led to

4800-404: The 1.0-million ton (0.9m tonne ) mark for the first time. A second plant opened that year. The new plant was run completely by electricity. The plan for electrification had been developed by a Westinghouse engineer named Wilfred Sykes, who later joined the company in 1922. Philip D. Block became president in 1919, taking over for Alexis W. Thompson, who had held the position since 1908. He devised

4920-445: The 17th century, it was realized that the best steel came from oregrounds iron of a region north of Stockholm , Sweden. This was still the usual raw material source in the 19th century, almost as long as the process was used. Crucible steel is steel that has been melted in a crucible rather than having been forged , with the result that it is more homogeneous. Most previous furnaces could not reach high enough temperatures to melt

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5040-475: The 17th century, the first step in European steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace . Originally employing charcoal, modern methods use coke , which has proven more economical. In these processes, pig iron made from raw iron ore was refined (fined) in a finery forge to produce bar iron , which was then used in steel-making. The production of steel by

5160-626: The 17th century, with the introduction of the blast furnace and production of crucible steel . This was followed by the Bessemer process in England in the mid-19th century, and then by the open-hearth furnace . With the invention of the Bessemer process, a new era of mass-produced steel began. Mild steel replaced wrought iron . The German states were the major steel producers in Europe in

5280-538: The 1950s, and the main Inland Steel mill in Indiana Harbor hit its peak employment level in 1969. From then on, the company repeatedly faced reduced demand, economic downturns, and failed business ventures. Over the next few decades, the company shrank and became unprofitable. It was sold to Ispat International , a Dutch firm, in 1998. As of 2020, its assets were owned by Cleveland-Cliffs . Inland Steel

5400-481: The 19th century. American steel production was centred in Pittsburgh , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , and Cleveland until the late 20th century. Currently, world steel production is centered in China, which produced 54% of the world's steel in 2023. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), largely replaced earlier methods by further lowering the cost of production and increasing

5520-460: The 552 foot long J.J. Sullivan. Following the acquisition, the 55 year-old ship was renamed Clarence B Randall. Although she had numerous incidents under her previous name and ownership, Clarence B Randall only had one while serving the Inland Fleet. She ran aground in 1973, but was able to free herself a short tine later without receiving any damage. She was sold in 1976 for conversion to

5640-608: The Arabs from Persia, who took it from India. It was originally created from several different materials including various trace elements , apparently ultimately from the writings of Zosimos of Panopolis . In 327 BC, Alexander the Great was rewarded by the defeated King Porus , not with gold or silver but with 30 pounds of steel. A recent study has speculated that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though, given

5760-777: The CCSC dissolved in 1985. In 1911, the Inland Steamship Company was formed, with Hutchinson & Company of Cleveland serving as purchasing agent and manager of marine operations. Two steamships were purchased from the Acme Transit Company, the Hawgood and the Woodford . The Arthur H. Hawgood , at 569 feet, was renamed Joseph Block. During her years of service, the Joseph Block was involved in numerous incidents. In 1913, she needed to be placed in

5880-516: The Chicago-area steelmaker had 14,000 employees and was producing 3.4 million tons (3.0m tonnes) per year. Inland received two awards for military production in 1943. The Army/Navy "E" of achievement was given for high production of wartime material. The "M" from the U.S. Maritime Administration was for outstanding achievement in vital wartime contracts. Inland Steel became fully vertically integrated in 1944. Philip D. Block retired his presidency

6000-692: The Inland Fellowship Club was formed. Seventy percent of Indiana Harbor employees contributed 10 cents per month to a fund for worker relief. Inland used its own supply of coal to provide donations for workers in need. During the Great Depression , despite their own reduced income, many workers contributed 3% of their salary to the Fellowship Club. The contributions were matched by the company. Funded by vending machine profits at Indiana Harbor Works, Inland Athletic Association

6120-470: The Linz-Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in 1952, and other oxygen steel making methods. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limited impurities, primarily nitrogen, that previously had entered from the air used, and because, with respect to the open hearth process, the same quantity of steel from

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6240-525: The No. 11 coke battery built 2 years prior. In that same year, the Caland Ore Company shipped its final taconite pellets to Indiana Harbor. With the exception of its other iron ore sources, Inland sold all of its interests in raw materials. In 1986, the company acquired J.M. Tull Metals Company, a manufacturer and distributor of metal products. In partnership with Nippon Steel, the I/N Tek continuous cold rolling mill

6360-485: The U.S., but profitability continued to be difficult to attain. Although Inland was still the largest steel distributor and fourth largest manufacturer in the United States, the company did not have a profitable year in the 1990s until 1994. The following year, the company formed Inland International to sell and distribute products to companies in Mexico, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, and India. To appease major shareholders,

6480-515: The addition of heat. Twinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel uses a specific type of strain to increase the effectiveness of work hardening on the alloy. Midland Steel Products Before the UAW480 strike prior to 1990, Harry Esling was President, Dennis Puening was the Controller with Joe Szudarek as his assistant (216-267-5656). This article related to a manufacturing company

6600-401: The alloying elements, primarily carbon, gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile , or soft and easily formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other elements, and inclusions within the iron act as hardening agents that prevent

6720-436: The austenite grain boundaries until the percentage of carbon in the grains has decreased to the eutectoid composition (0.8% carbon), at which point the pearlite structure forms. For steels that have less than 0.8% carbon (hypoeutectoid), ferrite will first form within the grains until the remaining composition rises to 0.8% of carbon, at which point the pearlite structure will form. No large inclusions of cementite will form at

6840-471: The austenite is for it to precipitate out of solution as cementite , leaving behind a surrounding phase of BCC iron called ferrite with a small percentage of carbon in solution. The two, cementite and ferrite, precipitate simultaneously producing a layered structure called pearlite , named for its resemblance to mother of pearl . In a hypereutectoid composition (greater than 0.8% carbon), the carbon will first precipitate out as large inclusions of cementite at

6960-494: The boundaries in hypoeutectoid steel. The above assumes that the cooling process is very slow, allowing enough time for the carbon to migrate. As the rate of cooling is increased the carbon will have less time to migrate to form carbide at the grain boundaries but will have increasingly large amounts of pearlite of a finer and finer structure within the grains; hence the carbide is more widely dispersed and acts to prevent slip of defects within those grains, resulting in hardening of

7080-448: The capital himself and brought in his 22-year-old son, Philip D. Block. After purchasing Buckingham's land and machinery, Inland Steel Company was officially in business on October 30, 1893. Inland Steel was immediately successful, making a small profit in 1894. A slightly larger profit was earned in 1895. A disagreement broke out between the founders on what should be done with these profits. William H. Adams and some other investors wanted

7200-455: The combination, bronze, which has a melting point lower than 1,083 °C (1,981 °F). In comparison, cast iron melts at about 1,375 °C (2,507 °F). Small quantities of iron were smelted in ancient times, in the solid-state, by heating the ore in a charcoal fire and then welding the clumps together with a hammer and in the process squeezing out the impurities. With care, the carbon content could be controlled by moving it around in

7320-564: The company made the decision to retain steel distributor Ryerson-Tull and sell its steel production facilities. Ispat International, a global steel producer based in the Netherlands, acquired Inland Steel for $ 1.4 billion in July of 1998. A series of mergers led to the company eventually becoming ArcelorMittal . As of 2020, the assets of Inland Steel were part of Cleveland-Cliffs . In 1894, Inland established its first research lab. By 1935,

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7440-402: The company raised more than $ 1 million to build an open-hearth mill in East Chicago. This would become the firm's primary location, the Indiana Harbor plant. This expansion allowed the firm to grow more than tenfold in size, from 250 workers in 1897 to 2,600 in 1910. R.J. Beatty of Midland Steel invested and became general manager, bringing the addition of sheet mills. In March 1903, G.H. Jones

7560-583: The company still refused to acknowledge the union. Despite this, the union continued to meet. The majority of their demands focused on ending discrimination based on age, race, and gender. They wanted equal pay for equal work and a system of job promotion that was based on seniority. In 1942, SWOC officially became the United Steelworkers Association (USWA). In the same year, the National War Labor Board ordered

7680-486: The contract expired in 1959, the company and the union were once again at odds. Striking workers demanded a wage increase, along with better insurance and pensions. After 116 days, the company relented and met those demands. This strike was the union's longest and its last against Inland Steel or any of its predecessors. Local 1010 continued to serve as the labor union at the former Inland Steel Company's facilities, though it has bargained independently of other unions ever since

7800-425: The dead were four Inland employees: Alfred Causey, Kenneth Reed, Earl Handley, and Sam Popovich. On July 1, the strike at Indiana Harbor was ended through the intervention of state governor M. Clifford Townsend . He had each party sign an agreement with him, then promised to resolve any grievances that could not be resolved at the plant. Inland approved of the wage increases and signed the governor's agreement. However,

7920-639: The drydock for repairs after striking a pier at the Canadian lock in Sault Ste. Marie. Two months later, she ran aground and was struck by steamer Calcite of the Bradley fleet. In May 1916, the crew of the Joseph Block rescued one of two survivors from the shipwreck of the S R Kirby . In 1917, she received damage after hitting an ice pack in Lake Superior. A 1919 November gale led to another trip to

8040-452: The economies of melting and casting, can be heat treated after casting to make malleable iron or ductile iron objects. Steel is distinguishable from wrought iron (now largely obsolete), which may contain a small amount of carbon but large amounts of slag . Iron is commonly found in the Earth's crust in the form of an ore , usually an iron oxide, such as magnetite or hematite . Iron

8160-648: The finest steel in the world exported to the Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Arab worlds at that time – what they called Seric Iron . A 200 BC Tamil trade guild in Tissamaharama , in the South East of Sri Lanka, brought with them some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from the classical period . The Chinese and locals in Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka had also adopted

8280-579: The fire. Unlike copper and tin, liquid or solid iron dissolves carbon quite readily. All of these temperatures could be reached with ancient methods used since the Bronze Age . Since the oxidation rate of iron increases rapidly beyond 800 °C (1,470 °F), it is important that smelting take place in a low-oxygen environment. Smelting, using carbon to reduce iron oxides, results in an alloy ( pig iron ) that retains too much carbon to be called steel. The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in

8400-405: The following year and was replaced by L.E. Block. In 1948, Wilfred Sykes became president. Starting in the 1950s, there was an increased demand for consumer products made from steel, such as appliances and motor vehicles . Cold rolling processes were used to make the sheets and strips necessary in the manufacture of these goods, and Inland soon specialized in this process. A $ 360 million project

8520-513: The form of charcoal) in a crucible, was produced in Merv by the 9th to 10th century AD. In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel, and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that used partial decarburization via repeated forging under a cold blast . Since

8640-447: The founders' purchase of the land and machinery associated with a failed steel mill in 1893. Inland Steel initially expanded through the efforts of steel industry investors and the family of founder Joseph Block. Inland opened a second steel plant during World War I, and the company continued to grow, making purchases of other companies starting in 1928 to facilitate vertical integration . Demand for consumer products made from steel rose in

8760-599: The hardenability of thick sections. High strength low alloy steel has small additions (usually < 2% by weight) of other elements, typically 1.5% manganese, to provide additional strength for a modest price increase. Recent corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations have given rise to a new variety of steel known as Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS). This material is both strong and ductile so that vehicle structures can maintain their current safety levels while using less material. There are several commercially available grades of AHSS, such as dual-phase steel , which

8880-414: The housing market through subsidiary Inland Steel Urban Development Corporation. Foreign steel companies were increasing their presence in the world steel market. In 1971, the role of President of Inland Steel passed to Michael Tenenbaum, who further coordinated the technical aspects of the company and wrote extensively on air pollution and energy conservation. The business became profitable again in 1974, but

9000-424: The lab employed 35 researchers. The lab was located in the open hearth department of the plant, allowing steel to be tested as it was being made. It would be tested for impurities, chemical composition, and physical properties. Researchers also worked on the development of new steel types. The company purchased fifty acres of land along Lake Michigan in 1901 for the development of a plant with an open hearth furnace,

9120-581: The machinery was bought by Ross Buckingham. He was able to acquire six acres of land and $ 20,000 for buildings, but was unable to raise more capital. An acquaintance of Buckingham, George H. Jones, learned of this and became interested. At the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, Jones met Joseph Block of the Block-Pollack Iron Company. Block wanted to be involved in this new business venture, but his business associates did not. Block put up

9240-439: The main production route. At the end of 2008, the steel industry faced a sharp downturn that led to many cut-backs. In 2021, it was estimated that around 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions resulted from the steel industry. Reduction of these emissions are expected to come from a shift in the main production route using cokes, more recycling of steel and the application of carbon capture and storage technology. Steel

9360-480: The mechanical systems. In 1953, Wilfred Sykes responded to the distress call of the SS Henry Steinbrenner . First mate Arthur Ritter and nine other crew entered frigid Lake Superior in one of the ship's lifeboats to look for survivors. They rescued two men. When the crew arrived at Indiana Harbor, each crew member was given a U.S. savings bond. The Lake Carriers Association later presented them with

9480-617: The molten metal rise to the top and are removed when hot air is blown in. In 1908, the firm continued to expand its facilities. The plant at Indiana Harbor got 3 new sheet mills, 2 galvanizing pots, an 8"-11" merchant mill, and a 24" sheet bar billet and mill. Two open hearth furnaces and 8 sheet mills were added in 1910. Land was leased on the Cuyuna Range in Minnesota for iron ore mining. With capital stock increased from $ 2,500,000 to $ 5,000,000, further additions were made that brought

9600-450: The most part, however, p-block elements such as sulphur, nitrogen , phosphorus , and lead are considered contaminants that make steel more brittle and are therefore removed from steel during the melting processing. The density of steel varies based on the alloying constituents but usually ranges between 7,750 and 8,050 kg/m (484 and 503 lb/cu ft), or 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm (4.48 and 4.65 oz/cu in). Even in

9720-585: The motor vessel Steel Chemist from U.S. Steel, which they renamed The Inland. With two cranes mounted on the deck a length of 258 feet, she was capable of delivering steel products to most ports along the Great Lakes. The Inland only served in the fleet for two years, which were without incident. She was sold to Transit Tankers & Terminals, of Quebec, where she was converted to a liquid bulk carrier and rechristened as Transinland. During an extended period of being laid-up, vandals caused serious damage to

9840-446: The movement of dislocations . The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.14% of its weight. Varying the amount of carbon and many other alloying elements, as well as controlling their chemical and physical makeup in the final steel (either as solute elements, or as precipitated phases), impedes the movement of the dislocations that make pure iron ductile, and thus controls and enhances its qualities. These qualities include

9960-458: The name of Port Inland . A new stone-crushing and ship-loading plant was completed in 1930. Inland also secured its own source of coal , a small mining operation at Greenwood Mine, near Marquette, Michigan . A much larger source was secured when land and equipment was purchased from Elkhorn Coal Company. Inland was responsible for introducing a water supply, sanitation, and paved roads into the mine's nearby town of Wheelwright, Kentucky . In 1932

10080-548: The need for any major repairs. L.E. Block was laid up in 1981. In 1986, she was purchased by Basic Marine, Inc. The following year, she was towed to Lake Calumet in South Chicago to be used for cement storage. She sank from being overloaded. In 1988, L. E. Block was towed back to Escanaba. She remained there until she was towed to the Port Colborne scrap yard in 2006. Steamship Philip D. Block , also built at

10200-421: The negotiation table with Inland and the first in the U.S. to serve as chairman of a basic grievance committee of a steelworkers' union. In 1937, "big steel" company U.S. Steel signed a collective bargaining contract. SWOC called for a nationwide strike on the "little steel" companies of Republic, Youngstown, Bethlehem, and Inland due to their refusals to sign contracts and allow collective bargaining. On May 26,

10320-531: The nickname of the "red local." A high frequency of wildcat strikes caused the local to gain a reputation as being militant. In 1936, Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) 1010 was formed by eight members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, & Tin Workers. Among these original eight members was a man named William Young. He would later become the first black person to sit at

10440-453: The other causing significant damage. Joseph L Block came under the ownership of Indiana Harbor Steamship Company and the management of Central Marine Logistics in 1998. Following this, she had minor grounding incidents in 1999 and 2010. In 2006, the crew of Joseph L Block rescued a kayaker who was 32 miles off the shore of Lake Michigan. In 2024, still in service, the Joseph L Block opened

10560-449: The product but only locally relieves strains and stresses locked up within the material. Annealing goes through three phases: recovery , recrystallization , and grain growth . The temperature required to anneal a particular steel depends on the type of annealing to be achieved and the alloying constituents. Quenching involves heating the steel to create the austenite phase then quenching it in water or oil . This rapid cooling results in

10680-759: The production methods of creating wootz steel from the Chera Dynasty Tamils of South India by the 5th century AD. In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace, driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Since the technology was acquired from the Tamilians from South India, the origin of steel technology in India can be conservatively estimated at 400–500 BC. The manufacture of wootz steel and Damascus steel , famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge, may have been taken by

10800-426: The quality of the final product. Today more than 1.6 billion tons of steel is produced annually. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations . The modern steel industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world, but also one of the most energy and greenhouse gas emission intense industries, contributing 8% of global emissions. However, steel

10920-480: The ship's internal structure. She was scrapped in 1980. The first U.S. ship built on the Great Lakes after World War II was the SS Wilfred Sykes. Named after the president of the company at that time, the 678 foot long vessel entered service in 1950. She was designed to operate with greater speed and carrying capacity, and was considered the prototype for all future lake freighters . In her two years as

11040-642: The shipping season as the first commercial vessel to go through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. MV Adam E. Cornelius was leased from the American Steamship Company in 1994. Built in 1973 as the Roger M. Kyes, she was 680 feet in length. She was involved in many incidents that required repairs, most of them groundings. In one notable mishap in 1983, her aft mast struck the I-75 freeway bridge over Rouge River. Roger M. Kyes delivered its cargo, but

11160-536: The shipyard. The Joseph Block grounded at the Death's Door Passage near Green Bay in 1968. Deciding against repairing the extensive damages, the company sold her to Kinsman Marine Transport. She was repaired and entered their service as the George Steinbrenner . The second boat purchased from Hawsgood was the W. R. Woodford, which was a little shorter at 552 feet. She was renamed N. F. Leopold. Like

11280-573: The shipyard. Adam E. Cornelius was returned to American Steamship Company in 1998, and continued service there. Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon with improved strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Because of its high tensile strength and low cost, steel is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world. Steel is used in buildings, as concrete reinforcing rods, in bridges, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, bicycles, machines, electrical appliances, furniture, and weapons. Iron

11400-495: The steel industry. A large project to expand and upgrade facilities began in 1962 and was completed in 1966. The following year, a new research lab was opened in East Chicago and Philip D. Block, Jr. took over the leadership of Inland from cousin Joseph L. Block. Employment at the Indiana Harbor mill rose toward its peak of 25,000 in 1969. In the early 1970s, the steel industry saw a sharp decline in business. Inland began to invest in

11520-409: The steel warehouse business of Joseph T Ryerson & Sons, Inc. Edward L Ryerson became vice chairman of the board at Inland. Milcor Steel Company of Milwaukee was purchased in 1936. In that same year, Inland acquired Wilson & Bennett Manufacturing. The latter became Inland Container Company, which brought the addition of pails, barrels, and food containers to their list of products. By World War II,

11640-401: The steel. At the very high cooling rates produced by quenching, the carbon has no time to migrate but is locked within the face-centred austenite and forms martensite . Martensite is a highly strained and stressed, supersaturated form of carbon and iron and is exceedingly hard but brittle. Depending on the carbon content, the martensitic phase takes different forms. Below 0.2% carbon, it takes on

11760-561: The steel. The early modern crucible steel industry resulted from the invention of Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Blister steel (made as above) was melted in a crucible or in a furnace, and cast (usually) into ingots. The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer 's process in 1855, the raw material for which was pig iron. His method let him produce steel in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel came to be used for most purposes for which wrought iron

11880-423: The strike shut down operations at Indiana Harbor. Inland workers were allowed to strike without police intervention. On May 30, a large number of members from Local 1010 arrived in South Chicago to support the striking workers at Republic Steel. In what became known as the " Memorial Day Massacre ", Chicago police opened fire on striking workers and their supporters. Ten men were killed and 125 more were injured. Among

12000-561: The technology of that time, such qualities were produced by chance rather than by design. Natural wind was used where the soil containing iron was heated by the use of wood. The ancient Sinhalese managed to extract a ton of steel for every 2 tons of soil, a remarkable feat at the time. One such furnace was found in Samanalawewa and archaeologists were able to produce steel as the ancients did. Crucible steel , formed by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon (typically in

12120-582: The total of furnaces owned to 2 modern blast furnaces and 6 open hearth furnaces. In 1911 in Plant 1 the bolt and rivet shop started operation, and the Inland Steamship Company was formed. On April 4, 1912, the Madeline No. 2 furnace was installed. She was placed 366 feet north of, and was slightly larger than, No. 1. In 1916, No. 2 Open Hearth started in Plant 2 with six furnaces along with a 32" roughing mill. The completely electrified Indiana Harbor plant #2

12240-525: The upper carbon content of steel, beyond which is cast iron. When carbon moves out of solution with iron, it forms a very hard, but brittle material called cementite (Fe 3 C). When steels with exactly 0.8% carbon (known as a eutectoid steel), are cooled, the austenitic phase (FCC) of the mixture attempts to revert to the ferrite phase (BCC). The carbon no longer fits within the FCC austenite structure, resulting in an excess of carbon. One way for carbon to leave

12360-549: Was acquired next to the existing plant. Also acquired was the Laura ore mine on the Mesabi range . The company's fifth open hearth furnace had just been completed, and the daily production capacity of open hearth steel was 500 tons. The "Madeline" blast furnace, with a rated capacity of 350 tons/day, was blown in on August 31, 1907. A blast furnace heats iron ore, limestone, and coke to a temperature of at least 3000 degrees. Impurities in

12480-778: Was an integrated steel company that reduced iron ore to steel. It specialized in the basic open hearth steelmaking process. This produced a steel that was resistant to extreme temperature, unlike those made from the Bessemer or acid open hearth processes. Its primary mill, built in 1901, was situated on a large landfill protruding out into Lake Michigan next to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal . The steel mill's shoreline location enabled it to take in steelmaking commodities, such as iron ore, coal , and limestone , by lake freighter . Throughout much of its existence, Inland Steel operated its own fleet of bulk carrier vessels. The company's union, Steel Workers Organizing Committee Local 1010,

12600-521: Was built in New Carlisle , Indiana the following year. In 1988, the parties entered into a second joint venture with the construction of the I/N Kote steel sheet galvanizing facility at the same site. The Inland Department of Safety, Sanitation, and Relief implemented a program for workplace safety in 1911. It was credited for reducing time off work due to accidents by one-third. In that same year,

12720-577: Was completed in 1917. On January 16, 44 Koppers coke ovens commenced production, bringing the company's total to 130 ovens, with a Koppers by-product and benzol recovery plant. On April 24, blast furnace Madeline No. 3, with a rated capacity of 500-600 tons/day, was blown in. Ten open hearth furnaces, 20 soaking pits, a 40" blooming mill, and new docks were also installed in the second plant. In 1928, Inland purchased limestone and dolomite quarries in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This became Inland Lime & Stone Company. A new harbor and docks were built and given

12840-718: Was developed in Southern India and Sri Lanka in the 1st millennium BCE. Metal production sites in Sri Lanka employed wind furnaces driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Large-scale wootz steel production in India using crucibles occurred by the sixth century BC, the pioneering precursor to modern steel production and metallurgy. High-carbon steel was produced in Britain at Broxmouth Hillfort from 490–375 BC, and ultrahigh-carbon steel

12960-437: Was established in 1936. Viewed as the most left-leaning of all steelworkers' unions, Local 1010 focused on improving workplace conditions and bargaining for benefits and wage increases for employees. On the occasions that negotiations failed, Local 1010 organized repeated labor strikes . Inland Steel was founded in 1893 through the purchase of a small failed Chicago Heights steel mill, Chicago Steel Works. After its closing,

13080-523: Was formed in 1934. Employees participated in team and individual competitive sports such as bowling, horseshoes, golf, baseball, softball, basketball, and tennis. In 1936, a medical clinic was set up at Indiana Harbor to serve workers and their families. Contributory group insurance was offered to employees beginning in 1930, with life insurance policies being the first. A pension plan was implemented in 1936. Sickness, accident, and hospitalization insurances were added in 1940. Death and dismemberment insurance

13200-509: Was formerly used. The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process ) was an improvement to the Bessemer process, made by lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus. Another 19th-century steelmaking process was the Siemens-Martin process , which complemented the Bessemer process. It consisted of co-melting bar iron (or steel scrap) with pig iron. These methods of steel production were rendered obsolete by

13320-431: Was included in 1942. In 1960, all insurance benefits became noncontributory. An early retirement plan, based on age and length of employment, was put into effect in 1966. Beginning in 1970, employees received a major medical insurance plan. Dental benefits were added one year later. Vision was included in 1979. Inland's union, Local 1010, was viewed as the most left-leaning and radical of the steelworkers' unions, earning it

13440-735: Was laid up in 1981. In 1985, she was sold to the scrap yard in Port Colborne . The navigational equipment was removed, and the Philip D. Block was sold to be scrapped in Brazil in 1986. Along with the W. W. Holloway (formerly the SS Henry A. Hawgood ), she was taken under tow by the Jantar. After a journey of about six weeks, they arrived in Recife and were scrapped. In 1946, Inland purchased

13560-482: Was named president. Shareholders voted to increase stock from $ 2,000,000 to $ 2,500,000. Inland began to secure their own primary materials with the lease of land in Minnesota's Laura Iron Mine from 1906. The following year marked the debut of the Madeline No. 1 furnace. Named after the daughter of Philip D Block, it was the first blast furnace in northern Indiana. On December 6, 1914, founder Joseph Block died. In 1917, during World War I , Inland Steel's production broke

13680-404: Was no longer fully vertically integrated. Operations at the Indiana Harbor steel mill were reduced to running at 70 percent of steelmaking capacity. Inland Steel entered into two joint venture partnerships with Nippon Steel to create the I/N Tek cold rolling mill and the I/N Kote steel sheet galvanizing facility. This strategic partnership gave the company access to Japanese automakers based in

13800-438: Was produced globally, with 630,000,000 tonnes (620,000,000 long tons; 690,000,000 short tons) recycled. Modern steels are made with varying combinations of alloy metals to fulfil many purposes. Carbon steel , composed simply of iron and carbon, accounts for 90% of steel production. Low alloy steel is alloyed with other elements, usually molybdenum , manganese, chromium, or nickel, in amounts of up to 10% by weight to improve

13920-757: Was produced in the Netherlands from the 2nd-4th centuries AD. The Roman author Horace identifies steel weapons such as the falcata in the Iberian Peninsula , while Noric steel was used by the Roman military . The Chinese of the Warring States period (403–221 BC) had quench-hardened steel, while Chinese of the Han dynasty (202 BC—AD 220) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, thus producing

14040-475: Was started in 1962 with the construction of a new 80-inch continuous hot strip mill. Inland also got its first oxygen-steelmaking shop. The first open-hearth shop, which had been in operation for 60 years, was closed. A new research facility in East Chicago was completed in 1967. In 1980, Madeline No. 7, at the time the largest blast furnace in the Western Hemisphere , was brought online along with

14160-707: Was still in service as of 2024. At 760 feet in length, the SS Edward L. Ryerson entered service in 1960. Because she was designed for optimal service in transporting iron ore, the cargo hold of the Edward L Ryerson was smaller than other ships of comparable overall size and had a square bottom. In 1998, she was acquired by the Indiana Harbor Steamship Company and was under management of Central Marine Logistics. Edward L Ryerson entered her first long-term layup around that time, which lasted until 2006. In 2009, she entered another period of inactivity. In 1962, Inland purchased

14280-556: Was unable to clear the bottom of the bridge on the way out. She returned to the dock, and a work crew was called in to remove the mast. In 1989, she was renamed Adam E. Cornelius . While leased by Inland, she retained her name, but was repainted with the Inland paint scheme and its logo. Shortly after starting with Inland, repairs were needed on a ballast tank that was punctured in a grounding. In 1997, ice damage caused severe flooding in her forward compartments, necessitating another trip to

14400-495: Was undertaken to modernize existing facilities, acquire more resources, and erect new buildings. Clarence B. Randall was named president of Inland in 1952. A Canadian subsidiary, Caland Ore Company, was founded in 1953. In 1956–1957, the firm constructed a new corporate headquarters, the Inland Steel Building , in downtown Chicago. Joseph L. Block was named as company president in 1959. The 1960s began profitably for

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