Technical Data

Metallurgical Terms

White-Heat Process.

(See Cast Iron).

White Iron.

(See Cast Iron).

Wolfram.

An alternative name for tungsten.

Woody Fracture.

(See Fracture).

Work Hardening.

The increase in hardness and strength produced by cold plastic deformation or mechanical working.

Wrought Iron.

A commercial iron which was produced by many different processes, as for example, Puddling, Walloon, Lancashire Open Hearth, or by a variant of any of these. The chief characteristic of wrought iron is that the  temperatures employed in its production are too low to render it fluid and its condition is never more than pasty or semi-fused. Hence it contains an appreciable quantity of slag. On hammering, the metal granules are elongated and weld together whilst much of the slag is squeezed out, but some remains intermingled with the iron in thread-like form. Wrought iron has now been replaced by mild steel.