DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET QUALITY METALLURGY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600350654-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 654
• Publication Date: November 7, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO ?ROADCASTS CD NO.
SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
Economic -Iron and steel
Monthly periodical
Moscow
Feb 1947 -Apr 1948
Russian
ma oocurarr eorrura urorunor uarnra rra ranoru oanra
or tna oe~reo anaa nmu rra rmua or unor~a teT so
s. a. e., a ?ro n, u aruoao. m *aarauuwr or m aotunor
or m carnrn a ar- urru m u ururnouno -aator a rao?
rurrao n Saar. unooocnor or Tru roar a nrornmr.
SVIJRIit
INFORMATION 1947-1948
DATE DIST. ~ tee 1950
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
umbers in parentheses refer to appended list of sources
Prewar Growth
At the beginning of the First Five-Year Plan (1927-28), the USSR produced
90,000 tone of quality rolled metal, constituting 2.6 percent of the total rolled
metal. output. In this period, quality rolled metal vas produced primarily Pram
carbon steel, alloy steel still being imported for the most part. In 1929-30,
the import of quality steels was 21.5 percent of total consumption. At the same.
time, 62 percent of automobile and tractor steel was imported, and such steels as
stainless, heat-resistant, and ball bearing were practically all imported.
By 1935, the .~~tpn't of quality steel of the "Elektrostsl'" Plant wss ae
high as 120,000 tons per year. In 1925, "Elektrostal "' produced 27 grades of
quality steel, for the most part tool steel; in 1931; it produced 59 grades;
and rip 1934?, 100 grades, including stainless; ball~~?;earing, structural, and
magnet. An additional? 94 ? grades of steel were prod~ic~d''here e~iperimentally. ~ ~'
. The output of quality rolled metal in the USSR from 1930 to 1940 increased
more than 13 times and the percentage of quality rolled metal, despite the sharp
increase in output of rolled metal as a whole, increased from 5.2 to 21+.4?
The old Verkh-Isetskiy Plant,~once.a producer of roofing tin, pickled iron,
and~a small quantity of dynamo iron, during the First Five-Year Plan considerably
increased its output of dynamo steel and organized production of transformer steel.
The plant has also successRtlly Fulfilled orders for electrical. engineering steel.
In 1929, the Stalingrad "Srasnyy Oktyabr'" Plant was designated the main
metallurgical base for the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. By 1934, almost all steel
smelted by the plant was quality, with commercial grades constituting less than
0.5 percent. .Output of rolled products from alloy steel increased from 5.1 per-
cent in 1930?to 35.3 percent in 1934, and the plant was transformed into 'the
largest supplier of quality and high-quality steel for 'tihe automobile, aviation,
and other brancHes?of industry.
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sy 1933, the percentage of quality steel in the output of the open-hearth
shop of the "Serp i molot" Plant was 94.7, and of quality grades of wire in the
steel-wire shop, 99 percent.
Prior to 1930, the Serov Metallurgical plant produced rails and rolled sections.
In 1930 it was converted to output of quality steels. From 1930 to 1933, output
of quality rolled carbon steel increased from 13,000 to 68,400 tons. The plant
since then has adopted production of a large volume of calibrated steel and the
smelting and rolling of a number of grades of alloy steel.
"Dneprospetsstal?" since its inception has become one of the largest centers
for. production of rolled, forge; and calibrated electric steel, and also pro-
duces carbon and alloy tool steels. "Zsperozhstal "' until the war produced high-
,bquelity hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheen for the automobile, aviation, and other
branches of industry.
In 1937, the USSR smelted 860,000 tons of electric steel, 4.8 percent of the
total quantity of all steel smelted. In 1940, the percentage of alloy rolled metal
in total rolled metal production was 6.3.(1)
S~artime Adjustments
The changes made during the war and the demands of wartime production led
to a great increase in the output of quality rolled metal, particularly alloy
a?olled metal. In 1943, the share of quality rolled metal in total rolled-metal
output was 62.2 percent, as compared with 22.4 percent in 1940; and the share
of alloy reLled metal in total rolled metal production was 20.6 percent, as com-
pared with 6.3 percent in 1940. Despite the losses of plants producing quality
metal, the production of quality rolled metal, particularly that of alloy steel,
was considerably higher in 1943 than in arty prewar year.
Among the technical achievements made during the war is the work on con-
verting the smelting of a number of grades of high-alloy steel from electric fur-
naces to basic open-hearth furnaces. After the evacuation of the "Dneprospetsstal "'
and "Elektrostalp1 pl.a.nts, both of which smelted high-alloy electric steel, it was
necessary to organized .production of this steel in basic open hearths. A special
technology for the steel-smelting process and subsequent conversions was developed,
and it was decided to produce an open=hearth steel with the technical specifications
01 electric steel, in order not to decrease the quality of the finished products.
The Zlatoust Plant and the Plant imeni Serov played particularly important roles
in this work. The rich experience in the production, control, sad utilization of
high-quality basic open-hearth steel showed that with strict observance of neces-
sary technology, this open-hearth steel answered the technical specifications for
electric steel, although it was not quite up to the latter in certain respects.
.Particular difficulties were encountered in the adoption of basic open-hearth
smelting of the most needed high-alloy structural steels; especially grades 18KhPM
(V) A and 25KhNM(V)A. These difficulties were overcome, and it was possible to
start regular smelting of the metal, which was only;, slightly inferior to electric-
smelted steel (chiefly in the resiliency in cross-section tests), and was satis-
factory used in production of the most demanding types of products.
Under wartime economic conditions, particularly great importance was given
to the decrease in consumption of alloys in smelting open-hearth steel. Alloy.
waste products began to be used in open-hearth charges. The technology for smelt-
ing chrome-bearing charges in high-alumina slags was developed and made possible
the use of up to 80 percent chromium of the charge. Metals with smaller scarce
alloy content were successfully used in place of certain high-alloy steels. In
the Postwar Five-Year Plan period, production of low-alloy open-hearth steels will
have an important glace. These steels will have high durability and corrosion re-
sistance and will be smelted from naturally alloyed pig iron. Smelting of a number
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CONFIDENTIAL
~~INEINENiI,~t
50X1-HUM
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of high-alloy steels and highly siliceous transformer iron with low watt losses
well begin in open-hearth furnaces.(1)
Role of Eastern Plants
In October 1941, output of quality rolled metal at eastern plants was more
than twice the output in these same plants in June 1941; in absolute volume,
it almost reached the entire prewar production of the USSR, while in 1944, it
exceeded it 3.7 times. As a result, the proportion of quality rolled metal
output at eastern plants in 1944 was 66 percent, as compared with 26 percent in
1940, and at the Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk combines, 71-73 percent, as compared
with 10-12 percent in 1940.
The Kuznetsk and Magnitogorsk combines played a particularly great role
during the war in output of qua=lty steels. Before the war, both combines pro-
duced common grades of steel primarily and were equipped for this purpose alone
In 2-3 months, both combines were reconstructed for production of armor plate,
with a radical change in the technology used by special armor plate plants. In
addition to armor plate, they started smelting a number of the more important
grades of alloy steels in the large open-hearth furnaces.
In 1944 the production of steel pipe in the East increased more than four
times in comparison with prewar putput. In 1945, smelting of pig iron and steel
and production of rolled products at eastern plants increased more than 12 times
in comparison with prewar output as the result to a considerable extent, of im-
proved utilization of existing equipment. 'u,. ~?ni~t
With the German occupation of the South in 191x1, the Zaporozh'ye Plant, larg-
est of the ferroalloy plants, which produced ferrochrome and ferrosilicon, stopped
operation. Production of ferromanganese had~also been concentrated in bleat
furnaces of the southern plants which used Chiatura and Nikopol' manganese ores.
The blast-furnace workers of the Plant imeni Serov were the first in the history
of metallurgy to start smelting ferrochrome in blast furnaces; this process was
soon adopted at the Nizhniy Tagil Plant. Blast-furnace workers at the Magnitogorsk
Combine started smelting ferromanganese from local Ural manganese ores in the
combine?s large blast furnaces. The rapid completion of the Kuznetsk and Aktyubinsk
ferroalloy plants ensured the flow of ferroalloys:s throughout the war years.
The supply of manganese ore to eastern plants was of extreme importance. A
number of local deposits were prospected, new mines built, and smelting of ferro-
manganese from the relatively lean ores of the East were all realized in a short
time. Iluring the war, output of manganese ore in the East increased three times.
Collection and reprocessing of ferrous scrap was of great aid to metallurgy
during the war. In 1944, procurement of metal scrap (including captured) was 91
percent of the prewar level. Eight new plants for reprocessing oversize .scrap
were builty making .it pos?ible~~y 1944 to decrbaee'~th~ bdliistl~i?ti'dn'of fresh pig''
iron.in~smelting~steel_ to^546 kilograms per ton~as"ctlm14s1r~13'~~$1~"620 'in 1940,'?'and
to increase 'the. consumptim of metallic"sdditives:.td?~~198cgi~d~r8sls ~per? ton of con-
verter pig iron, as compared with 124 kilograms per ton il.{~ligk~p,
In 1950; eastern, plants will be producing OltpeficPi-t(4~i,.~~.r ip~g iron, (instr~ad
of 29 percent as in 1440), 51 percent of the ste 1 4~~s~~e)d of 3)F percent), end 51
percent of rolled metal (instead of 33 percent).(1)
Postwar Prospects
With the conversion to peacetime economy, the absolute consumption and per-
centage of quality steel in total production decreased, since reconstruction
necessitated large quantities of common grades of steel. At the same time, the
assortment of grades of quality steel and rolled metal had to be expanded con-
siderably. At present, Soviet metallurgy produces nearly 400 grades of quality
and high-quality metal.(1)
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CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDEHI~~~
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~OM~ID~h~1A~
CONFIDEN"~IAL
To provide the necessary increase in output of the automobile industry,
shipbuilding, electric-machine building, rind instrument building, quality metal-
lurgy must by the end of the Five-Year Plan increase the output of pig iron 315
percent over 1945, steel 266 percent, and rolled metal 237 percent.
The largest of the new projects of quality metallurgy is the Chelyabinsk
Metallurgical Plant. In 1950, when its construction will be completed, it will
have four coke batteries, three blast furnaces, two open-hearth shops with 13
furnaces, two electric-smelting shops with ten large electric furnaces, two
blooming mills, a group of bar and section mills, heat-treatment shop, and a
large refractories shop. The ore base of the plant will be Bakal ore, which
will be treated in an ore-treatment combine now under construction. The Bakal
ores will be dried in reWerberatory fltrnaces. Two new sintering lines will be
built, and productivity of the two existing lines will be increased. Flue
dust will be used in the sinter plant. Siderites will be mined and prepared
for sintering and for smelting in the crude stage, the possibility of which will
be tested by experiments.
The work of rebuilding "Zaporozhstal "' should in particular be speeded up
since it will be the chief aupnlier of high-quality sheet for the automobile in-
dustry. In 1946, the "Krasnyy Oktyabr "' Plant had already achieved more than
half its prewar productivity, and complete restoration is expected next year.
The Stalino and "Dueprospetsstal "' plants are also under peconstruction, in the
South. For the remaining plants of "Glavspetsstal'," the following mayor pro-
,jects are listed: completion of construction of open-hearth shop No 2 at the
Zlatoust Plant, construction of a concentration plant, scrap-sorting base, and
coke battery at the Plant imeni Serov, and completion of the :6heet-rolaing mill
at the Asha Plant.
An important measure for saving large quantities of liquid fuel is conver-
sion of the open-hearth and soaking furnaces of the "Krasnyy Oktyabr "' Plant to
Archadinskiy natural gas.
The electrode industry must increase the quality of electrodes, consumption
of which is excessively great at present. Electric metallurgy is supplying the
most important high-alloy steels for all branches of industry, particularly de-
fense, and therefore should not have to depend on imports of electrodes. To
improve the technology of smelting the more important grades of steel, work is
being advanced on the use of diffusion deoxidation and special deoxidizers, in-
cluding silicocalcium, silicozircon, and others.
In the new Five-Year Plan, quality metallurgy plants mist start production
of a large number of new types of products, in particular coal-rolled lacquered
plate and cold-rolled transformer iron. The automobile industry has presented
the industry with the complex task of organizing production of automobile sheet
up to 2,000 millimeters wide with a good finished surface desigDed for extremely
deep drawing. Output of highly durable steel conveyer bands will also be organized
on a mass-production scale. Production of burnished and polished steel (silver
steel), particularly that with high precision for the clock and medical indus-
tries, is being considerably expanded. Special precision equipment will therefore
have to be supplied to shops producing polished steel.
Production of special precision alloys of the Permalloy type, including Per-
minvar, Elinvar, Kovar, etc., will be organized.(2) At present, the USSR has a
widely developing production of various types of precision alloys, particularly
in the following institutions and plants: Central Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy,
Scientific Research Institute of the Electric Industry, in the Ministry of Avia-
tion Industry and the communications equipment industry, and at the "Elektrostal',"
Verkh-Isetskiy, and "Serp i molot" Plants, Plant imeai Molotovc;(Leningrad), and
Kol'chuginskiy Plant imeni Ordzhonikidze. However, ?thie industry is still not
meeting sll demands. In the near future, construction will begin on nex bases for
production of such al.7oys, primarily in the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy and in
the Ministry of the Electric Industry.(1)
~ONFIDENTIA~
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Smelting of tool, stainless, and heat-resistant steels and also high alloy
alloys for special purposes will be much expanded. Production of pure alloys 'and
ferroalloys will be expanded for this purpose. Output of metallic chrome, tung-
sten, molybdenum, ferroniobium, electrolytic manganese, metallic silicon, and
highly pure nickel of the Mondovskiy type will be particularly stressed.(2)
Prospects for development of the comparatively new Soviet industry producing
spring steel strip and plant springs are tremendous, since in the iamtiediate future,
it must completely satisfy the requirements of domestic plants for various types
of plant springs for clocks and similar mechanisms. The government has given
the task of starting spring production on first-class equipment to a number of
plants, and this task is being met successfully. During 1946-1+7, the spring
shop of the Plant imeni Molotov started output of a number of springs for clock
plants, 3a particular 0.12 x 1.5-, 0.21 x1.5-, and 0.18 x 1.35-millimeter springs.
(3)
The Min'yar Plant, Chelyabinsk Obleat, produces cold-rolled bands of various
sizes form iron-chrome-aluminum alloys No 1 and 2, developed by I. I Korailov.
These alloys are distinguished by their high electrical resistance and heat resist-
ance and are used in the form of bands And wire for heating elements in electric
furnaces. By their physical properties, they can substitute for mdckel'~ch~ome:
alloys which have a high content of scarce nickel.(4)
SOURCES
1. Stal', Vol VII, No 11, Nov 47
2. Stal', Vol VII, No 2, Feb 47
3..Stal?, Vol VIII, No 4, Apr 48
4. 3tal', Vol VII, No 8, Aug 47
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