Semi-finished casting products are intermediate castings produced in a foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

 that need further processing before being a finished good

Finished good

Finished goods are goods that have completed the manufacturing process but have not yet been sold or distributed to the end user.-Manufacturing:Manufacturing has three classes of inventory:#Raw material#Work in process#Finished goods...

. There are four types: ingots, billets, blooms, and slabs.

Ingot

Ingots are large rough castings designed for storage and transportation. The shape usually resembles a rectangle or square with generous fillets

Fillet (mechanics)

In mechanical engineering, a fillet is a concave easing of an interior corner of a part design. A rounding of an exterior corner is called a "round" or a "chamfer".-Applications:...

. They are tapered, usually with the big-end-down.

Billet

A billet is a length of metal that has a round or square cross-section, with an area less than 36 in2. Billets are created directly via continuous casting

Continuous casting

Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form...

 or extrusion

Extrusion

Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...

 or indirectly via rolling

Rolling

Rolling is a combination of rotation and translation of that object with respect to a surface , such that the two are in contact with each other without sliding. This is achieved by a rotational speed at the cylinder or circle of contact which is equal to the translational speed...

 an ingot. Billets are further processed via profile rolling and drawing

Drawing (manufacturing)

Drawing is a metalworking process which uses tensile forces to stretch metal. It is broken up into two types: sheet metal drawing and wire, bar, and tube drawing. The specific definition for sheet metal drawing is that it involves plastic deformation over a curved axis...

. Final products include bar stock

Bar stock

Bar stock, also colloquially known as billet, is a common form of raw purified metal, used by industry to manufacture metal parts and products....

 and wire

Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

.

Centrifugal casting

Centrifugal casting (industrial)

Centrifugal casting or rotocasting is a casting technique that is typically used to cast thin-walled cylinders. It is noted for the high quality of the results attainable, particularly for precise control of their metallurgy and crystal structure...

 is also used to produce short circular tubes as billets, usually to achieve a precise metallurgical structure. They are commonly used as cylinder sleeves

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

 where the inner and outer diameters are ground

Grinding (abrasive cutting)

Grinding is an abrasive machining process that uses a grinding wheel as the cutting tool.A wide variety of machines are used for grinding:* Hand-cranked knife-sharpening stones * Handheld power tools such as angle grinders and die grinders...

 and machined to length. Because their size is not modified significantly, they are not always classified as semi-finished casting products.

Bloom

Blooms are similar to billets except the cross-sectional area is greater than 36 in2. Blooms are usually further processed via rotary piercing

Rotary piercing

Rotary piercing is a hot working metalworking process for forming thick-walled seamless tubing. There are two types: the Mannesmann process and Stiefel process.-Mannesmann process:...

, structural shape rolling

Structural shape rolling

Structural shape rolling, also known as shape rolling and profile rolling, is a metal forming process where structural shapes are passed through rollers to bend or deform the workpiece to a desired shape while maintaining a constant cross-section...

 and profile rolling. Common final products include structural shapes, rails

Rail tracks

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

, rods, and seamless pipes.

Slab

A slab is a length of metal that is rectangular in cross-section. It is created directly from continuous casting or indirectly by rolling an ingot. Slabs are usually further processed via flat rolling

Rolling (metalworking)

In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through a pair of rolls. Rolling is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, then the process is termed as hot rolling...

, skelping, and pipe rolling. Common final products include sheet metal

Sheet metal

Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...

, plates, strip metal, pipes

Pipe (material)

A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...

, and tubes.