What is a Steel‎‏ Billet?

Steel, made fresh and still shaped like a rectangle or metal bar, is called a steel billet. Steel must first be processed into usable pieces before being sold on the market. In its pure form, raw steel will not be usable, so it must be cast into shape.

Steel billets are not functional until they are formed into more practical shapes and sizes. Although placed in steel furnaces, they require a series of casting and forming operations, such as cold and hot process, milling and cutting, before being used for various applications. However, the unformed billets can be used in strike currency, such as coins and reserves.

Compared with already processed steel bars and products, steel billets have specific and definitive characteristics. Billets have a distinct grain structure,allowing the metal to be processed in an inseparable manner. Steel billets are also known to have high flexibility and elasticity, especially when in temperatures that vary during molding and forming.

Before being used for various purposes, steel billets must go through a series of production processes while they are fresh raw materials. Billets are produced by freezing molten liquid and then exposed to extremely low temperatures so that the metal can be shaped and strengthened in chemical formation. The physical specifications of the metal are manipulated by the temperature, which can increase its persistence and strength. The following processes will prepare the curved mold design of the metal in a way that it can be adjusted to the allotted space provided by other machines, which complete the final procedures.

It is important that a steel billet be cast, as this affects the quality of the steel product once it undergoes the final processing steps, including the flexibility and strength of the billet. Billets undergo many tests before they are sold. Billets are rejected when they develop cracks and holes during the cooling and heating process; defects make the products worthless on their own.

ASTM steel standards are influential in classifying, categorizing and defining the material, chemical, mechanical and metallurgical specifications of different steels.

ASTM A314 Standard Specification for Stainless Steel Billets and Bars for Forging
ASTM A484/A484M Standard Specification for General Requirements for Stainless Steel Bars, Billets, Shapes, and Forgings
ASTM A604/A604M-07 Standard Practice for Macroetch Testing of Consumable Electrode Remelted Steel Bars and Billets
ASTM A646/A646M Standard Specification for Premium Quality Alloy Steel Blooms and Billets for Aircraft and Aerospace Forgings