Metal & Steel Factory Ishapore

Metal & Steel Factory Ishapore made a small beginning on 05th of April, 1905, as a
foundry functioning under the management of Gun & Shell Factory Cossipore, at Ishapore.

Since then, factory’s march has really been a glorious one. Factory is the pioneer in
production of steel in our country. Many alloys and special steels, non-ferrous metals & alloys
were developed by our factory for the 1st time in the country.

The unique thing about MSF is that it encompasses almost all kind of metallurgical activities
– ferrous & non – ferrous , castings & forgings extrusion & drop forgings, hot rolling & cold rolling,
pressure dies casting, flow forming and Heat Treatment. It is indeed a one stop shop for all
metallurgical needs.

The gradual evolution of gun steels to the present stage, starting from cast gun barrel, then
forged plain carbon steel, then Nickel Steel, Nickel – chromium Steel, Nickel – Chromium –
Molybdenum Steel with grain refining elements, followed by adoption of secondary refining
techniques to control size and shape of inclusions in steel by processes of vacuum degassing
Electro Steel Refining etc. has been done at MSF over the years.

The factory has always been vibrant and dynamic and has kept itself modern with
acquisition of the contemporary technologies to cope up with developments. From the days of
Acid & Basic open Hearth Furnace in 1908 to the installation of Electric Arc Furnace, Vacuum
Degassing, Open Die Forging in 1975, Electro Slag Refining in 1998, Radial Forging Plant in
2005.

There has been a desire to have best of the technology to produce products of high
quality standards. The urge to keep itself modernized and mantra of uncompromising quality
standards was the reason for MSF being on TOP since its inception.

To meet the present challenges, the factory is also in the process of installing two state of
arts Electro Slag Refining Plants, augmenting machining facilities and acquiring state of art
quality control equipments etc. At the same time skill and knowledge updation is being given
the required thrust.

Factory has already implemented Industry 4.0 in some areas. Process is on for
implementing Industry 4.0 fully in the factory.
 From producing high speed Steel & rust-less Steel to producing alloy Steel for Dhanush &
Sarang barrels MSF has come a long way. I am sure, with all these efforts the factory will be
able to meet the challenges of competitive market environment and exacting quality
requirements of the future.

MSF ACHIEVEMENTS

• Manufactures more than 80 different grade of steel for ordnance and ammunition hardware.

• Successfully developed and supplied 5 grades of Brass material for Dhanush gun system.

• Successfully developed & supplied 4 nos. of 155 mm x 52 cal MGS barrel forgings to OFC
for export to BAE systems, Sweden in FY 2018-19.

• First time developed more than 20 grades of steel for 60 different types of ordnance
components of Sharang Gun System and supplied to OFC & FGK within short period of
time.

• With better process control and stringent monitoring, quality of various products has
improved and resulted in reduction of rejection. Due to this, UAR %-age of 178 items had
been revised downwards.

• Manufacturing of High Chrome nickel Steel i.e. EN–56D & EN-57 (Martensitic steel) is very
complex process due to tendency of cracks. MSF has taken the challenge and developed
the item and supplied to OF Ambajhari for development of Fuze – 24A for 68mm Aero rocket
and piston rod of Dhanush gun system for GCF respectively.

• Procurement of Hot work tool steel i.e. H-13 and H-10 Grade has always been a challenge
for Ordnance Factories, due to complexity in manufacturing process and limited sources in
the market. MSF has taken the challenge and successfully developed and supplying to
various OFs.

• Successfully developed and established Heat Treatment and Machining process of 250 kg
Aerial Bomb body.
R&D ACTIVITIES

Following are the few developments done by MSF in recent past.

• Micro-alloyed Ultra High Strength (1750 MPa) Steel – Patent granted (no. 235705).

• 2000 MPa steel with 50J min. toughness at room temperature – Patent filed (no.
201731030408 dtd. 20.08.2017).

• Developed and supplied 12mm dia special steel round –which is an import substitute of input
material for 12.7mm API bullet manufactured by OFV

• Developed and supplied Rolled steel round 60mm dia as per specification GOST B 10230-
75, an import substitute for MANGO project at HAPP.

• 14.5 mm Cartridge case has been developed successfully

• Bulk Production clearance (BPC) received for manufacturing of CED (Cathod Electrod
Deposition) Coated 30mm Cartridge Case of AK-630 ammunition against the existing Zinc
Coating method.

• Developed 30 mm KCB lacquered Steel Cartridge Case for BAE system.

• Developed and supplied 20 mm Steel Cartg. Case for AMR to OFK.

• Developed and supplied Cartridge Case (empty) for AGS-17 to OFCH.

 Infrastructural Facilities at MSF
Metal & Steel Factory, an ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management System), ISO
45001:2018 (Occupational Health & Safety Management System) , ISO 9001:2015 (Quality
Management System) & ISO 50001:2011( Energy Management System) certified organization is
the Flag-Bearer for all developments and production of materials required for almost all military
hardware in India.

CORE COMPETENCE

• Secondary Steel Melting

• Ultra clean steel
• Forging – Open Die, Close Die, Radial Forging
• Machining
• Heat Treatment
• Deep Drawing
• Melting & Extrusion of Copper Alloys

CUTTING EDGES

 20/22 MT Electric Arc Furnace with bottom pouring facility for ingot casting.

 20 MT Laddle Furnace and Vacuum Degassing (LFVD) plant with Argon purging, Al-cored
wire
injection, CaSi injection and deep vacuum treatment for achieving Hydrogen content less
than 2 ppm, Oxygen upto 20 ppm and Nitrogen upto 70 ppm.

 10Ton capacity short collar mould type Electro Slag Re-melting /Refining ESR
plant was commissioned in the year 1998 .

 Two more ESR plant of 10 and 12 ton capacity single stationary mould with State of the Art

facility to produce Ultra Clean Steel are under commissioning.

 PLC controlled Forging Press of 2650 MT having fully integrated twin manipulators for
producing differential cross-sectional solid forgings up to 12MT.

 CNC Controlled Radial Forging Plant capable of producing solid forgings up to 11m length,
7MT single weight, 80mm – 400 mm outside dia, having 12000KN x 4 hammers forging
impact. It can also deliver various sections and profiles with high degrees of isometric
mechanical properties, near net shaped forgings for a variety of heavy engineering
applications.

 Hot Rolling Mill to produce Steel round/flat products in dia ranging from 70mm to 25 mm.

 Drop Hammers for Closed Die forgings up to 8kg weight.

 Mechanical and Hydraulic Presses up to 500 MT for deep drawing operation used for
production of Steel cartridge cases starting from making of deep drawing quality steel.
 Horizontal Upset Forging Press (1200MT) for the forged products like torsion shafts
required for automobiles, truck and heavy vehicles.

 Various CNC controlled Deep Hole Boring machines, Heavy Duty Lathes up to maximum
capacity 12 m length and 10 Ton weight and 650 mm dia for machining large and medium
caliber gun barrel forgings and CNC Turning Centres for other ordnance components.

 Heat Treatment Facilities with electrically operated Pit Type furnaces capable of
accommodating jobs up to 8m length with oil/water quenching, 1200/1500 MT Straightening
Press and Horizontal PLC operated Annealing furnace of 45MT capacity as well as
batteries of Hardening, Annealing/ Tempering furnaces for achieving desired properties for
defence application.

 Modern Tool Room along with CNC turning centres, CNC vertical Milling Machines, CNC
Cylindrical Grinding Machines , 5 axis CNC EDM wire-cut machines for manufacturing
various tools/ fixtures and test pieces as per National and International standards. Tool
design and development is done in house with integrated CAD facilities.

 Coreless MF induction Melting Furnace capacity 1200MT per annum for producing high
quality copper based alloys ( 60:40 & 70:30 leaded brass billets/pigs, Mn-brass etc) for
different applications.

 Draw Benches for ferrous and non-ferrous bar products and Pressure Die Casting
machine for zinc based alloys.

 1250 Ton Direct Extrusion Press with Induction Billet Heater to produce Brass Rods &
Tubes.
QUALITY EXCELLENCE

Commitment of MSF to excellence is derived from its quality management systems and practices.
In its work functions , accredited and certified to the current international standard ISO 9001:2015
(Quality Management System) and ISO/IEC 17025: 2005(NABL accreditation of LAB) MSF has
carved a niche as a quality manufacturer of steel. As a state-of- the -art venue for International
Standards, MSF has NABL accredited modern laboratories for stringent quality control with
following facilities:

 X- ray fluorescence spectrometer for chemical analysis of non-metallic material.

 Optical emission spectrometer for chemical analysis of Fe-base, Cu-base, Al-base, Zinc-
base, Ni-base alloy.
 Universal testing machine of 500KN and 100KN complete with automatic fracture
toughness testing facility at ambient and sub-zero temperature.
 Micro computer controlled Electromechanical universal testing instrument with capacity 20
KN
Digital compressive testing instrument with capacity 1000 KN
 CNC controlled 3-D Co-ordinate measuring machines
 Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen Determinators
 Carbon Sulphur Determinator
 Fully equipped Metallography laboratory
 Impact testing machines
 Wet chemical laboratory
 Ultrasonic testing machines
 Magnetic crack detector and magnetic sorting machines
 Mobile Spectrometer for random sampling & segregation of scrap
 FUTURE PLAN

 2 Nos, state of the art, ESR Plants of capacity 10 Ton & 12 Ton are under commissioning
for manufacturing ultra clean steel.

 Following state of the art Plants and Machineries are under procurement:

 3000 Ton capacity Hydraulic Forging press for manufacture of major ordnance
items.

 2 Ton VCAP (Vacuum Cap) Induction furnace to cater for small quantity of
special alloy steel.
 5 Ton double acting hydraulic hammer for small size closed die forged
component.
 2 Ton mobile manipulator.
 4 MT capacity Controlled/Inert atmosphere Heat treatment Furnace.
 2 nos 50 Ton Pollution free, energy efficient LPG bulk reticulating system to
replace the use of Furnace/ Diesel Oil in forging operation.
 Servo mechanical presses of various capacities
 Automatic Zinc plating plant,
 Automatic Pickling & Phosphating plant (Barrel type),
 PLC controlled automatic Mouth annealing furnace.
 Reconditioning and overhauling of Hot Rolling Mill.
 Reconditioning of barrel heat treatment furnaces with SCADA system.
 CNC Multi spindle machines.
 Augmentation of Stainless steel VOD Plant (Vacuum Oxygen De-Carburization) for
producing Stainless Steel.
20 MT ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE
20 MT LADDLE FURNACE & VACUUM DEGASING

BOTTOM POURING CASTING

SLAG MELTING AT ESR
ULTRA CLEAN STEEL- ELECTRO SLAG REMELTING
PLC-CONTROLLED 2650 T FORGING PRESS WITH FULLY
INTEGRATED AND TWIN MANIPULATORS FOR
PRODUCING DIFFERENTIAL CROSS SECTIONAL SOLID
FORGINGS UP TO 12 MT
CNC CONTROLLED RADIAL FORGING PLANT
12 METRE CNC CONTROLLED DEEP HOLE BORING MACHINE

12METRE CNC HEAVY DUTY LATHE

 ELECTRICALLY PLC OPERATED PIT TYPE FURNACE

HORIZANTAL PLC CONTROLLED ANNEALING FURNACES OF UP TO 50 MT

CAPACITY AS WELL AS BATTERIES OF LOW TEMPERATURE ANNEALING/
TEMPERING FURNACES FOR INTER STAGE ANNEALING OPERATIONS.
BOGIE TYPE ELECTRICAL FURNACE

HOT ROLLING MILL

INDUCTION MELTING FURNACES FOR COPPER ALLOYS BRASS
1250 TON DIRECT EXTRUSION PRESS WITH INDUCTION
BILLET HEATER TO PRODUCE BRASS RODS AND TUBES
AUTOMATIC GAUGE CONTROLLED 2HI-4HI COMBINATION COLD
ROLLING MILL FOR FERROUS AND NON FERROUS STRIPS WITH
MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 450MM & THICKNESS UP TO 0.5 MM WITH
TOLERANCE OF +/-1% WITH MAXIMUM STRIP LENGTH OF 6500
MM
DEEP DRAWING FACILITIES FOR STEEL CARTRIDGE CASES
FOR MEDIUM CALIBRE AMMUNITION
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETER FOR CHEMICAL-
TESTING OF MATERIAL
OPTICAL EMISSION SPECTROMETER FOR CHEMICAL TESTING OF
FERROUS AND NON-FERROUS MATERIAL
AUTOMATIC UNIVERSAL TESTING MACHINE FOR MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES

INVERTED CAMERA METALLURGICAL MICROSCOPE

CNC EDM WIRE CUT MACHINE
 PRODUCT IN FOCUS

DHANUSH BARREL FORGING & ITS ORDNANCE COMPONENTS

DHANUSH-the first indigenous,new generation, State-of-the-art, Field Howitzer(FH),Towed

artillery Gun having 155 x 45 calibre is a major success of ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ campaign.

MSF played a major role by supplying the major Gun components of

DHANUSH- Gun barrel, Breech ring, Breech Screw, Breech Block and many other assembly and
sub-assembly components-which is nothing but a testimony of the enthusiastic, upbeat, concerted
and sincere hard work delivered by all the employees right from design validation, development of
prototypes, trial evolution and finally to user validation and approval. The steel having special
parameters with high yield strength to endure the robust gun system has been manufactured by
MSF-the cradle of metallurgy. Surmounting so many constraints in its production facilities MSF
successfully produced the ultra clean steel of ESR quality -maintaining all its stringent parameters.
MSF produced the steel behind the ordnance. MSF also manufactured around 60 different types of
Steel and Brass components for the DHANUSH gun system.

Power flows from the barrel of the gun-MSF made it.

DHANUSH BREECH RING
DHANUSH BARREL