The comparision between wrought and forged steel product is as follow:

  • Wrought steel material refers to product forms (forged, rolled, ring rolled, extruded…), while forging is a subset of wrought product form.
  • The main difference between wrought and forged steel is strength. Forged steels are tougher than wrought steels as they begin as a casting which is then forged which adds to its durability. Wrought steel is less likely to be used in high-tension applications and it may be harder and more brittle than forged steel.
  • Forged steel is more durable in certain applications because, although it begins life as a casting as well, it is hammer forged using large hydraulic hammers that force the atoms and molecules of the steel into alignment as they hit it. Wrought steel does not undergo this same process, which makes forged steel harder and less likely to crack when struck, when compared between wrought and forged steel. Striking tools and axes are often made of forged steel because they are used to hit things, and the brittle nature of a cast steel would lead them to breaking rapidly if they were not forged.
  • Wrought is any hot or cold working of metal, and is therefore a description under which you would find forging, rolling, heading, upsetting, drawing, etc.
  • Forging is the open (including hammer and anvil or closed die forming of metal heated to forging temperatures.