Steel is an alloy of another metal, iron. In addition, it contains carbon components. The carbon content of steel metal varies between 0.002% and 2.1% according to their weight. In fact, it is the carbon component in the steel metal that makes it harder than mere pure iron. As such, these carbon atoms make it hard for any dislocations to occur in the iron crystal lattice preventing the lattice from sliding past each other. Notably, steel is the metal that is most widely used for construction purposes, as well as the most recycled metal on earth. It ranges from stainless steel and flat carbon products to high temperature steels. This enables the metal to offer a wide number of applications, particularly in the construction sector. Based on these reasons, and the metal’s combination of relatively low production costs coupled with its high strength, steel has emerged as the metal being used in countless structural construction and manufacture of various products.
However, majority of steel metal is utilized in the construction industry. This is because the use of steel in such sites offers various benefits, some of which cannot be substituted by any other metal. For instance, steel’s strength to withstand huge weight is excellent. In addition, it is available in different types and shapes, most of which cannot be curved out of any other metal. There exist different types of steel that are particularly used in the construction industry. Some of these types are carbon steels, alloy steels, stainless steels, as well as tool steels. Generally, other elements such as phosphorous manganese and sulfur are all present in the steel metal. However, as much as manganese provides beneficial impacts in the metal’s composition, sulfur and phosphorus are considered as deleterious to the metal’s durability and strength. In addition to these elements, traces of oxygen, aluminum, and nitrogen are also present in the metal. Other elements of titanium, boron, molybdenum, nickel, and chromium may intentionally be added into the metal in order to improve its strength, ductility, as well as its hardness.
The types of steels used in construction are majorly manufactured based on two main processes. These are the same processes that are responsible of giving the metals their admirable shapes and structural characteristics. Rolled steels are the products most commonly utilized in construction. When it comes to the final stage of their manufacturing process, the half-finished steels are subjected to repeated deformations in their rolling mills containing massive cylinders for compressing and drawing out the steel masses while still malleable as a result of the high temperatures. The resulting steels then find their way into massive construction site where their demand is rapidly rising. Particularly so, the modern era has overseen a huge demand for the use of steels due to the massive growth of railways, as well as the arrival of the sky scraper buildings. As such, many famous historical sites and structures have been made out of steel, such as the Empire State building that contains steel as its primary construction material. The types of steel used in such construction sites may include stainless steels.
Generally, stainless steel contains about 10-20% of chromium as the main alloying element. For this reason, stainless steels are highly regarded for their impressive resistance to corrosion. As such, this type of steel forms one of the best metals in the construction industry since it is about two to three times more corrosion resistant than any other mild steel. Stainless steel can further be divided into three categories according to their crystalline structures. All the subsequent categories are also perfect metals for the construction industry. Among these categories lie austenitic steels, which are heat treatable and non-magnetic containing 8% nickel, 18% chromium, and just about 0.8% carbon. These steels are not only used in the construction site where piping in required, but also in manufacturing food processing products and kitchen utensils. The other type of stainless steels is ferritic steels that contain little amounts of chromium, nickel, and less than 0.1% of carbon. It also contains other alloying elements, aluminum and manganese included. This type of stainless steels can be strengthened by alloying them with cold works. Finally, martensitic stainless steels are heat treatable and magnetic. They are used in minor works such as cutting tools used in construction sites. They can also make other products such as strong knives and other equipment.
Since stainless steel is a highly corrosive-resistant metal, it is the most suitable form to be used structurally, particularly so in sites requiring high quality surface finishing. Stress straining observed in stainless steels often times differs from that of other carbon steels elements in various aspects. This is because stainless steel observes a more rounded response that lacks a well-defined yield stress unlike carbon steels that yield a stress curve with a plateau at the top before encountering strain hardness. Therefore, structurally stainless steel is able to withstand more pressure when used for construction purposes unlike any other metal that may experience lapses of weaknesses a short while after its installation.
The effect of heat treatment on steels also plays a major role in determining the strength and toughness of the steels used for construction. In such processes, the types of steels obtained generally follow the principle used to obtain them under intense heat treatment. These types of steels are also ideal for use in the construction industry since they are strong as they are durable. Normalized steel, normalized rolled steel, thermo-mechanically rolled steel, as well as quenched and tempered steel are among these types of steel that follow their principle heat treatment. Ideally, they are also used in the construction industry since they are considered more ductile and tougher than before.
The use of steel metals in the construction sector comes with immeasurable benefits. Steel is not the type of metal that disappoints when relied upon structurally. This is because steel is a ductile metal in its beams, giving rise to firm steel joists, studs, and other framings that are vital in construction. As such, steel is a reliable metal when it comes to construction that requires composite design that includes redistributing stress strain at the limit state. Constructors can therefore rest assured of the adequate performance of steels used as long as the design assumptions inculcated in the construction plan are valid and correctly specified. This is because steel assumes the ductility principle that other metals are often times unable to meet. As such, steels stand as the ultimate metal for use in any construction since it not only meets the grading standards required of such metals, but it also exceeds expectations.
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