Steel

Steel is the world's most important material. Without steel, the world as we know it
would not exist: from oil tankers to thumb tacks, from trucks to tin cans, from
transmission towers to toasters. Given the huge quantities of steel produced, it is
fortunate that the material is easy to recycle. Much of todays steel is produced from
scrap. Iron production requires these raw materials: iron ore, coal and
stone(LIMESTONE, dolomite). Steel production requires iron, steel scrap and flux
("lime" - calcined limestone). The iron ore is smelted to produce an impure metal called
"hot metal" when liquid, or "pig iron" when solid. The hot metal is refined to remove
impurities and to develop the desired composition. The liquid steel is continuously cast
into blooms, slabs or billets, and these semi-finished products are processed into the
desired shapes by rolling or forging.

Types of Structural
Steel The term structural steel refers to a number of steels that, because of their economy
and desirable mechanical properties, are suitable for load-carrying members in structures.
The customary way to specify a structural steel is touse an ASTM ( American Society for
testing and Materials ) designations. For
ferrous metals, the designation has a prefix letter A followed by two of three
numerical digits ( e.g., ASTM A36, ASTM A514 ). There are 3 groups of hot-rolled
structural steels for used in buildings;1.
Carbon steels use carbon as the chief strengthening element with minimum yield stresses
ranging from 220 MPa to 290 MPa. An increasein carbon content raises the yield stress
but reduces ductility, making welding more difficult.2.
High- strength low- alloys steels ( HSLA ) have the yield stresses from480 MPa to 840
MPa. In addition to carbon and manganese, these steelscontain one or more alloying
elements such as columbium, vanadium,chromium, silicon, copper, and nickel.3.
Quenched and tempered alloy steels have yield stresses of 480 MPa to690 MPa. These
steels of higher strength are obtained by heat-treating
2
low alloy steels. The heat treatment consist of quenching ( rapid cooling )and tempering (
reheating ).1.3 ASTM designationsMaterial conforming to one of the following
standard specifications.ASTM A36

Structural steelASTM A53, Grade B

Pipe, Steel, Black and Hot-dipped, Zinc-coated Weldedand Seamless steel pipe.ASTM
A242

High-strength Low- alloy structural steelASTM A709

Structural Steel for Bridges Certified mill test reports or certified reports of test made by
the fabricator ortesting laboratory accordance with ASTM A6 or A568, as applicable and
thegoverning specification must constitute sufficient evidence of conformity withone of
the above ASTM standards.

Properties of Steel
Yield stress, Fy,
is that unit tensile stress at which the stress- strain curve exhibits a well-defined increase
in strain ( deformation )without increase in stress.
Tensile strength, Fu,
is the largest unit stress that the material achieves in a tension test.
Modulus of elasticity, E,
is the slope of the initial straight-line portion of the stress- strain diagram. It is usually
taken as 200,000 MPafor design calculation for all structural steel.
Ductility
is the ability of the material to undergo large inelastic deformations without fracture
Toughness
is the ability of the material to absorb energy and is characterizedby the area under a
stress- strain curve.
Weldability
is the ability of steel to be welded without changing its basicmechanical properties.
Poissons ratio
is the ratio of the transverse strain to the longitudinal strain.
Poissons ratio is essentially the same for all structural
steels and has a value of 0.30 in the elastic range.
Shear modulus
is the ratio of the shearing stress to shearing strain during theinitial elastic behavior.

Strength of Carbon Steels

Sr. No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Steel
grades
A36
A53 (Grade
A)
A 53 (Grade
B)
A500 (Grade
A)
A500 (Grade
B)
A500(Grade
C)
A500(Grade
D)
A529
A501

Yield strength (Mpa)

Ultimate strength (Mpa)

(250 MPa) 36,000 Psi

(400550 MPa). 58,00080,000 Psi

(205 Mpa) 30,000 psi

(330 Mpa) 48,000 Psi

(240 Mpa) 35,000 Psi

(415 Mpa) 60,000 Psi

(270 MPa) 40,000 Psi

(310 Mpa) 50,000 Psi

(315 Mpa) 55,000 Psi

(400 Mpa) 70,000 Psi

(345 Mpa) 56,000 Psi

(425 Mpa) 72,0000

(250 Mpa) 36,0000

(400 Mpa) 70,000 Psi

(290 Mpa) 45,000 Psi

(250 Mpa) 36,000 Psi

(415-585 Mpa)
(400 Mpa) 70,000 Psi

Structural Shapes
UC universal column
Notation: 152 UC 23 is 152 mm wide and 152 mm deep.

UB universal beam
Notation: 203 x 133 UB 30. The first number is the depth of the beam, the second
is the width and the last number is the weight (in this case 30) per metre in
kilograms.

PFC parallel flange channel

Notation: depth, width and weight per metre in kilograms, eg. 150 x 75 x 18 PFC

RSA-L Shape
Notation: Both leg lengths and the wall thickness (all in mm), eg. 100 x 100 x 12
RSA