Annexure -A

SUGGESTED CHANGES IN THE IS Standard NO. IS 1786 : 1985 (Third Revision)

Sr.No. Clause Existing Text Suggested Changes* Justification
For Cold-Worked Steel High Strength Deformed 1. The concept of thermo-mechanically treated (TMT)
Bars bars were introduced in India during 1980-85. This is
Constituent Percent, Maximum an advanced technique of providing composite micro
Constituent Percent, Maximum structure to steel for deriving higher strength, increased
Fe 415 Fe 500 Fe 550 Fe 415 Fe 500 Fe 550 ductility, weldability and other desirable properties.
1. 3.2
Carbon 0.30 0.30 0.30 Carbon 0.30 0.30 0.30 2. Most of the standards of the world governing
manufacture of re-bars still maintain the same
Sulphur 0.060 0.055 0.055 Sulphur 0.060 0.055 0.055
chemistry that was decided in 1960. During that period
Phosphorus 0.060 0.055 0.050 Phosphorus 0.060 0.055 0.050 of time, the technology for production of TMT re-bars
was not available.
Sulphur and 0.11 0.105 0.10 Sulphur and 0.11 0.105 0.10
phosphorus phosphorus 3. The American Standard ASTM A615 specifies
requirement of phosphorus tagged with carbon. If
For Thermo-mechanically Treated bars phosphorus is high, low carbon will make up its
disadvantage of cold brittleness.
Constituent Percent, Maximum
4. TATA and SAIL use high phosphorus as much as three
times the specified maximum as per IS 1786 : 1985 by
Fe 415 Fe 500 Fe 550
keeping carbon low. They compensate the brittleness
caused by phosphorus maintaining low carbon content
Carbon : 0.30 0.30 0.30
in steel.
Sulphur : 0.060 0.055 0.050
5. The latest researches have established that the presence
Phosphorous*: 0.12 0.11 0.10 of phosphorus in steels not only enhance strength but
also has considerable effect on corrosion resistance of
Carbon and * : 0.36 0.33 0.30 rebars. Corrosion of rebars is very serious problem
Phosphorous especially in coastal and polluted area of the country.
The detrimental effect of phosphorus especially its
segregation in grain boundaries causing cold
embrittlement is considerably reduced due to
application of thermo mechanical treatment (TMT) to
steels. This is caused due to balancing of grain
boundaries segregation and lattice restoration (W.Marc
and K. Radko, Effect of phosphorus on ductility of high
contd....

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 Annexure -A
SUGGESTED CHANGES IN THE IS Standard NO. IS 1786 : 1985 (Third Revision)
Sr.No. Clause Existing Text Suggested Changes Justification
For Cold-Worked Steel High Strength Deformed strength spring steels, Steel Research, Vol. 71 (2000)
Variation, Over Specified Bars pp 357-361). The authors have established that TMT
Constituent MaximumLimit,Percent,Max treatments to steels reduces the sensitivity to
.2 3.2.1 Variation, Over Specified phosphorus and leads to better ductility. TMT rebars
Carbon : 0.02 Constituent Maximum Limit, Percent, provide more than 1.5 times improved ductility vis-a-
Max vis CTD rebars.
Sulphur : 0.005
Phosphorous : 0.005 Carbon : 0.02 6. It is reported that the presence of higher content of
phosphorus causes brittle fracture of steels. This
Sulphur and : 0.010 Sulphur : 0.005
brittleness is caused due to grain boundaries
Phosphorous segregation of this element. The segregation occurs
Phosphorous : 0.005
during prolonged exposure and tempering of
Sulphur and : 0.010 phosphorus containing steels in the range of 250 to
Phosphorous 600° C. It is to be noted here that this temperature
range is seldom encountered in reinforced structures.
The concern of embrittlement of steel reinforcement
For Thermo-mechanically Treated bars bars having higher content of phosphorus is therefore
an overrated concern and the fact remains that no
Variation, Over Specified failures in constructional steel have ever been
Constituent Maximum Limit, Percent, Max attributed to its chemistry.

Carbon : 0.02 7. It is reported that reinforcement bars for concrete

application can be rolled with steels having phosphorus
Sulphur : 0.005 as high as 0.32%. Such steels not only have high
Phosphorous : 0.005 toughness, improved strength and ductility but also
corrosion resistance which is reported to increase many
Carbon and* : 0.020 fold in comparison to normal low phosphorus steel (G.
Phosphorous Sahoo and R. Balasubramaniam, Scripta Materiallia 56
(2007) 117 -120)

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 Annexure -A
SUGGESTED CHANGES IN THE IS Standard NO. IS 1786 : 1985 (Third Revision)
Sr.
Clause Existing Text Suggested Changes Justification
No.
The strength of the Thermo-mechanically Treated bars
“Except in case of bars 28 mm and “Except in case of cold worked bars of comes from the rim of the rebars. Any reduction in
3. 8.1.2
above” size 28 mm. and above” size will damage its micro-structure or physical
properties.
The strength of the Thermo-mechanically Treated bars
comes from the rim of the rebars. Any reduction in
4. 8.1.2.1 “Bars of size 28 mm” “Cold worked bar of size 28 mm.” size will damage its micro-structure or physical
properties.

Add new para :

Any cold working , such as straightening, on Thermo-
“No Thermo-mechanically Treated bars
5. 8.1.5 mechanically Treated bars can damage the tempered
No existing will be subject to cold working of any
martensitic structure on the rim of the rebars.
type except sizing, bending and
bundling for transportation purposes.”
“User may note that there is a
danger of pitting and crevice This steel being subject to danger of pitting and
corrosion when weathering steels crevice corrosion in chloride atmosphere shall be of
great danger to structure because this type of steel are
Amend (that is, those with chemical
ment composition conforming to IS This Quality of TMT bar manufacture maximally used in chloride prone areas. India being a
6. peninsula this risk is very-very high.
No. 2 11587 : 1986. Specification for should be banned in the country.
note 3 structural weather resistant) steel
Encl : Comparative evaluation of corrosion performance of
are embedded in chloride
coated and uncoated TMT reinforcement bars from Jadavpur
contaminated concrete” University, National Metallurgical Laboratory, R.D.C.I.S

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