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 Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on
the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten. Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of alloying elements and the form of their presence in the steel controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but such steel is also less ductile than

iron.
Today, steel is one of the most common materials in the world, with more than 1.3 billion tons produced annually.

 The physical properties of steel are totally different from its component elements viz. iron and carbon. One of the major property of steel is the ability to cool down rapidly from an extremely hot temperature after being subjected to water or oil. Physical properties depend on the percentage composition of the constituent elements and the manufacturing process. A particular amount of carbon can be dissolved in iron at a specific temperature. The physical properties of steel include high strength, low weight, durability, ductility and corrosive resistance. Steel, as we all know, offers great strength though it is light in weight. In fact, the ratio of strength to weight for steel is the lowest than any other building material as of now. The term ductility means steel can easily be molded to form any desired shape. Unlike the constituent element iron, steel does not corrode easily, on being exposed to moisture and water. The dimensional stability of steel is a desired property, as the dimension of steel remains unchanged even after many years or being subjected to extreme environmental conditions. Steel is a good conductor of electricity. Steel grades are classified by many standard organizations, based on the composition and the physical properties of the metal. The deciding factor for the grade of steel is basically its chemical composition, and the supplied condition. The higher the carbon content, the harder and stronger is the steel metal. A high quality steel containing less carbon is more ductile. Earlier forms of steel consisted of more carbon, as compared to the present day steel. Today, the steel manufacturing process is such that less carbon is added and the metal is cooled down immediately, so as to retain the desirable physical properties of steel. Rapid cooling (quenching) of steel also alters the grain structure. There are other types of steel such as galvanized steel and stainless steel (corrosion-resistant steel). Galvanized steel is coated with zinc to protect it from corrosion, whereas stainless steel contains about 10 percent of chromium in its composition.

 The major advantage of steel is the ability to recycle it effectively, without destroying or losing any of its physical

properties in the recycling process.

Steel is very important in our day-to-day life, starting from the steel cookware to scientific instruments like scalpel. Due to its cost-effectiveness and strength, steel is used in engineering works and in infrastructure developments such as roads, railways, bridges, buildings and stadiums. Growth and development of the steel industry marks the economic progress of the country. There are many measurement systems used to define the properties of a given steel. For example, Yield strength, ductility and stiffness are determined using tensile testing. Toughness is measured by impact testing; and hardness is determined by measuring resistance to the penetration of the surface by a hard object.

Tensile testing is a method of evaluating the structural response of steel to applied loads, with the results expressed as a
relationship between stress and strain. The relationship between stress and strain is a measure of the elasticity of the material, and this ratio is referred to as Young's modulus. The physical properties of steel are related to the physics of the material, such as density, thermal conductivity, elastic modulus, Poisons ratio etc. Some typical values for physical properties of steel are: Density = 7.7 8.1 [kg/dm3] Elastic modulus E=190210 [GPa] Poissons ratio = 0.27 0.30 Thermal conductivity = 11.2 48.3 [W/mK] Thermal expansion = 9 27 [10-6 / K]

It Is 100% Recyclable - All steel can be recycled. It Is Recycled Infinitely - Products made of steel can be recycled to make new products again and again and again without any loss of quality. It Is Easy To Recover - Because steel is attracted to a magnet, it is easy to recover from household rubbish. It Is Energy Efficient - This means you use up less power making something from steel than if you made it from another metal. Making steel for a steel can, for example, uses about half the energy it takes to make aluminum for the same sized aluminum can. By saving this energy we save precious resources like coal, gas, oil and water. Over 90% Of Local Authorities Collect It In the UK, research shows that over 90% of Local Authorities in the UK provide a service for recycling steel cans. This could be either by doorstop collection or bring banks. Steel Is The Most Recycled Packaging Material High Recycling Rates Help Save Co2 Steel Is Getting Lighter Todays food cans are now 24% lighter than they were 30 years ago, while drinks cans are an incredible 31% lighter. It is biodegradable Steel is bio-degradable but takes time to degrade. Steel has lower energy use and CO2 emissions per ton than aluminum, and magnesium among others. Reductions in energy use and CO2 emissions are rapidly reaching the limits defined by the laws of physics.