STEEL

What is steel?

■ Steel is an alloy. An alloy is a mixture of different metals, or a mix of metal and

another element. Steel is made of iron and other elements such as manganese,
nickel, chromium, and tungsten, but it is usually an iron-carbon alloy, where carbon
makes up 2.1% of the steel’s weight. It’s used in constructions and many other
applications because of its strength and low cost. If the alloy has more than 2.1% of
carbon, it’s called cast iron
What are the different types of steel?

■ There are four types of steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, and tool steel
Carbon steel

■ Carbon steel, also called plain-carbon steel, is a metal alloy made up of two
elements: iron and carbon. The other elements present in carbon steel are
manganese, silicon, and copper. Mixing more carbon with iron makes the steel
harder and stronger and more difficult to mold and weld, so there are still other
types of carbon steel: mild or low carbon steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon
steel, and very high carbon steel.
Alloy steel

■ Alloy steel is steel made with many different elements to improve its properties.
Steel is an alloy, but not all alloys are steels, hence the name of this type of steel.
Alloy steels are made of iron and carbon, and more common alloyants are nickel,
manganese, chromium, molybdenum, silicon, vanadium, and boron. Compared to
carbon steels, some of the improved properties of alloy steels are hardness,
strength, toughness, and wear and corrosion resistance, and to achieve these
improvements, the metal can be put through heat treatment.
Stainless steel

■ Stainless steel is a steel alloy made of iron and chromium, which makes up for a
minimum of 10.5% of the metal’s mass. It doesn’t easily rust, corrode, or stain due
to water like regular steel. However it is not fully rust-proof. The chromium in
stainless steel is responsible for its resistance to corrosion, as it is the once blocking
oxygen from spreading and eating into the metal.
Tool steel

■ Lastly, tool steel is a mix of carbon and alloy steels that is used to make tools. They
are used to make tools because of their hardness and resistance to deformation, so
they are best for tools for the use of forging other materials. There are six types of
tool steels: water-hardening, which are high carbon plain-carbon steel and needs to
be water-quenched; cold-work which are either oil-quenched or air-quenched; shock-
resisting, steel that have high shock resistance and hardens well because of certain
mixes of other metals; high-speed, steels that are heat treated and are used in
cutting tools; hot-work, which are steels used to cut or shape materials that are at
high temperatures; and special purpose, such as plastic mold steels, other kinds of
tool steels, and other kinds of steel that are water-hardened.
What are steel grades?

■ Steel grades are used to classify steel using the mixture of metals used to make
them, and the physical properties that have been improved. These classifications
were developed by several standards organizations, such as British Standards,
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), European Standards, Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE), Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), German Steel
Grades (DIN Standard), and China Steel Grades (GB Standard).
What are the uses of steel in
construction?
■ Steel, and iron, are used widely in the construction of infrastructure like roads,
buildings, bridges, railways, modern architecture like airports and skyscrapers, and
also residential homes and recreational parks. Most structures are held up by steel
skeletons, and concrete walls and pillars use steel bars to reinforce them. It is also
used in power tools and cars despite the increase in the usage of aluminum.
Construction materials are also made of steel, such as nails, bolts, and screws.
Heavy equipment used in construction sites such as bulldozers, backhoe leaders,
and pipelayers, among others.
■ They are used for high-rise buildings, because of the strength, speed of construction,
and its low weight; industrial and warehouse buildings, because it can be used to
create large spaces at low cost; residential buildings for light gauge steel
construction in place of wood framed construction; and temporary structures
because they’re easy to put up and remove.
■ The common reasons why steel products are widely used in construction because
they are durable, versatile, and affordable. Because of its high strength to weight
ratio, resistance to breakage, steel is very durable, making it ideal to use it for
buildings. Aside from its durability, and flexibility, it’s also environmentally friendly,
as it is continuously recyclable.
■ Steel construction is gaining popularity, and many architectural wonders around the
world are made of steel. Maybe soon, we’ll see a building made entirely of steel.