STEEL

Eng. CHU DICKSON

 TYPES OF STEEL PRODUCTS
Steel products used in construction can be classified as follows:
• structural steel produced by continuous casting and hot rolling for
large structural shapes, plates, and sheet steel

vertical columns
 TYPES OF STEEL PRODUCTS
• Cold-formed steel produced by cold-forming of sheet steel into
desired shapes

trusses and decking

 TYPES OF STEEL PRODUCTS
• Fastening products used for structural connections, including bolts,
nuts and washers
• Reinforcing steel (rebars) for use in concrete reinforcement

Civil and construction engineers rarely have the

opportunity to formulate steel with specific
properties. Rather, they must select existing products
from suppliers.

Steel rebars used to reinforce Portland cement

concrete wall
STEEL PRODUCTION

This process consists of the following

three phases:

1. Reducing iron ore to pig iron

2. Refining pig iron (and scrap steel
from recycling) to steel
3. Forming the steel into products

The materials used to produce pig iron are coal, limestone, and iron
ore.
STEEL PRODUCTION
• The materials used to produce pig iron are coal, limestone, and iron
ore.

= =
STEEL PRODUCTION
• The coal, after transformation to coke, supplies carbon used to
reduce iron oxides in the ore.
• Limestone is used to help remove impurities.
• Prior to reduction, the concentration of iron in the ore is increased by
crushing and soaking the ore.
• The iron is magnetically extracted from the waste, and the extracted
material is formed into pellets and fired.
• The processed ore contains about 65% iron.
STEEL PRODUCTION
• Reduction of the ore to pig iron is accomplished in a blast furnace.
• The ore is heated in the presence of carbon. Oxygen in the ore reacts
with carbon to form gases.
• A flux is used to help remove impurities.
• The molten iron, with an excess of carbon in solution, collects at the
bottom of the furnace. The impurities, slag, float on top of the molten
pig iron.
• The excess carbon, along with other impurities, must be removed to
produce high-quality steel.
STEEL PRODUCTION
• During the steel production process, oxygen may become dissolved in the
liquid metal.
• As the steel solidifies, the oxygen can combine with carbon to form
carbon monoxide bubbles that are trapped in the steel and can act as
initiation points for failure.
• Deoxidizing agents, such as aluminum, ferrosilicon, and manganese, can
eliminate the formation of the carbon monoxide bubbles.
• Completely deoxidized steels are known as killed steels.
STEEL PRODUCTION

Steels that are generally killed include:

• ■■ Those with a carbon content greater than 0.25%
• ■■ All forging grades of steels
• ■■ Structural steels with carbon content between 0.15 and 0.25%
• ■■ Some special steel in the lower carbon ranges
IRON-CARBORN PHASE DIAGRAM
• In refining steel from iron ore, the quantity of carbon used must be
carefully controlled in order for the steel to have the desired
properties.
• The left side of Figure demonstrates that pure iron goes through
two transformations as temperature increases. Pure iron below
912°C has a BCC crystalline structure called ferrite.
• At 912°C, the ferrite undergoes a polymorphic change to an FCC
structure called austenite.
• At 1394°C, another polymorphic change occurs, returning the
iron to a BCC structure.
• At 1539°C, the iron melts into a liquid. The high- and low-
temperature ferrites are identified as d and a ferrite,
respectively.
HEAT TREATMENT OF STEEL
• Properties of steel can be altered by applying a variety of heat
treatments. For example, steel can be hardened or softened by using
heat treatment; the response of steel to heat treatment depends
upon its alloy composition.
• Common heat treatments employed for steel include annealing,
normalizing, hardening, and tempering.
• The basic process is to heat the steel to a specific temperature, hold
the temperature for a specified period of time, then cool the material
at a specified rate.
HEAT TREATMENT OF STEEL
• Annealing: The objectives of annealing are to refine the grain, soften the
steel, remove internal stresses, remove gases, increase ductility and
toughness, and change electrical and magnetic properties.
• Normalizing: Normalizing is similar to annealing, with a slight difference in
the temperature and the rate of cooling. Steel is normalized by heating to
about 60°C above the austenite line and then cooling under natural
convection.
• Hardening: Steel is hardened by heating it to a temperature above the
transformation range and holding it until austenite is formed. The steel is
then quenched (cooled rapidly) by plunging it into, or spraying it with,
water, brine, or oil.
• Tempering: The predominance of martensite in quench-hardened steel
results in an undesirable brittleness.
ALLOYS
REINFORCING STEEL
REINFORCING STEEL
Reinforcing steel is produced in the standard sizes shown in Table 3.9.
Bars are made of four types of steel:
• A615/A615M (billet),
• A996/A996M, and
• A706/A706M (low-alloy),
 GRADES OF TMT STEEL
• TMT bars are typically graded as Fe 415, Fe 500, Fe 550, Fe 600i etc where the
numbers indicate the level of stress that must be applied to deform it.
• For example, Fe 550 starts to deform when a pressure of 550 Newton/mm2 is
applied to it.
Fe - 415: Due to its higher uniform elongation, it can be used
in RCC Constructions in corrosion and as well as earthquake-
prone zone.
Fe - 500: The high corrosion resistance, excellent bendability
and great resistance on dynamic loading of Fe - 500, it is used
in RCC constructions in building, bridges and other concrete
structures.
Fe - 550: It has similar properties of Fe - 500, but differs in the
yield and tensile strength. It is also used in RCC construction
that is exposed to coastal, marine or underground
environment.
Fe - 600i: Since it provides better toughness and has more yield
and tensile strength when compared to other TMT Steel
grades, it is used for large RCC construction purposes.
 WELDING
• Many civil engineering structures such as steel bridges, frames, and
trusses require welding during construction and repair. Welding is a
technique for joining two metal pieces by applying heat to fuse the
pieces together.
Arc welding is a welding process that is used to
join metal to metal by using electricity to create
enough heat to melt metal, and the melted metals
when cool result in a binding of the metals

gas welding is the process of joining metals using

the heat transmitted from the flames. The process
involves heating the juncture of two metals to a
certain point so that they will melt and fuse.
WELDING
• Care must be taken during welding to consider the distortion that is
the result of the nonuniform heating of the welding process. When
the molten weld metal cools, it shrinks, causing deformation of the
material and introducing residual stresses into the structure.
STEEL FATIGUE
• Steel fatigue is the common name used to describe the unexpected
failure of steel parts by progressive fracturing while in service. Steel
fatigue is directly related to the number of stress cycles undergone by
a part and the level of stress imposed on the part.

Nowadays, fatigue stresses in structures and

parts of machines are studied by a special
branch of mechanics: metal fatigue.

• The modern definition of metal fatigue is the

weakening of a material caused by cyclic
loading.
How to identify metal fatigue

• Visual inspection. Detection of cracks or other deformations.

• Noise analysis. Damaged metal makes a specific rattling noise.
• Ultrasonic and X-ray inspection. Diagnostics of a human body
and a steel structure have a lot in common in this regard.
• Fluorescent dyes. They make cracks visible.
• Magnetic powders. They are applied to iron parts.
FATIGUE REDUCTION
• Use stronger, more capable materials
• Reduce the margin of errors in assembly and manufacture
• Avoid, soften when inevitable, stress concentrations
• Keep residual stress at surface, if any, in compression
• Take service environment into account
• Schedule routine maintenance, firm and thorough
STEEL CORROSION
• The corrosion of structural steel is an electrochemical process that
requires the simultaneous presence of moisture and oxygen.
Essentially, the iron in the steel is oxidized to produce rust, which
occupies approximately six times the volume of the original material.
METHODS OF CORROSION RESISTANCE
There are three mechanisms by which coatings provide corrosion protection
(Hare, 1987):
• Barrier coatings work solely by isolating the steel from the moisture. These
coatings have low water and oxygen permeability.
• Inhibitive primer coatings contain passivating pigments. They are low-
solubility pigments that migrate to the steel surface when moisture passes
through the film to passivate the steel surface.
• Sacrificial primers (cathodic protection) contain pigments such as
elemental zinc. Since zinc is higher than iron in the galvanic series, when
corrosion conditions exist the zinc gives up electrons to the steel, becomes
the anode, and corrodes to protect the steel.
MECHANICAL TESTING OF STEEL
• Tension test: The tension test (ASTM E8/E8M) on steel is performed to determine the
yield strength, yield point, ultimate (tensile) strength, elongation, and reduction of area
• Torsion test: The torsion test (ASTM E143) is used to determine the shear
modulus of structural materials.
• Bend test: In many engineering applications, steel is bent to a desired
shape, especially in the case of reinforcing steel.
• Hardness test: Hardness is a measure of a material’s resistance to localized
plastic deformation, such as a small dent or scratch on the surface of the
material.
• Ultrasonic testing: Ultrasonic testing is a nondestructive method for
detecting flaws in materials. It is particularly useful for the evaluation of
welds.