Michaella Angela S.

Dolor
CE 3-2

What is steel?
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon with improved strength and fracture resistance compared to
other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels, which are
resistant to corrosion and oxidation, typically need an additional 11% chromium.

SG of steel

The density of mild steel is 7900 kg/m3. It means one cubic meter of mild steel weighs 7900
kilograms.

Specific weight of steel

Unit weight of steel is taken as 7850 kg/m3 or 78.5 kN/m3 and also taken as 8050 kg/m3 or
80.5 kN/m3. Density of steel – 7850 kg/m3 to 8050 kg/m3 depending on the grade and type of
manufacture. However, it is standard practice to use the unit weight of steel in the design
standard EN 1991-1-1 Table A.

Content of steel

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon containing less than 2% carbon and 1% manganese and
small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen. Steel is the world's most important
engineering and construction material.

Types of steel

1. Carbon Steel
While all steel contains carbon, carbon steel is unique for the notable absence of other elements
in its makeup. Though it only contains 2% carbon or less by weight, its elemental nature makes
carbon steel a strong, durable material that is ideal for numerous uses.
Types Of Carbon Steel
 Low carbon: A carbon content of .30% and under is considered low-carbon steel. This is
the most common and the least expensive type of steel. Thanks to its elasticity under
strain, manufacturers use low-carbon steel for wires, bolts and pipes.
 Medium carbon: A carbon content between 0.31% and 0.60% gives this variety a higher
strength and lower ductility, meaning it’s less moldable under pressure. You can often
find medium carbon steel in gears and railroad tracks.
 High carbon: The toughest variety contains more than 0.61% carbon and is often used to
produce extremely tough building materials and tools, like brick nails and sharp cutting
tools like trencher blades. They do not contain more than 2% carbon.
2. Stainless Steel
This type is commonly known for its role in manufacturing medical equipment and appliances,
but its range of use is far greater than just the gas range in your kitchen. Chromium is the alloy
that sets stainless steel apart, lending the material its distinctive luster.
Types Of Stainless Steel
 Martensitic alloys: Toughness is a hallmark of martensitic alloys, but they’re prone to
corrosion. Manufacturers form these alloys with a rapid-cooling process that makes them
ideal for medical instruments, cutlery and pliers.
  Ferritic alloys: These are less-expensive steels with low amounts of carbon and nickel.
Automotive manufacturers use ferritic alloys because of their chromium-induced strength
and sheen.
 Austenitic alloys: Austenitic alloys have higher chromium and nickel contents, which
improves their resistance to corrosion and causes them to be non-magnetic. They’re
present in commercial kitchen appliances since they’re durable and easy to clean.
 Duplex alloys: A combination of austenitic and ferritic alloys results in a duplex alloy that
inherits the properties of both while doubling strength. They’re also ductile and
corrosion-resistant due to their fairly high chromium content. Duplex alloys are common
among instruments and pipework used in gas, oil and chemical industries.
3. Alloy Steel
Alloy steel is iron fused with one of several other elements, each contributing its unique
attributes to the final product. All steels are indeed alloys, but carbon and chromium are specific
alloys with names attributed to the type of metal they form.
Types Of Alloy Steel
 Aluminum: Lightweight, heat-resistant steel that’s ductile and easy to work with and is
often used in hot exhaust systems and power generators.
 Copper: Corrosion-resistant steel that conducts heat very efficiently, making it a great
choice for electrical wiring and industrial heat exchangers.
 Manganese: Impact-resistant steel that’s extremely tough. You can find it in bulletproof
cabinets, anti-drill plates and high-strength safes.
 Molybdenum: Weldable, corrosion-resistant steel that performs well under high pressure,
making it suitable for underwater construction or oil and gas pipelines.
 Silicon: Soft-natured steel that’s malleable and highly magnetic. Silicon creates strong
permanent magnets power plants need for their electrical transformers.
 Vanadium: High-impact steel that’s shock-absorbent and vibration-resistant. Automotive
parts like shocks and springs often require vanadium.
 4. Tool Steel
Tool steels are exactly what they claim to be — they are a type of high-carbon steel
specifically designed for use in the manufacturing of tools, such as drills, saw blades and
tool bits. Tool steel alloys — along with other metals such as tungsten, chromium and
vanadium — improve its strength, hardness and resistance to wear and corrosion.
Types of Tool Steel
 Air-hardening: The high chromium content in this steel allows it to be exposed to high
temperatures without distorting.
 Water-hardening: This steel is water-quenched during use, used to make common tools
and is the most affordable tool steel.
 Oil-hardening: This oil-quenched steel is exceptionally wear-resistant from slipping, and
is used to produce knives and shears.
 High-speed: High-speed steel is highly abrasive and impact-resistant. It’s found in drill
bits and power saws.
 Hot-working: The name gives it away, but this steel can withstand extreme heat and is
used in forging and casting.
 Shock-resisting: Small amounts of carbon, silicon and molybdenum harden this steel
and suit it for punches and riveting tools.

Shapes of steel
Advantage and Disadvantages of steel

Advantages of Steel Construction

1. Reliability
Steel structures are very reliable. The reasons for this reliability include consistency and
uniformity in properties, better quality control because of factory manufacture, large elasticity,
and ductility. If different specimens of some type of steel are tested in the laboratory for yield
stress, ultimate strengths and elongations, the variation is much lesser then other materials like
concrete and wood. Further, because of truly homogeneous and elastic material, steel satisfies
most of the assumptions involved in the derivation of the analysis and design formulas and the
results obtained and reliable. This may not be the case in concrete structures because of
heterogeneous material, cracking and non-linearity of stress-strain relationship.
2. Industrial Behavior
Rolled steel sections are manufactured in factories. Also, the members may be cut and
prepared for assembly in factories wile only joining of these components is carried out at the site
by installing rivets or bolts and by welding different components. Sometimes parts of the
structure are also assembled in the factories, that is, there is a great adaptation to
prefabrication. Manual errors reduce greatly in such cases, the speed of construction increases
and the total cost reduces.
3. Lesser Construction Time / Greater Erection Speed
Because of the industrial nature of steel construction. Progress of the work is fast making the
structures economical. The reason is that these structures can be put to use earlier. The
reduction in labor cost and overhead changes and the benefits obtained from the early use of
the building contribute to the economy.
4. High Strength And Light Weight Nature
The high strength of steel per unit weight means that the dead loads will be smaller. It is to be
noted that dead loads are a bigger part of the total loads on structure. When dead load reduces,
the underneath members become still smaller due to less weight acting on them. This fact is of
great importance for long-span bridges, tall building, and for structures having poor foundation
conditions.
5. Uniformity, Durability And Performance
Steel is a very homogeneous and uniform material. Hence, it satisfies the basic assumptions of
most of the analysis and design formulas. If properly maintained by painting, etc. the properties
of steel do not change appreciably with time; whereas, the properties of concrete in a reinforced
concrete structure are considerably modified with time. Hence, steel structures are more
durable.
6. Elasticity
Steel behaves closer to design assumption than most of the other material because it follows
Hooke’s law up to fairly high stresses. The stress produced remains proportional to the strain
applied oft the stress-strain diagram remains a straight line. The steel sections do not crack or
tear before ultimate load and hence the moments of inertia of a steel structure can be definitely
calculated. The moments of inertia obtained for a reinforced concrete structure are rather
indefinite.
7. Ductility And Warning Before Failure
The Property of a material by which it can withstand extensive deformation without failure under
high tensile stresses is said to be it ductility. Mild steel is a very ductile material. The percentage
elongation of a standard tension test specimen after fracture can be as high as 25 to 30%. This
gives visible deflections of evidence of impending failure in case of overloads. The extra loads
may be removed from the structure to prevent collapse. Even if collapse does occur, time is
available for occupants to vacate the building.
In structural members under normal loads, high stress concentrations develop at various points.
The ductile nature of the usual structural steel enables them to yield locally at those points, thus
redistributing the stresses and preventing premature failures.
8. Additions To Existing Structures
Additions to existing steel structures are very easy to made. Connections between new and
existing structures can be employed very effectively. New bays or even entire new wings can
added to existing steel frame building, and steel brides may often be widened.
9. Possible Reuse
Steel sections cab be reused after a structure is disassembled.
10. Scrap Value
Steel has a scrap value even though it is not reusable in its existing form.
11. Water-Tight And Air-Tight Constructions
Steel structures provide completely impervious construction and structures like reservoirs, oil
pipes, gas pipes, etc. are preferably made from structural steel.
12. Long Span Construction
High-rise buildings, long span bridges and tall transmission towers are made up of structural
steel. Industrial buildings up to a span of 90.m can be designed by plate girders or trusses.
Bridge spans up to 260.m are made with plate girders. For through truss bridges, Bridge spans
of 300.m have been used.
13. Temporary Construction
For temporary structures, steel construction is always preferred. Army constructions during war
are mostly made out of structural steel. The structures may be disassembled by opening few
bolts, component parts are carried to new places are the structure is easily reassembled.
Disadvantages of Steel Construction
1. High Maintenance Costs And More Corrosion
Most steels are susceptible to corrosion when freely exposed to air and water and must
therefore be periodically painted. This requires extra cost and special care. The use of
weathering steels, in stable design applications, tends to eliminate this cost. If not properly
maintained, steel members can loose 1 to 1.5 mm of their thickness each year. Accordingly
such constructions can loose weight up to 35% during their specified life and can fail under the
external loads.
2. Fireproofing Costs
Although steel members are incombustible, their strength is tremendously reduced at
temperatures prevailing in fires. At about 400ºC, creep becomes much more pronounced. Creep
is defined as plastic deformation under a constant load for a long period of time. This produces
excessively large deflections/deformations of main members forcing the other members to
higher stresses or even to collapse. Steel is an excellent conductor of heat and may transmit
enough heat from a burning compartment of a building to start fire in other parts of the building
to start fire in other parts of the building. Extra cost is required to properly fire proof the building.
3. Susceptibility To Buckling
The steel sections usually consist of a combination of thin plates. Further, the overall steel
member dimensions are also smaller than reinforced concrete members. If these slender
members are subjected to compression, there are greater chances of buckling. Buckling is a
type of collapse of the members due to sudden large bending caused by a critical compressive
load. Steel when used for columns is sometimes not very economical because considerable
material has to be used merely to stiffen the columns against buckling.
4. Higher Initial Cost / Less Availability
In few countries, steel is not available in abundance and its initial cost is vary high compared
with the other structural materials. This is the most significant factor that has resulted in the
decline of steel structures in these countries.
5. Aesthetics
For certain types of buildings, the steel form is architecturally preferred. However, for majority of
residential and office buildings, steel structures without the use of false ceiling and cladding are
considered to have poor aesthetic appearance. A considerable cost is to be spent on such
structures to improve their appearance. Cladding is a covering of metal, plastic or timber put on
the surface of a structural member to completely encase it. The cladding not only protects the
member but also improves its appearance.

Which is better, steel design or reinforced concrete design? Why?

Steel structures have an advantage over reinforced concrete structures when it comes to
behaving against earthquakes. Steel's inherent ductility allows it to flex and absorb energy
during seismic events, while reinforced concrete structures tend to be more rigid and brittle.
Steel structures can undergo controlled deformations, effectively dissipating seismic forces and
minimizing damage. However, both steel and reinforced concrete structures can be designed to
meet seismic design codes and regulations, and consultation with structural engineers is crucial
for constructing safe buildings in earthquake-prone areas.
What is your dream structure you want to build? What would it be made of?
My dream structure would be an earthquake proof building, it would be made of flexible
foundations, damping, vibration deflection technology, shear walls, cross braces, diaphragms
and moment-resisting frames to ensure that the building is strong enough when an earthquake
occurs. Because I believe we civil engineers don’t just build strong foundation, but also make
sure that people who will enter building is safe.