Introduction
Designers should appreciate that different grades and types of steel are used for a wide range of applications.
Steel is a widely used material; architects and designers employ it in a variety of situations from structural elements to lightweight cladding components, furniture, ironmongery and fixings. Different applications have different requirements of the material. A wide range of steels is therefore available with varying properties achieved by alloying and processing. It is in the designer's interest to grasp some of technology associated with this.
Steel offers a number of advantages which are largely a result of the inherent characteristics of the material.
The distinct advantages of the use of steel in modern building construction are summarised as follows:
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the modular nature of its fabrication - a "kit of parts"
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the potential for rapid erection
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it is prefabricated off-site to a high degree of tolerance
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economic long spans can be achieved
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it permits adaptation in the future, and can be re-used
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it makes a positive contribution to a thermally efficient building
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steel or composite frames are lighter than concrete equivalents
Steel has properties, such as resilience and ductility which distinguish it from other materials.
Steel has a number of properties that distinguish it from other materials such as ceramics. It is resilient; it can sustain loading and deflection without incurring brittle behaviour; it is tough, a property which describes the ability to resist the propagation of cracks; it is ductile, which means that it will deform plastically prior to fracture; and it shows some resistance to impact damage.
Other important properties of steel include:
· rigidity
· high strength
· crack resistant
An understanding of its origins and the techniques required to refine it are useful in appreciating its structural performance as well as how to prevent corrosion.
