Steel
It is impossible to imagine our world without steel as a building material. Steel is resistant, very hard and tough. Despite these properties, steel is easy to work with using many processing methods and its strength makes it ideal for load-bearing structures.
How many tons of steel are there in the world?
According to Worldsteel, a total of 1.950 billion tons of steel were produced worldwide in 2021. China leads the way with 1.032 billion tons.
What is steel?
Steel, a material consisting mainly of iron, is known for its hardness. Iron, an inherently brittle material, is sensitive to water and oxygen, which leads to rust. Iron is a common element that is mainly found in iron ores. These ores are smelted in blast furnaces and processed into pig iron.
The susceptibility to rust and brittleness of unalloyed iron make it unattractive for the construction industry. The carbon contained in the iron is the cause of these negative properties. In steelworks, the iron is therefore heated to such an extent that the carbon burns off. This process continues until the carbon content has fallen below 2 percent. There are even types of steel that only have a carbon content of 10 per thousand.
Today, there are thousands of types of steel worldwide. By adding other elements, alloys can be produced that can be given different properties depending on the area of application. For example, there are steel grades that can withstand extreme mechanical loads, such as HARDOX Wear Plate. Other grades have special strength, are weatherproof or are particularly resistant to oxidation.
Steel: the foundation of modern buildings
By using steel, buildings can be erected with significantly less material than would be possible without reinforcement. Modern office buildings, which can be up to 300 meters high, would have to have meter-thick stone walls on the lower floors in order to support the weight of the entire structure.
However, this would make the buildings so heavy that they would sink into the ground over time. Today's skyscrapers would simply be unthinkable without steel.
The load-bearing support structure inside buildings reduces the amount of material required so that buildings are relatively light despite their size. This building material can be found in all areas of our daily lives. It is not only found in buildings, but also bears the weight of large bridges, can be found in the frames of cars and in many technical systems in industry.
See also
BRINAR
BRINAR is a wear-resistant steel which is used in mechanically highly stressed areas.
Read moreConstruction Steel
Construction steel has excellent mechanical properties and can be processed very well.
Read moreCopper
Copper is used in many ways for industrial and construction purposes. It is also suitable as an alloying element.
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