Steel and Timber Design

TYPES OF STEEL
Carbon Steel. This is the most widely used kind of steel. Its carbon content
is under 2 percent and is usually less than 1 percent. It often also contains a
little manganese.
Stainless Steel. This is the most corrosion-resistant kind of steel. It
normally contains at least 12 percent (and sometimes up to 30 percent)
chromium, and it usually also contains nickel. A very popular stainless steel
formulation is 18-8, 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.
Alloy Steels. These contain a little carbon, and sometimes silicon, but they
mainly contain added metals, such as manganese (hardness), nickel
(strength), molybdenum (improved wear), tungsten (high temperature
strength), chromium (corrosion resistance), and vanadium (toughness).
Galvanized Steel. This steel is coated with zinc to protect against corrosion.
The coating is usually done by a hot dip process.
Electroplated Steel. This steel has a coating of another metal, usually tin,
applied by the use of an electric current. Tin-plated steel is widely used for
making cans and other containers.
Tool Steel. This is very hard steel made by tempering (heating to a very
high temperature and then quickly cooling).
Damascus Steel. This was a very high quality ancient steel with a beautiful
wavy surface pattern used in making sword blades. It seems to have come
mainly from India.
Wootz Steel. This was actually a European mispronunciation of ukku, the
very fine steel made in ancient India that they called "wook." (It is probably
the same material as Damascus steel.)

Steel plants vary widely in size. Some large integrated plants include coke
ovens, blast furnaces, several kinds of steelmaking furnaces, and various
mills for rolling the steel into sheets or slabs. Some companies dig their own
ore and run their own coal mines and limestone quarries, and some even
operate their own railroads and barges. Other steel plants consist of a single
electric furnace for melting scrap with a small mill for turning the melted

steel into bars. These scrap recycling plants are known as "minimills," and
they now account for about half of steel production in the United States.
There were about 160 steel plants operating in the United States in 2003,
and most of them were minimills.
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Composition of the steel and its percentage

Identify the composition of steel and explain how the percentage composition of steel can
determine its properties
There are an unlimited number of steel compositions, with each one having different properties.
The three most commonly used steels are mild steel, structural steel and stainless steel:

Steel:

Composition:

Properties:

Uses:

<0.2% C

Soft and malleable.

Pipes.

Corrodes fairly rapidly.

Nuts and bolts.

Mild

Roofing.
Shipbuilding.
0.3-0.6% C

Hard and malleable.

Beams and Girders.

High tensile strength.

Railways.

Corrodes fairly rapidly.

Reinforcing for buildings.

10-20% Cr

Hard.

Food processing machinery.

5-10% Ni

Takes a high polish.

Kitchen sinks and

appliances.

Structural

Stainless

Very resistant to
corrosion.

Cutlery.

Surgical instruments.
Razor blades.