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Advances in Steel Materials for Innovative and Elegant Steel Structures in Japan
—A Review

Article  in  Structural Engineering International · August 2016

DOI: 10.2749/101686616X14555428759361

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Advances in Steel Materials for Innovative and Elegant
Steel Structures in Japan—A Review
Ryoichi Kanno, Fellow, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, R&D Laboratories, Chiba, Japan.
Contact: kanno.kx4.ryoichi@jp.nssmc.com
DOI: 10.2749/101686616X14555428759361
Abstract
Over the course of the past 150 years,
since the first iron- and steel-based
bridge was constructed in 1868, Japan
has become one of the most advanced
countries in the construction of steel
structures. Various innovative and ele-
gant steel structures were constructed
in the past such as the world’s longest
suspension bridge called the Akashi
Kaikyo Bridge. The advances of steel
structures were attributed to a signifi-
cant extent to the development of
high-performance steels. Such materi-
als developed in Japan were charac-
terized by three types of versatilities:
strength, functional, and sectional.
Some examples of such materials
include fairly high and low strength
steels, high-bridge performance steel,
seismic-resistant steel, fire-resistant
steel, and size-flexible H-shaped
beam. In Japan, these steel material
innovations enabled the progress in
steel structures to leap forward and in
turn challenging new structures gave
birth to further advancements in steel
materials. In this paper, the advance-
ments of steel structures and materials
were reviewed, focusing largely on the
steel materials and their contributions
to the construction of steel structures.
In addition, in light of recently devel-
oped innovative steels and their
(a)
F ig . 1: Notable steel structures in Japan; (a) Akashi Kaikyo Bridge; (b) Tokyo Skytree; (c) Abeno Harukas
242 Technical Report
strength-increasing potential, the fur-
ther advancements of steel materials
were suggested for the future innova-
tions of steel structures.
Keywords: steel structures; steel mate-
rials; bridges; buildings; towers; high
performance steels; high strength
steels.
Introduction
Looking back on the past 150 years,
many notable, innovative and elegant
steel structures have been constructed
in Japan, especially in the last several
decades. Figure 1 shows some of the
well-known structures: the Akashi
Kaikyo Bridge (1998), which is the
world’s longest bridge (suspension
bridge) with a centre span of approxi-
mately 2 km; the Tokyo Skytree
(2012), which is the world’s highest
self-standing tower (634 m); and the
high-rise building Abeno Harukas
(2014), which is probably one of the
tallest buildings (300 m) to be ever
built in an earthquake-prone region.
These landmark steel structures were
realized as a result of significant con-
tributions from steel materials. In
Japan, innovations in steel materials
have enabled progress in steel struc-
tures to leap forward and in turn chal-
lenging new steel structures have
(b)
Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016
given birth to further advances in steel
materials. This paper first makes a his-
torical review of steel structures and
materials in Japan, focusing largely on
steel materials and their contributions
to steel structures. Then, in the light of
the performance potential of steel
materials, future advances in steel
structures and materials are discussed.
This paper is primarily based on the
one presented at the IABSE Confer-
ence Nara, 2015,1 with additions and
modifications to cover wider ranges of
steel materials. It should be noted that
this paper follows Japanese practices
of strength designations of steel mate-
rials that are based mainly on the ten-
sile strength (TS).
Early History of Steel
Structures in Japan
It is widely known that the Iron
Bridge (1779) in the UK, which was
constructed of cast iron, is the first
iron- and steel-based structure in the
world. Almost 90 years after the com-
pletion of the Iron Bridge (Fig. 2), the
Kurogane Bridge, built of wrought
iron, was constructed in 1868 in
Japan. Since then, to keep in step with
the growing application of steel in
structures in the UK and the USA,
Japan started to construct steel
(c)

1,800
Iron Bridge (UK) 1779
Britannia Bridge (UK) 1846
Europe
and the
USA
Cast iron
Kurogane Bridge 1868
Japan Wrought iron
Steel
Event
Fi g. 2: Early history of iron- and steel-based structures
structures such as the Tenryu-gawa
Bridge (the first steel structure in
Japan) in 1868 and the Shueisya print-
ing factory building in 1894. As far as
steel structures (not iron structures)
are concerned, Japan’s applications
seemed comparably early to those of
western countries, but most of the
materials and construction technolo-
gies were imported from Europe and
the USA. However, after launching
the Imperial Yawata Steel Works in
1901, Japan made continuing progress
in steel materials and structures.
The Yawata Steel Works was estab-
lished as the first integrated steel mak-
ing factory in Japan, but at the time, it
still received full support from foreign
countries like Germany. This situation
continued also about the factory build-
ings until a young Japanese engineer
from the Steel Works, Mr. Kageyama,
designed and built a roll turning lathe
factory building with steel materials pro-
duced by the Works in 1909.2,3 This can
be considered as the dawn of the self-
reliant development of steel structures
and materials in Japan. Since then, steel
materials continued to be applied
mainly in large-scale factory buildings
for both industrial and military pur-
poses, but the real advancement did not
arrive until high-strength plates and hot-
rolled wide-flange beams were pro-
duced in 1954 and 1959, respectively.
Together with a rapid economic growth
in and after the 1960s, both steel materi-
als and structures advanced quite rap-
idly, and it continues up until today.
Overview of Steel Structures
and Their Materials
Bridges
Japan consists of several major islands
and many rivers and mountains;
therefore, one of the important
national policies was to connect the
Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016
Year
1,900 2,000
Forth Bridge (UK) 1890
Eiffel Tower (FR) 1889
Eads Bridge (US) 1874
Brooklyn Bridge (US) 1883
Home Insurance Bldg. (US) 1885
Empire State Bldg. (US) 1931
Tenryu-gawa Bridge 1888
Shinbashi Railway Factory Bldg. 1889
Shueisya Printing Factory Bldg. 1894
Imperial Yawata Steel Works 1901
country with roads and bridges. As a
result, the Japanese steel industry
made extensive efforts to develop
new steel materials, especially to build
longer bridges. Figure 3 shows the
timelines of steel amount ordered for
bridge constructions,4 maximum spans
of suspension, cable-stayed and truss
bridges, and some of the newly devel-
oped materials.5 Over a period of
30 years from the late 1960s, approxi-
mately 500 000 tons of steel continued
to be used in bridge construction
every year. With such an active bridge
construction rate, the centre spans of
all types of bridges—suspension,
cable-stayed and truss—have contin-
ued to expand, and at present are at
their maximum at approximately 2 000
m, 900 m and 500 m, respectively.
When they had completed, these max-
imum spans were at either the first or
the third longest in the world, and
even today, the suspension bridge is
the longest, the cable-stayed bridge is
the fifth longest, and the truss bridge
is the third longest in the world.
During the construction of the suspen-
sion bridge, the strength of the steel
wire used in the cable increased to
approximately 200 N/mm2 in a single
leap, leading to a new 1800 N/mm2
class of high-strength steel wires.6 This
new wire made possible the realization
of the world’s longest suspension
bridge, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
Regarding steel plates for bridge gir-
ders, steel with a TS of 500 N/mm2
(yield strength, YS, of 315 N/mm2)
was first used in 1954. Then, in 1960,
only 6 years later, a high-strength steel
with a TS of 600 N/mm2 (YS = 450)
was developed and applied. Further-
more, higher-strength steel with TSs of
700 N/mm2 (YS = 615) and 800 N/mm2
(YS = 685) were developed, and a
large amount of the steel was applied
to the Minato Ohashi Bridge in 1974,
which roughly doubles the previous
world record for the maximum span in
truss bridges.
Around the time of the Akashi Kaikyo
Bridge construction, the need for
improved productivity in fabrication
increased, and as a result, a low preheat
type of steel plate with a TS of
800 N/mm2 (YS = 685) was developed
for better weldability.7 Triggered in
part by the success of the low preheat
steel, the development of a high-
performance steel called SBHS began
in the late 1990s with the aim of meet-
ing multiple requirements such as high
strength, toughness and weldability.
SBHS with YSs of 400, 500 and
700 N/mm2 was developed and standar-
dized around 2010 and later adopted in
a landmark bridge in the Tokyo metro-
politan area, called the Tokyo Gate
Bridge in 2012.8,9 Apart from the
development of higher performance
steels, with a growing attention to the
deterioration of bridges, weathering
steels were developed and applied after
the late 1970s. The application
increased quite rapidly in the late 1990s
with an increased awareness about
minimum life-cycle cost (LCC) design.
Buildings and Towers
In Japan, steel building constructions
have grown rapidly since the 1960s. Its
development has been marked by a
history of battles against large earth-
quakes. Thus, securing structural
robustness has been an important
issue, especially for high-rise buildings.
Figure 4 shows the timelines for the
estimated steel demand for buildings,
the maximum heights of buildings10
and self-standing towers. Noteworthy
steel material developments and earth-
quakes are also indicated in the fig-
ure.11,12 As seen in Fig. 4, a great
number of steel frame buildings have
been built in Japan, and on average
approximately six million tons of steel
continues to be consumed every year
for the past 40 years or so. The
amount of steel used in buildings is
roughly ten times more than that used
in steel bridges. The annual steel con-
sumption peaked in 1990 at approxi-
mately 12 million tons, which is
comparable to the present day crude
steel production of the UK.
In regards to building construction,
following the repeal of the 31 m height
restriction in 1961, the Kasumigaseki
Building, with a height of 156 m, was
built in 1968. It was the first building
over 100 m high and marked the start
Technical Report 243
Steel ordered (ton) 1 000 000
800 000
600 000
400 000
200 000
0
Low preheat 800 N/mm2 class steel SBHS
600 N/mm2 class steel
(high-performance
500N/mm2 800 N/mm2 class steel 1800 N/mm2 class wire steel for bridges)
class steel

2000 Suspension bridge

Akashi
Cable-stayed bridge
Center span (m)

Truss bridge
1500
Minami-bisan
1000 Tatara
Kanmon
Minato
500 Wakato
Tenmon
Yamatogawa Tokyo Gate
Katsuse
0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year

F ig . 3: Timelines of steel amount ordered and maximum spans for bridges in Japan
Steel demand (ton)

15 000 000
Tokachi-oki quake Miyagiken-oki quake Kobe quake Tohoku quake

10 000 000

5 000 000

0
800 N/mm2 class steel 1,000 N/mm2 class steel
600 N/mm2 class steel
Low yield strength steel SN steel H-SA700
Fire resistant (FR) steel (800 N/mm2 class)
700
Buildings Super high tension bolt Tokyo Skytree
600
High HAZ toughness steel
Maximum height (m)

Towers
500

400 Tokyo Tower

300 Sunshine 60
Kasumigaseki Yokohama Landmark Tower
200
Abeno Harukas
Nagoya TV Tower
100
Shinjyuku Mitsui Tokyo Metropolitan Government
0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year

F ig . 4: Timelines of estimated steel demand and maximum heights of buildings and towers in Japan

of high-rise buildings in Japan. Since tallest tower back to Japan. However, (YS = 430 or 440) was first used in the
then, other symbolic high-rise build- the maximum height of buildings in Yokohama Landmark Tower in 1993.
ings have continued to be built, includ- Japan still remains at 300 m. This is far In 1998, steel with a TS of 800 N/mm2
ing the Tokyo Metropolitan less than the world record and is only (YS = 620) was applied to the Kokura
Government No. 1 Building (1991), approximately two times the maxi- Station Building.15 These high-strength
the Yokohama Landmark Tower mum height that was achieved 50 years steels differ from those used for
(1993) and most recently the Abeno ago. One reason for this is the high bridges, and they have special proper-
Harukas (2014).13 Regarding self- seismic risk in Japan. ties for achieving larger inelastic defor-
standing towers, the Tokyo Tower was mation capacity for seismic designs.
constructed in 1958 and was the The application of high-strength steel Around the year 2010, following the
world’s tallest tower at the time. Then, in building frames has also lagged development of a new structural system
in 2012, the Tokyo Skytree14 was built behind that of such steels in bridges. that used energy absorption dampers
and brought the record for the world’s Steel with a TS of 600 N/mm2 class such as buckling restrained braces,16,17

244 Technical Report Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016

 Characteristics Strength versatility Functional versatility Section versatility
2
• Extra-high strength (1 800 N/mm class • High weldability • Thick plates and sections
cable wire and 1 400 N/mm2 bolt) • Low yield-to-tensile strength • Large sections
• High strength (plates with tensile strengths ratio (low yield ratio)
Material features of 600–1 000 N/mm2) • High fracture toughness
• Low strength (plates with yield strengths of • Narrow yield strength range
100–225 N/mm2) • High corrosion resistance
• High fire resistance
• Advanced metallurgy (microstructure • Thermomechanical control process (TMCP) technology
Production control and strengthening technologies) • Advanced smelting and refining technology
technologies
• Advanced rolling technology

Table 1: Major characteristics of steel materials developed in Japan

steels with TSs of 800 N/mm2 (YS =
630) and subsequently 1000 N/mm2
(YS = 880), which is the strongest steel
ever to be used in a building, were put
to use.18 At the same time, low-yield-
strength steels (YSs of 100 and 225
N/mm2) were also developed for use as
seismic dampers to attain large and sta-
ble energy absorption capability.19
Steel fractures became one of the seri-
ous concerns in designing steel build-
ings after the Kobe earthquake in 1995.
As a result, steel with high HAZ (heat
affected zone) toughness was intro-
duced in 2004 to increase its fracture
toughness in the welded parts, which
became critical especially when
extremely high-heat input welding was
used.20
Moreover, in response to various strong
market needs, fire-resistant steel
possessing excellent high-temperature
mechanical properties was developed in
the late 1980s and applied to various
buildings.21 With this steel, need for
fire-proof materials was eliminated, thus
improving the speed of construction,
architectural design flexibility and
working site environment. In addition
to new materials, new hot-rolled wide
flange beams were developed and used
in the 1990s. The beams have wider size
availability and are used as a substitute
for various built-up beams.22 Apart
from the plates and shapes mentioned
above, a super-high tension bolt was
also developed around 2000, and it has
increased the productivity of on-site
steel frame assembly.23
Innovative Steel Materials
and Their Contributions to
Steel Structures
As summarized in the previous sec-
tion, various innovative steel materials
and members have been developed
over the past decades. Table 1 shows
the major characteristics of the steels
developed in Japan. These steel mate-
rials may be characterized based on
strength versatility from high to low
strengths, functional versatility such as
weldability, fracture toughness and
deformation capacity, and
section versatility for a variety of sizes
in sections. These versatilities are far
more advanced in Japan compared
with the rest of the world. The follow-
ings are some of the noteworthy and
unique steel materials.
High-Strength Steel Plates
The chronological trends for the maxi-
mum TS of the steel plates used in
bridges and buildings in Japan are
shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the
application of high-strength steels
advanced in line with the growing need
for long-span bridges, and it was then
later expanded for use in buildings.
Steel with a TS of 800 N/mm2 was suc-
cessfully applied in the 1960s in bridges
because the bridges were designed pri-
marily on the basis of elastic design.
The high-strength steels for bridges
were produced using traditional techni-
ques such as quenching and temper
treatment. As such, the steel contained
relatively high carbon and strength-
hardening alloys (Ni, Mn, Cr, etc.). On
one hand, application of high-strength
steels for buildings lagged behind that
for bridges because of the concern
about frequently occurred large earth-
quakes and that the design methodol-
ogy for buildings changed from elastic
to inelastic around the year 1980. In
the late 1980s, the requirements for
structural steel for buildings were
extensively studied, and eventually,
they stipulated an increase in the ine-
lastic deformation capacity of members
and frames.11,12 Following this, prog-
ress was made during the 1990s in the
application of high-strength steels with
TSs of up to 800 N/mm2. It took
approximately 30 years for high-
strength steels to be widely used in
buildings, because the steel for build-
ings has different properties from those
used in bridges. Interestingly, the maxi-
mum strength of the steel used in build-
ings surpassed that of bridges to 1 000
N/mm2 in the early 2010s, once a new
structural system with energy absorp-
tion dampers became common.24 With
this system, the steel for beams and col-
umns did not require high inelastic per-
formance because the dampers
absorbed most of the seismic energy. It
should be noted that the maximum TSs
of steels permitted for use in steel struc-
tures are 550 N/mm2 in EN (S450J0)
and 620 N/mm2 in ASTM (A913 Grade
70). Thus, the utilization of high-
strength steels for steel structures in
Japan is quite exceptional compared
with other countries around the world.
High-Strength Cable Wires
Figure 6 shows the timeline of the
maximum TS of zinc-coated cable
wire and the maximum centre span of
suspension bridges in the world. A
significant increase in wire strength
made it possible for the Akashi Kai-
kyo Bridge to become the world’s
longest suspension bridge in 1998.
Compared with the Humber Bridge,
the longest bridge before that time, an
increase of about 200 N/mm2 wire
strength enabled a roughly 600 m
span increase in the Akashi Kaikyo
Bridge. Generally, high strength can
be achieved for wires by transforming
the microstructure to a pearlite struc-
ture with an approximately 0.8% car-
bon content. In this state, the steel has
a laminar microstructure with

Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016 Technical Report 245

 1100 2000 2200
Akashi Kaikyo
1000

Maximum tensile strength (N/mm2)

Bridges
Maximum tensile strength (N/mm2)

900 1800
Wire strength 1800

Maximum centre span (m)

800 Golden Gate
1600
700
1400
600
1400
500 Humber
1000
400 Centre span
1200
300
Buildings George Washington
200 600
1000
100 Brooklyn
0 800 200
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year Year

F ig . 5: Timeline of maximum tensile strength in Japan F i g. 6: Timeline of wire strength and centre span3

alternative soft and hard layered regarded as a naturally formed com- of 400 N/mm2 to realize a TS of 1 400
phases. The interval between the posite material. N/mm2.23
layers is called lamellar spacing. The
Super-High Tension Bolts Hydrogen embrittlement is assumed to
key to high strength is to form a clear
be caused through a mechanism
lamellar structure and reduce the High-tension bolts were first applied in whereby hydrogen produced during
layer spacing through the use of both Japan in 1954 to a railway truss bridge corrosion first penetrates into bolts in
heat treatment and cold working as an alternative to rivets. Figure 8 tension; then migrates inside the bolt
(drawing). However, the phenomenon shows the timeline for the maximum toward stress concentrations and
of lamella collapse occurred due to nominal TS.23,26 In 1964, high-tension makes such areas brittle as it accumu-
the heat effect during the zinc-coating bolts with TSs up to 1 300 N/mm2 were lates. Therefore, the embrittlement is
process to increase the wire’s durabil- stipulated as the industrial standard in primarily related to both the amount
ity. This had been a serious obstacle Japan. However, soon after, hydrogen of diffusible hydrogen and degree of
to increasing wire strength for a long embrittlement (often called delayed stress concentration. With these fac-
period of time. Adding Si and Cr to fracture) occurred in the 1 300 N/mm2 tors in mind, the SHTB was developed
the steel helps maintain the lamella class bolt and subsequently in the through the alleviation of stress con-
structure, which was discovered 1 100 N/mm2 class bolt, and as a result, centrations by optimizing the shape of
through extensive research activities the 1 000 N/mm2 class bolt virtually the bolt, such as its screw thread, and
and eventually led to an approximate became the standard for high tension subsequently by adding chemical ele-
200 N/mm2 increase in its TS, which bolts in Japan. Owing to this embrittle- ments, such as Mo and V, to form alloy
had been unachievable until then.6 ment, the bolt strength remained static carbides that trap diffusible hydrogen
Also, through the observations of the for a long period of time. Under these and prevent it from migrating to stress
microstructure at an atomic level, it is circumstances, a new bolt termed concentrations. The SHTB has been
now well understood that Si and Cr super high tension bolt (SHTB) was used for more than 10 years in build-
have an inhibitory effect on carbon developed for use in buildings and first ings in Japan and is now being studied
diffusion from the cementite layered applied to a high-rise building in 2001. for bridges exposed to more corrosive
phase (hard carbide phase shown in It does not suffer from hydrogen environments. The maximum TS of
black in Fig. 7).25 This wire with a embrittlement in the environment and high tension bolts for steel structures
clearly layered microstructure may be achieved a dramatic strength increase remains at 1 040 N/mm2 in both Euro-
code 3 and ASTM.
(a) (b)
High-Performance Steel
for Bridges
Although the application of high-
strength steels progressed rapidly in
the 1960s, problems with weldability
such as cold cracking still existed.
Because high-strength steels were pro-
duced at the time by adding relatively
larger amounts of C and alloys such as
B and Ni, the steel needed to be pre-
heated to more than 100 C before
welding. This resulted in low fabrica-
tion productivity. Given this problem,
100 nm Japanese steel makers developed a
low preheat type of steel with a TS of
Fi g. 7: Differences in layer configuration (Courtesy of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo 800 N/mm2 by, for example, adding Cu
Metal Corporation);25(a) Traditional wire (b) Si and Cr added wire or other alloys that do not increase the

246 Technical Report Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016

 1500 0.55
Maximum tensile strength of bolt (N/mm2) Hydrogen embrittlement
1400
1300 Hydrogen 0.53
embrittlement

Carbon equivalent Ceq

1200
1100 0.51
1000
900 0.49
800
700 0.47
600 Ceq = C + Si/24 + Mn/6 + Ni/40 + Mo/4 + V/14
500 0.45
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
Year Year

Fi g. 8: Timeline of maximum bolt strength in Japan Fi g. 9: Chronological trend in Ceq in Japan21

Specification Yield strength Tensile strength Charpy impact test

and Minimum Minimum Maximum Minimum Temperature Specimen
Country designation (N/mm2) (N/mm2) (N/mm2) energy (J) ( C) direction
Japan HS G3140 500 570 720 100 −5 Transverse
SBHS500
USA ASTM A709 485 585 760 34 −23 Longitudinal
HPS485W
Republic of KS D3868 450 600 N.A. 47 −5 Longitudinal
Korea HSB500
Table 2: Comparison of high performance steels for bridges

carbon equivalent. Figure 9 shows the process (TMCP) technology, outlined such as the upper limit of yield ratio
chronological trend in the carbon later in this paper. Similar steel mate- (YR) (ratio of YS to TS) and varia-
equivalent, Ceq, for 800 N/mm2 class rials were also used in a tower named tion range limitation (both upper and
steels used in bridges, which is drawn the Tokyo Skytree.14 lower limits) of YS, were introduced
based on the data shown in Ref. [27]. in these steels.
High-performance steels for use in
Through the contributions made by
bridges were introduced in the USA The YR is an index directly related to
advancements in metallurgy and steel
and the Republic of Korea, but as the inelastic deformation capacity of
refining technology, Ceq has decreased
shown in Table 2, the SBHS developed steel members.28 As seen in a simple
rapidly over time.
in Japan has a superior performance in cantilever beam under a moment gra-
The steel used in bridges was areas such as YS and fracture tough- dient (Fig. 10a), which is a partial
advanced in terms of both strength ness.9 Regarding fracture toughness, model in a frame subjected to seismic
the requirement in the SBHS is given force, the yield spreading length (Lp)
and weldability; however, a variety of
other requirements also existed. for the transverse direction, which is defined roughly between plastic
Inspired by a research project on more severe (provides smaller tough- moment Mp and ultimate strength Mu
high-performance steels for bridges in ness) than the longitudinal (rolling) at the end of the beam is strongly
the USA, a similar intensive research direction. related to the YR of the steel. It is
activity was initiated in Japan. The known that the lower the YR, the lar-
Seismic-Resistant Steel for ger the inelastic spreading length Lp,
requirements included not only YS
and TS but also fracture toughness, Buildings and thus the larger inelastic deforma-
weldability, mechanical properties tion capacity. Based on this considera-
The seismic design of buildings in tion, an upper limit of YR was
after cold-forming, and weather resist- Japan underwent a significant change
ance (corrosion resistance). To meet regulated typically as 80% for steels
in 1981 from an elastic design to an with a TS range of 400–600 N/mm2.
these requirements, the new steels inelastic design. In response to this
were developed for bridges, These steels are produced by using
change, new steel materials were microstructure control such that the
SBHS400, SBHS500 and SBHS700 developed for buildings, such as the
(note that the numbers indicate the necessary strength and YR are
SN steels specified in JIS G3136 (TS = achieved by a two-phase microstruc-
minimum YSs), with corresponding 400 N/mm2 (YS = 235) steel and TS =
TSs of 490, 570, and 780 N/mm2, and ture (harder and softer phases) and
490 N/mm2 (YS = 325) steel) and through proper control of the volume
the steel specification (JIS G3140- SA440 steel (YS = 440 N/mm2 and TS fraction, grain size and strength ratio
SBHS) was enacted around 2010.9 = 590). These steels contributed effec- of each phase.
These steels were produced by refin- tively to an increase in the inelastic
ing the microstructure through the use deformation capacity of members and The variation range (between upper and
of the thermomechanical control frames.11,12,14 Special requirements, lower values) of YS is another important

Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016 Technical Report 247

(a)
Yield region P 1.0
Lp
L
Mu Mp
F ig . 10 : Effects of materials characteristics on deformation capacity; (a) yield spreading
in a beam; (b) collapse mechanisms and their effect (Courtesy of the American Society of
Civil Engineers)29
index for determining the deformation
capacity of an entire frame. Figure 10b
shows the push-over analyses of six-
storied frames with different beam-to-
column strength ratios. Type 3 collapse
mechanism has the largest deformation
capacity and is generally called “weak-
beam/strong-column mechanism,”
wherein the beams yield prior to the col-
umns.29 To ensure this mechanism, an
inevitable variation in the YS of the steel
had to be controlled; thus, the range
between the upper and lower values was
limited to less than 120 or 100 N/mm2
for steels with a TS range of 400–600
N/mm2.30 This range limitation was
achieved mainly by the precise control
of the production process.
The limitations on YR and variation
range of YS for seismic design pur-
pose were first introduced in Japan
and later adopted across the world.
Table 3 shows a comparison between
the major steel specifications for steels
with comparable YS. As shown in the
table, Japan’s specifications are stric-
ter than that of other countries in
terms of YR, variation range and frac-
ture toughness. Eurocode does not
specify the limitation on the variation
Specification and
Country or region designation
Japan JIS G3136
SN490B
USA ASTM A992
Europe EN-10025
S355JR
*Supplemental requirements.
**Maximum yield-to-tensile strength ratio is required not in EN-10025 but in Eurocode 3.
Table 3: Comparison of steel specifications for seismic design
248 Technical Report
(b)
Load factor λ
Type 3
Type 2
Type 1
δ greater needs for accomplishing large
0.5
Type 1 Type 2
0
50 100
Top displacement δ (cm)
range of YS; therefore, room for dis-
cussion about seismic design require-
ments exists.
Damage Control System and Low
Yield Strength Steels
A new type of seismic-resistant struc-
tural system called damage control
system was proposed in the late
1980s. This new system was developed
based on traditional braced frame sys-
tems but had a dramatic improvement
in their energy absorption capacity.
The key technology for this system
was buckling restrained braces
(BRBs) that have the capability of
resisting both compression and ten-
sion forces without buckling and other
sudden failures.19 The BRBs possess
stable hysteresis behaviour against
cyclic axial loading; thus, it is possible
to make a building design such that
the BRBs can absorb most of the seis-
mic energy while the major beams
and columns remain intact. A typical
BRB consists of a brace member,
buckling restraining tube and filling
materials (such as cement mortar) in
between the brace and the tube.19,31
With the advent of the BRBs, various
devices including shear wall type,
Yield strength
Minimum Maximum
(N/mm2) (N/mm2)
325 445
345 450
355 N.A.
were developed and generally called
as energy absorption damper.19
As for the steel materials, low-YS
steels (100 and 225 N/mm2) known as
low yield point (LY) steels were devel-
oped for the dampers, in response to
and stable energy absorption. LY
steels have large elongation and excel-
lent low-cycle fatigue resistance.32
Type 3
They were produced primarily by
decreasing carbon and other impurity
contents in the steel. On the opposite
side of the spectrum, with a wider use
of the damage control system, high-
strength steels with TSs of 800 N/mm2
(YS = 630) and subsequently 1000
N/mm2 (YS = 880), which is the
strongest steel ever to be used in a
building, were put into use around the
year 2010.18 These high-strength steels
do not meet the requirements (such as
on YR) of buildings constructed ear-
lier in Japan, but can be used because
the seismic safety of a building is
secured mainly by the dampers. As
seen in the above cases, an arrival of a
new structural system attracted new
steel material development such as
low-YS steels and very-high-strength
steels. This is one interesting case
where structural innovation prompted
development of new materials.
Weathering Steels for Bridges
Based primarily on the COR-TEN
steel developed in the 1930s in the
USA, similar weathering steels were
developed suitable for Japan’s environ-
ment in the late 1950s, and eventually
in 1968, a weathering steel specification
called JIS G3114 (SMA) was standar-
dized.33 This SMA steel has small
amounts of Cu, Ni and Cr, which
prompts the steel surface to form a
tight and stiff corrosion-resistant layer.
Since this layer provides corrosion pro-
tection, the weathering steel has strong
corrosion resistance. This steel has
Charpy impact test
Maximum yield Minimum Temperature
ratio energy (J) ( C)
0.8 27 0
0.85 27* 21
0.91** 27 20
Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016
been applied to many bridges in Japan;
however, it was found that, under cer-
tain environments, the corrosion pro-
tection layer was not formed properly.
The problem was due to the airborne
salt (precisely, the sodium ions) from
the nearby ocean, which hindered the
layer formation. Thus, the SMA steel
was permitted for construction only in
areas that were a certain distance away
from the coast.
Reflecting upon this limitation, Japa-
nese steel producers worked on
improving the corrosion resistance. It
was found that, in a chloride attack
environment, Ni addition effectively
increased the corrosion resistance,
whereas Cr addition had a somewhat
harmful effect. The Ni effect can be
explained such that during the forma-
tion of the corrosion layer, Ni first con-
centrates inside the inner corrosion
layer, contributing to making the layer
dense; subsequently, the Ni-contained
layer absorbs sodium ions from air-
borne salts due to its ionic selectivity
which separates the harmful sodium
ions from the base metal. Both the
densely packed inner corrosion layer
and its sodium ionic selectivity contrib-
uted to improving the overall corro-
sion resistance of the steel. Based on
these findings, Ni-based weathering
steels (1%–3% Ni-added steels
depending on the environment) were
developed for rich airborne salt envir-
onments defined as salt of more than
0.05 mdd (mg/dm2/day).33 With an
increased attention to LCC designs,
the application of weathering steels
increased in the late 1990s, and now
forms approximately 25% of the newly
constructed steel bridges. A prediction
model to estimate the long-term corro-
sion loss (i.e. the lifetime) that has
occurred in weathering steels has been
(a)
500
European beams
400 Japanese beams
300
B (mm)
200
100
0 0
0 400 800
H (mm)
Fi g. 11: Comparison of size versatility between Europe and Japan; (a) B and H relationship; (b) b/T and h/t relationship;
(c) definitions
Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016
developed and implemented through
user-friendly software that includes a
meteorological database, an airborne
salt simulator, a sulphur oxides simula-
tor, and so on.34
Fire-Resistant Steel for Buildings
Steel materials in a building are gener-
ally covered with and protected by
fire-proof materials such as sprayed
rock wool fibres. This is because ordi-
nary steels tend to lose their strengths
rapidly when temperature increases
during a fire. Fire safety specifications
(material type and thickness) are gen-
erally provided depending on the time
needed for evacuation in case of a fire.
In Japan, to seek a more rational fire
design, a five-year national project to
develop a new building fire design
methodology began in 1982. The
results eventually opened the door to a
performance-based fire design in the
late 1980s, where a variety of design
means were possible as long as perfor-
mance was guaranteed. This change in
design environments strongly moti-
vated the development of a special
steel called fire-resistant steel. This
fire-resistant steel is the first steel in
the world that guarantees the YS to be
two-thirds or more of the original
strength at ambient temperatures up
to a temperature of 600 C.
Heat-resistant steels had already existed
for industrial processes, such as those
for boilers, whose origin is believed to
be 1913. Heat-resistant steel contains a
large amount of Cr and Ni and exhibits
not only static strength but also time-
dependent creep strength as well as cor-
rosion resistance. As a result, the steel
was quite expensive to be used for con-
struction materials, and thus, a Japa-
nese steel producer started work on
(b)
15
10
b/T
5
1200 0 20 40
h/t
developing fire-resistant steel for use in
building designs in the late 1980s. The
fire-resistant steel was finally developed
by adding relatively small amounts of
alloys such as Mo and Nb. These alloys
were prone to form carbonitrides in the
steel and increased the high-
temperature strength without a large
cost increase. With the fire-resistant
steel, the fire protection can be elimi-
nated, thereby resulting in an increase
in the competitiveness of steel build-
ings.13,21,35,36 However, this fire-resistant
steel tends to deteriorate in strength
rapidly above 600 C; therefore, the
application is still limited to a certain
type of building, such as car parking
facilities and atriums, where the maxi-
mum temperature is moderate. In order
to be applied in variety of buildings,
therefore, the steel needs to be stronger
at higher temperatures in the future.
Wide Flange Beams with Larger
Size Versatility
Initially introduced in 1959 in Japan,
hot-rolled wide-flange beams (called
H-shaped beams in Japan) have con-
tributed significantly to the growing
construction of steel structures. Till
date, various development activities
have been conducted with these
beams, and their most noteworthy
feature is the size-flexible and
efficient-rolling technology.22 With
this technology, Japanese beams have
quite large size versatility; at present,
Japanese beams are available in
approximately 600 sizes but European
beams in about 200 sizes. This size
versatility has obviously contributed
to increasing the design diversity and
the cost competitiveness of steel struc-
tures. Figure 11 shows more detailed
comparisons of the size versatility
between Japanese and European
(c)
T
t h H
60 80 b b
B
Technical Report 249
beams. As seen from the height-width
relationship in the figure, the heights
and widths of Japanese beams are
provided in a regular manner at a
pitch of 50 mm, which increases flexi-
bility in the member size selection as
well as size familiarity especially for
engineers accustomed to the SI unit.
In addition, as seen from the width-
thickness ratio relationship in Fig. 11,
Japanese beams tend to provide the
designers with relatively larger web
width-thickness ratios than European
beams. This feature of Japanese
beams brings in larger flexural perfor-
mance per unit weight (in terms of
rigidity and strength) because the lar-
ger web width-thickness ratios give
thinner webs for a given height. Over-
all, these characteristics of Japanese
beams make the structural design of
steel structures more economical.
These size-flexible hot-rolled beams
have been widely used as steel frames
especially in high-rise buildings in
Japan and various other large indus-
trial plants.
Advanced Production
Technologies for High-
Performance Steels
The major advanced technologies that
have contributed to the development of
various high-performance steels in
Japan include steel cleanliness technol-
ogy, metallurgy for microstructure con-
trol, TMCP technology and size-flexible
H-shaped beam rolling technology.
The most noteworthy is the TMCP
technology. Introduced from Europe
and the USA in the early 1960s, the
TMCP technology and related metal-
lurgy rapidly advanced in Japan in
response to various needs, and this has
made a wide variety of steel properties
possible without adding much alloys.
This production technology can achieve
both high strength and high-fracture
toughness under, in principle, the as-
(a)
100 µm
F ig . 12 : Comparison of the microstructure of steels produced using different production processes (Courtesy of
Kensetsutosyo);40(a) steel by ingot-making in 1925; (b) ordinary as-rolled steel in 1994; (c) TMCP steel
250 Technical Report
rolled condition.37 Such property con-
trol is achieved primarily by refining
the microstructure through optimum
control of chemical composition, heat-
ing, rolling, cooling and micro-alloying
elements such as Nb and Ti. Since both
high strength and high toughness are
quite difficult to achieve by traditional
processes, the TMCP technology is
regarded as a breakthrough technology
that opened the door to wider applica-
tion of high-strength steels in steel
structures. The TMCP technology is a
combination of controlled rolling that
results in fine grains mainly by introdu-
cing many dislocations as new grain
sites (nucleation sites), and accelerated
cooling that promotes phase transfor-
mation at lower temperature while sup-
pressing grain size growth.37–39 Using
this advanced technology and related
metallurgy, high-performance steels
can be produced efficiently with smaller
amounts of C and alloy elements.
Figure 12 shows images of the micro-
structures of TMCP steel, ordinary
structural steel (as-rolled) and ingot-
making steel produced in 1925.40 The
ordinary steel has a grain size of
approximately 20 μm, whereas TMCP
steel has a grain size of approxi-
mately 5 μm.37
Another interesting technology is
the size-flexible H-shaped beam roll-
ing technology, which is different from
conventional universal rolling mill
technology. Various technologies such
as skewed rolls and free-size finishing
mills, free-size edger rolls and rolling
temperature-controlling technology
were developed.22,41 The most distinct
technology among them is the skewed
rolls that can expand the distance
between the inner faces of the flange
continuously by changing the rolling
distance and cross angle, as shown in
Fig. 13. H-shaped beams of various
sizes can be produced efficiently using
this technology, up to 1 000 mm in
depth and 400 mm in width.
(b)
100 µm
Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016
Potential of Steel Materials,
Recent Progress and Various
Challenges
Figure 14 shows the typical range of
TS of major industrial materials
(based on Refs. [42 and 43] with some
modifications). The typical TSs of steel
plates and shapes for construction are
between 200 N/mm2 and 600 N/mm2,
but the strength reaches 4 000 N/mm2
when the wires used for steel cables
and cords (for automotive tires) are
included. This indicates that steel has a
wide range of strength compared with
other materials. This variety is due to
the fact that steel is an alloy of iron
and carbon, and undergoes phase
transformations when cooled from
high temperatures. By changing the
carbon content and cooling rate, it is
possible to produce a variety of micro-
structures, thereby resulting in a wide
range of material characteristics. Since
the theoretical strength of steel
(no defect case) exceeds 10 000
N/mm2 (Fig. 14), it can be said that
steel is still an emerging new material
that has great potential for a further
increase in strength.
In response to the strong demand to
reduce the weight of automotive vehi-
cles, a rapid progress has been made
in the application of high-strength
steel materials over the past 10 years
or so.44 At present, the maximum TS
of the steel sheets used in automobiles
has reached about 1 200 N/mm2,
whereas it used to be 600 N/mm2 in
the late 1990s. Today’s steel sheets
possess not only high strength but also
high elongation, making them suitable
for press forming. This special feature
was accomplished by microstructure
and texture control, as seen in dual
phase (DP) steel (consisting of bal-
anced soft and hard grains) and
transformation-induced plasticity
(TRIP) steel (where a phase transfor-
mation of the retained austenite into
(c)
100 µm
 direction of the steel through a cold-
L/2
α rolling process. It was reported that a
β
16% increase in Young’s modulus was
possible, and the structural perfor-
mance of the steel was examined using
β small specimens.51 The tests showed
both advantages and disadvantages of
the steel.51 Furthermore, fatigue-
Fi g. 13: Outline of skewed-rolling technology (Courtesy of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo resistant steels have been attempted
Metal Corporation); α: cross angle, β: inclined angle, L: roll distance41 by controlling the microstructure to
create various obstacles to hinder
Tensile strength (N/mm2) fatigue crack propagation.52
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 10000
As shown above, steel materials have
a large potential not only in terms of
Iron and steel
strength but also in various other
10400 N/mm2
Aluminum and its alloy properties, and thus, steel should be
3500 N/mm2 able to contribute further to steel
Copper and its alloy structures in the future.
6400 N/mm2
Concrete (compression)

Engineering plastics
Conclusions
CFRP
This paper reviewed the technological
advances and innovations in steel
Note: show approximate theoretical strengths calculated as G/7.5, where G is shear modulus. structures and steel materials in Japan.
Fi g. 14: Tensile strength of various industrial materials (Courtesy of the Iron and Steel The increase in strength of steel mate-
Institute of Japan); 42,43 grey dots indicate approximate theoretical strengths calculated as rials supported and accelerated the
G/7.5, where G is shear modulus increased span of bridges as evidenced
by the relationship between the central
900 span length and the wire strength in
800
suspension bridges. For steel buildings,
high seismic-resistant steels made it
700 TRIP
DP
possible to realize high-rise buildings
Stress (N/mm2)

600 with versatile designs in extremely

500 earthquake-prone regions. As seen in
400
the history of steel structures in Japan,
Ordinary high strength plate innovations in steel materials have
300
enabled the progress in steel structures
200 to leap forward and in turn challenging
100 new steel structures have given birth to
0 further advances in steel materials.
0 10 20 30 40
Various steels that have contributed
Strain (%)
to the progress in steel structures were
Fi g. 15: Comparison of stress–strain relationships considered in this paper, including
high-strength steel plates with TSs of
600–1 000 N/mm2, high-strength cable
martensite occurs during its plastic elements in buildings, such as seismic
wires with a TS of 1 800 N/mm2,
deformation).45 As shown in Fig. 15, energy absorption dampers.48,49
super-high tension bolts with a TS of
these DP and TRIP steels show signif-
1 400 N/mm2, high-performance steels
icant strain hardening and larger uni- Apart from the automotive field, a
for bridges with YSs of 400–700
form elongation compared with variety of other challenges have also
N/mm2, seismic-resistant steels with
ordinary high-strength steel plates for appeared for steel materials. One such
an upper limit for YR and a narrower
buildings. Recent automotive-related challenge is the development of an
range of YS, low YS steels of 100–225
research activities have reported that ultrafine-grained steel aimed at achiev-
N/mm2, weathering steels for a variety
steel sheets with a TS of more than ing what is known as doubled strength
of corrosion environments, fire-
1 000 N/mm2 has large elongations, by reducing the grain size to less than
resistant steels that guarantee the YS
i.e. 25%–30%.44 In addition, a TS of 1 μm.50 The key factor for ultrafine-
at 600 C, and wide-flange H-shaped
1 500 N/mm2 (1 800 N/mm2 in some grained steel is the introduction of a
beams with large size versatility.
reports) has been realized using a hot- large plastic strain at a lower tempera-
press process technology called hot ture into the steel during the rolling Advances in production technologies,
stumping.46,47 It is interesting to note process. This steel is still in the such as the TMCP and size-flexible H-
that some of the advanced steels research phase but should have a shaped beam rolling technology, were
developed for automotive vehicles, promising future. Steels with high outlined. Particularly, the TMCP tech-
such as deep-drawing and TRIP steels, Young’s modulus have also been nology was explained in detail as a
have started to be applied to structural developed by controlling the grain means to develop a wide variety of

Structural Engineering International Nr. 3/2016 Technical Report 251

high-performance steels. It was shown
through the research results for auto-
motive vehicles that steel materials still
have high potential for steel structures
with further improvements in perfor-
mance; thus, it was pointed out that
steel can still be regarded as a newly
developing material. It is without doubt
that these high-performance steels will
also be able to keep contributing to the
growing global construction market,
realizing a relationship between the
steel structures and the materials that
stimulates their mutual innovation
activities as seen in Japan.
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