Steel fabrication

By
Dr SACHIN JAIN

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 1

 Optimum design of steel structures can only be achieved if
fabrication and erection are considered together with the
functional, architectural and structural requirements.

 To minimize total costs and optimize the design of the steel

structure, it is important that the various disciplines involved
work in a coordinated way as a project team during the various
stages.

 Fabrication costs depend on

 Fabrication
 contract scope,
 contracting procedures
 organization.
 Costs are very sensitive to the labor involved in the fabrication.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 2

 Essential elements
 Erection sequence;

 Purchasing the material from the steel mill;

 Preparation of fabrication drawings;

 Material preparation;

 Fabrication;

 Assembly;

 Protective treatment;

 Delivery to site.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 3

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
4
 Workshop Layout

 Fabricators range from

small general firms to
large specialized
producers with different
facilities at their
disposal.

 In either case the

fabrication must always
be organized in such a
way that the material will
pass through a one-way
system from receipt to
final dispatch

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 5

A flow chart

 A flow chart, shows the

main areas of activity in
a modern fabrication
shop.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 6

Production Line

 The specific activities for a

simple steel beam can also
be organized as a production
line

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 7

 Most fabrication shops are equipped with overhead traveling
cranes, sometimes remotely controlled from the shop floor.

 Mechanized conveyor systems are common in the larger

shops.

 They can greatly reduce handling costs.

 Special facilities must be provided for the storage of flammable

materials; pipelines for gas and oxygen must be installed.

 Welding areas require a heavy power supply and screening to

protect eyes from ultraviolet glare.

 Some operations are very dusty and noisy, such as

mechanical chipping and arc gouging.

 Where possible, they should be separated, therefore, from the

other production areas.
Dr Sachin Jain Notes 8
 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
9
 Material Handling and Preparation

 Material is taken into temporary stock in such a way that it can be

easily identified and moved.

 Some companies stack the material for easy access and move it by
using cranes equipped with chains and hooks.

 Other companies use a high degree of automation in their material

handling, using cranes on conveyors with magnetic lifting devices;

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 10

A traveling Goliath Magnet Crane with the capacity
to lift both plates and sections

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 11

 Computerized records hold details of member sizes,
lengths, weights and steel quality, all related to an
identification mark.
Dr Sachin Jain Notes 12
 When required, the steel is shot blasted in a separate location,
either by hand or automatically.

 Sometimes the automatic installations can sense the size of the

members.

 Paint-spraying (done either by hand or automatically) may follow

directly after blast cleaning, depending on the production
programmed; if, for example, welding is required then painting will
take place after fabrication.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 13

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
14
 Templates and Marking

 Steel may be marked directly by hand with scribe lines and hole centers;
nowadays, however, in most shops pre-programmed automatic plant is in
use.

 Traditionally, full-sized templates, made of timber or heavy cardboard, were

used to mark the steel for cutting and for centre popping where holes were
to be drilled.

 Occasionally a drilled and bushed template, made of steel, would be used

for mass-produced items in order to avoid the template wearing out.

 Templates are still being used, particularly for small plate fittings and
gussets, but the templates themselves are made by automatic fabrication
methods after plotting in the Drawing Office using computer work stations.

 These techniques greatly reducing the work of the traditional skilled

template maker.

Dr sachin Jain Notes 15

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
16
 Sawing Line and Rolled Sections

 The rolled sections are in most cases sawn to length, the other
options being mechanical cutting or flame burning.

 Three types of saws are available to the fabricator:

 Circular saw;
 Band saw;
 Motor operated hacksaw

Dr sachin jain Notes 17

Circular Cold Saw
 By far the most popular choice
is the circular cold saw, as its
productivity is better than that
of the band saw or the hack
saw.

 These saws are, in many

cases, integrated in automatic
sawing lines, equipped with
mechanized longitudinal and
transverse conveyors and
measuring devices,

Dr sachin jain Notes 18

Fully Automated Saw System

 A saw can perform within an

accuracy of a fraction of a
millimeter on length and within
a square ness of 0,2% of the
depth of the cut.

 The most accurate type is

equipped with a swiveling arm
enabling the blade to descend
onto the bar.

 The blade speed adjusts itself

automatically on its way
through the work piece.

 A fully automated saw system

will be operated through a
computer program

Dr sachin jain Notes 19

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
20
 Drilling

 The traditional method of drilling involves three operations:

 Marking the position of the holes to be drilled;

 Moving the member to the drill by crane, by conveyor, or by other

means;

 The actual drilling of the hole, using for instance, a radial drilling
machine (radius about 1,5 meter).

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 21

 Movement of beam

 The beam moves by longitudinal conveyors along the Y-axis,

denoted V and X for each flange, while the web drilling heads
move along the Z-axis.
Dr Sachin Jain Notes 22
Machines With Multiple Drilling Heads

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 23

 New twist drills are currently available which are capable
of higher speeds and greater efficiency as follows:

 Coolant fed drills, giving a threefold increase in drilling

speed.

 Titanium nitride coated drills, enabling a six-fold speed

increase.

 Carbide tipped drills with exceptionally high cutting

speeds.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 24

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
25
 Flame Burning of Plates

 Shaping of plates by flame cutting is general practice in most fabrication

shops.

 Oxygen and propane are usually stored in bulk in areas outside and supplied
to the shop floor in pipelines.
Dr sachin Jain Notes 26
 The equipment for flame cutting ranges from the simple hand-
held torch to multi-torch, numerically controlled, profiling
machines

 For wider plates several heads can be arranged in order to

ensure that equal heat is applied to both edges, thereby
avoiding distortion.

 Single head machines can be operated by an optical

controlling head, following a one-in-ten or full size outline,
drawn on paper.

 Profile cutting is often performed by numerically controlled

machines which also have the capacity to mark hole positions
and hard stamp identification marks.

 For accelerated cutting speeds, where edge hardness is not

considered detrimental, other methods, like plasma cutting
under water or under an inert powder, are available.

Dr sachin Jain Notes 27

 Laser cutting is just starting to come into use, but is, for the time
being, restricted to thin plates; the resulting edge hardness,
however, makes it unsuitable for some applications.

 The fabricator must be aware that flame cutting will always result in
shrinkage, for similar reasons as for welding.

 Symmetrical burning of plates limits distortion.

 Machining of one side will result in deformation due to the resulting

residual stress

Dr sachin Jain Notes 28

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
29
 Pressing and Forming

 For the modern fabricator the most important application of plate forming and
pressing is to add to the available range of rolled sections.

 The trapezoidal shaped trough used to stiffen bridge decks, is a very good
example Dr Sachin Jain Notes 30
 Circular Sections

 Other examples are the circular sections of larger than

standard dimensionsDr Sachin Jain Notes 31
 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
32
 Methods of Welding

 Manual Metal-Arc Welding

 Metal Active Gas Welding

 Submerged Arc Welding

 Electric Arc Stud Welding

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 33

 Manual Metal-Arc Welding

• Manual Metal-Arc Welding for fittings and for some profile and
positional welding Dr Sachin Jain Notes 34
 Metal Active Gas Welding

 Metal Active Gas Welding (MAG) and Cored Wire Welding with and
without gas
Dr Sachin Jain Notes 35
 Submerged Arc Welding

• Submerged Arc Welding for fully automatic processes; particularly

useful for heavy welding in the flat or horizontal-vertical position and
for the long-run welds Dr
in Sachin
plate and box girders
Jain Notes 36
 Electric Arc Stud Welding

 Electric Arc Stud Welding, principally used in composite construction

of steel and concrete

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 37

Welding Design and Control of Distortion

 Because a full penetration weld is more difficult to make than a

full strength weld, full penetration welds should only be used
where necessary, such as in connections where high fatigue
stresses can occur.

 Good welding design reflects the economies and advantages

of different types of weld by choosing types appropriate to the
needs of the design.

 The full strength weld is easy to achieve using fillet welds; full
penetration welds, however, without inclusions at the centre,
can only be achieved by extensive back gouging prior to
welding the reverse side.

 The risk of faults in full penetration welds is much greater and

control of distortion more difficult.
Dr Sachin Jain Notes 38
 Control of distortion is achieved by pre stressing the member before
welding, or by a balanced application of heat on each side of the
neutral axis of the section.

 Allowance must also be made for overall contraction due to welding.

 The quality of the fitting-up is very important as any excess gap will
affect the distortion and increase the shrinkage.

 Maintaining the quality of the weld at the end of the run is difficult.

 The problem in butt welds can be tackled by tacking short run-on

and run-off plates on each side which are removed after completion
of the weld.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 39

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
40
 Automatic Production of Plate Girders

 The welded plate girder forms a natural addition to the range of

rolled sections available.

 The typical production sequence is as follows:

 The plates for the girders receive an NDT check for laminations or
other defects; they are then flame cut to the required dimensions
and shot blasted.

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 41

 Submerged Welding

 The girders are firmly clamped into position and tack welded;

 submerged welding then follows, the welding heads moving along the weld42
lines.
 MAG welding

 Any stiffeners required are then tacked and welded, usually by MAG welding

 Simultaneous welding of the flanges will reduce distortion. 43

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
44
Machine Operations
 Most fabrication shops are
equipped with facilities for edge
planning, for end milling and for
surface machining of plate.

 Unacceptable levels of hardness at

the edge of the plate, often caused
by burning, can be removed by
planning.

 End planning of members is used

to get a higher standard of square
ness than can be achieved by
sawing.

 Optical laser beam methods are

used to align the axis of the
member to the cutting head.

 Surface machining is only

necessary for special bearing
surfaces and sometimes for the
slab base plates of columns

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 45

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
46
 Trial Erection in the Fabrication Shop

 It is sometimes necessary to "prove" the dimensional qualities of the

product by a trial erection of one section of the structure in the
fabricator's works.

 Parts of bridge structures, particularly those bound for overseas

locations, and structures for the support of intricate industrial plant
are likely candidates.

 Trial erection is expensive and should be avoided where possible by

incorporating methods of site adjustment into the design and by
optimum control of measurements

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 47

 Fabrication Procedures
 Workshop Layout
 Material Handling and
Preparation
 Templates and Marking
 Sawing Line and Rolled
Sections
 Drilling
 Flame Burning of Plates
 Pressing and Forming
Dr Sachin Jain Notes
 Methods of Welding Welding
Design and Control of
Distortion
 Automatic Production of Plate
Girders
 Machine Operations
 Fabrication Tolerances
 Trial Erection in the
Fabrication Shop
 Inspection and Quality Control
48
 Inspection and Quality Control

 Quality Control should commence with the designer and continue

through the preparation of drawings and material procurement;
maintaining the quality during the entire production process will
depend heavily on the fabrication details and on the material
obtained.

 The larger fabricators have their own Quality Control Department,

which will create and maintain a QC-manual, describing the method
of operation throughout the fabrication process.

 The Quality Control Department will liaise with the shop

management to make sure that all workers have the skill required for
the job on hand and that welders are qualified to undertake the
prescribed welding procedures.

 Quality control can be done at all stages.

Dr sachin Jain Notes 49

THANK YOU

Dr Sachin Jain Notes 50