Australian College of Kuwait

School of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering

Dr. Sayed M. Soleimani, P.E., P.Eng.

15FCVE222: Steel Structures

Week 2: Introduction to Steel

 Introduction – Steel

Steel is the 3rd most used construction material after concrete

and asphalt
 Iron ore  1500 B.C. primitive furnace: iron

 18th century blast furnace: mass iron production

 mid-1800s Bessemer converter: steel
Difference:
 Concrete & asphalt
 Engineers and contractors directly influence strength,
stability, & durability
 Steel
 Civil engineer has less flexibility in specifying steel
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Steel Structures: History

 The journey of steel started off in the late 1700s when the
British began using steel structures. Use of cast iron steel
as a structural material started in England to build a 30 m
arch span bridge (1777-1779).

 Wrought Iron started replacing cast iron in 1840.

 In early 1900s, the erection of a number of skyscrapers in

cities like Chicago that used steel as their basic supporting
structure started.

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 Construction Uses of Steel

 Structuralsteel  plates, bars, pipes, structural

shapes, etc.
 Cold formed steel studs, roofing, cladding
 Fastening products  bolts, nuts, washers
 Reinforcing steel  rebar for concrete
 Miscellaneous  forms, pans, hardware, etc.

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Structural Steel: Composition & Manufacture
 Structural steel contains other elements that greatly affect
its physical properties.

 Carbon is the most important of these elements: increasing

the carbon content causes an increase in strength and
hardness, but causes a decrease in ductility and toughness.

 Standard specifications for structural steel limit the carbon

content to 0.15 to 0.27 percent of the total chemical
composition.

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Structural Steel: Composition & Manufacture
 Structural steel normally contains from 0.50 to 1.75
percent manganese.

 Phosphorus, sulphur, silicon, copper, vanadium, nickel,

chromium, columbium, molybdenum, and aluminum are
some of the other elements that may be added to, or
restricted in, structural steel. Phosphorus and sulphur are
considered to be impurities.

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Structural Steel: Composition & Manufacture
 The manufacture of steel begins at the blast furnace: iron
ore (iron mineral), limestone and coke (made from coal)
are charged into the top of this huge vessel and pig iron
forms seeps out through the bottom.

 At this stage the pig iron contains 3 to 4 percent carbon.

 The pig iron is converted to steel (less than 1% carbon) in

special steel making furnaces (oxygen furnace or electric
arc furnace).

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Structural Steel: Composition & Manufacture
 The chemical composition of the steel dictates its potential
mechanical properties, but its final mechanical properties
are also influenced by rolling practice, including the
finishing temperature, cooling rate, and subsequent heat
treatment (if any).

 In the rolling process, the material is passed through two

rollers revolving at the same speed in opposite directions.

 Rolling shapes and elongates the steel, reduces its cross-

section, and increases its strengths.

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 Steel Production

The process can be summarized in 3 steps:

1. Reduction of iron ore to pig iron (high carbon)

2. Refining pig iron to steel
3. Forming steel into products

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Slide 10 of 50
Reduction of Iron Ore to Pig Iron

Blast furnace with carbon (coal or coke) & limestone

 Limestone removes impurities from iron ore
 Slag (molten rock & impurities) is skimmed off the top
 Molten iron w/carbon is collected at the bottom

Coke: a solid fuel made by heating coal in the absence of air so that the volatile components
are driven off.
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 Refining Pig Iron and Scrap to Steel

Remove excess carbon and other impurities by oxidation

in another furnace
 Basic oxygen furnace – 300 tons in 25 minutes
 Electric arc – electric arc melts steel – lots of energy
 Deoxidize with aluminum, ferrosilicon, manganese,
etc.
 Killed Steel: completely deoxidized

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Forming Steel into Products

 Cast
into ingots (large blocks that must be
re-melted and re-shaped)
 Continuous shapes

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 Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon

 Higher carbon: steel is harder & more brittle
 Modulus of Elasticity is the same for all three (same atomic
bonds)
 Cast iron : high (>2%) carbon = brittle
 High carbon steel : medium (0.8%-2%) carbon = brittle
 Structural steel : low (0.15%-0.27%) carbon = ductile

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 Heat Treatment

Refines grain structure, removes internal stresses, removes

gases, changes electrical and magnetic properties
 Types
a) Annealing
b) Normalizing
c) Hardening
d) Tempering

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 Annealing

 Heating, then slowly cooling to room temperature.

 Steel gets softer & more ductile, increasing toughness.

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Normalizing

 Similar to annealing, but hotter & air cooled

 Gives a uniform, fine-grained structure
 Provides high fracture toughness
 More corrective rather than strengthening or hardening

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Hardening

 Higher heat, then rapid cooling by quenching in

water/brine/oil
 Steel is harder & more brittle & must be followed by
tempering.

Brine: water strongly impregnated with salt

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 Tempering

 Reheating hardened steel to a lower temperature and

quenching
 Increases ductility and toughness after hardening – both
effects

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 Temperatures for Heat Treating

Structural Steel Area of Interest

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Mamlouk/Zaniewski, Materials for Civil and Construction Engineers, Third Edition. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Steel Alloys
 250,000 steel alloys
 ~200 used in engineering
 Steel alloy is steel + alloying metal to change properties
 hardenability
 corrosion resistance
 machineability
 ductility
 strength
 Construction steels are low and medium carbon plain steels.
 Stainless steel for highly corrosive uses
 add chromium, nickel, etc.

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Alloying Elements
Typical Range s in Principal Effe cts
Alloy Ste e ls (%)
Aluminum <2 Aids nitriding
Restricts grain froth
Removes oxygen in steel melting
Sulfur <0.5 Adds machinability
Reduces weldability and ductility
Chromium 0.3 to 0.4 Increases resistance to corrosion and oxidation
Increases hardenability
Increases high-temperature strength
Can combine with carbon to form hard, wear-resistant microconstituents
Nickel 0.3 to 5 Promotes an austenitic structure
Increases hardenability
Increases toughness
Copper 0.2 to 0.5 Promotes tenacious oxide film to aid atmospheric corrosion resistance
Manganese 0.3 to 2    Increases hardenability
Promotes an austenitic structure
Combines with sulfur to reduce its adverse effects
Silicon 0.2 to 2.5 Removes oxygen in steel making
Improves toughness
Increases hardenability
Molybdenum 0.1 to 0.5 Promotes grain refinement
Increases hardenability
Improves high-temperature strength
Vanadium 0.1 to 0.3 Promotes grain refinement Increases hardenability
Will combine with carbon to form wear-resistant microconstituents
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 Structural Steel

Cold formed
cladding

Hot rolled
structural
shapes

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Mamlouk/Zaniewski, Materials for Civil and Construction Engineers, Third Edition. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Specialty Steels

 High performance steels

 Stainless steel has minimum 10% chromium (common steels
have 0.3% – 0.4%).

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 High-performance steel (HPS)
High-performance steel (HPS) is a name given to a group of
high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels that exhibit high
strength, a higher yield-to-tensile-strength ratio, enhanced
toughness, and improved weldability.

Although research is still underway to develop and quantify the

properties of a number of HPSs, one high-performance steel
that is currently in use, especially for bridge construction, is
HPS 70W. HPS 70W is a derivative of ASTM A709 grade 70W
steel. Compared to ASTM A709 grade 70W, HPS 70W has
improved mechanical properties and is more resistant to post-
weld cracking, even without preheating before welding.
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 Cold Formed Steel
 Grades
 Multiple grades are acceptable.
 Steel Stud Manufactures Association recognizes two yield
stress grades, 33 and 55 ksi.
 Cold forming results in plastic deformation causing strain-
hardening that increases the yield strength, tensile (ultimate)
strength and hardness, but reduces ductility.
 Cold forming increases tensile strength by 50-70% and ultimate
strength by 20-30%.

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Stages of Cold Forming

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 Cold Formed Steel Shapes

 Structural design requires special considerations due to

 buckling
 corrosion

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Fastening Products
 Conventional bolts
 Twist-off-type tension control bolt assemblies
 Nuts
 Washers
 Compressible-washer-type direct tension indicators
 Anchor rods
 Threaded rods
 Forged steel structural hardware

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Reinforcing Steel

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 Reinforcing Steel
• Conventional Reinforcing Steel
Plain bars, deformed bars, and plain and deformed wire
fabrics
• Bars are made of 4 types of steel: A615 (billet), A616 (rail),
A617 (axle), and A706 (low-alloy)
• Steel for Prestressed Concrete
Requires special wires, strands, cables, and bars
Must have high strength and low relaxation properties
Made of high-carbon steels and high-strength alloy steels

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ASTM Reinforcing Bare Identification

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 Welding
 Joining two metal pieces by applying
heat
 partial melting fuses the pieces
together
 distortion caused by uneven heating
 Arc Welding or “Stick Welding”
 Flux on the electrode (“stick”)
shields the molten metal from
atmosphere to prevent oxidation.
 Gas Welding or “MIG Welding”
 “Metal in Gas” uses shielding gas
instead of flux.
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 Steel Corrosion

 Oxidation (rust) can cause serious weakening of structures.

 Cost of corrosion is about $8 billion per year in U.S. alone.
 Steel is made by using heat to separate oxygen and iron
molecules in the ore – corrosion is a natural process.

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 Required for Corrosion
1. Anode: Positive electrode where corrosion occurs
2. Cathode: Negative electrode needed for electric current
3. Conductor: Metallic pathway for electrons to flow between
electrodes
4. Electrolyte: Liquid that can support the flow of electrons

 1, 2, and 3 are present in steel.

 4 is moisture (in air).
 Pure water is not a good electrolyte, contaminants on the steel or
in the air provides electrolyte (salt, acid rain, etc.).

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Corrosion

4Fe + 3O2 + 2H2O = 2Fe2O3H2O

(Steel) + (Oxygen) + (Water) =
Hydrated ferric oxide (Rust)

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 Corrosion Resistance
 Control rather than stop corrosion
 Protective coatings (paint, etc.) can be used to isolate the steel
from moisture.
1. Barrier coatings
 Standard paint isolates steel from moisture & must be repeated.
2. Inhabitive primer coatings
 Pigments that migrate to the steel surface to passivate it
(transfer electrons)
3. Sacrificial primers (cathodic protection)
 Metal pigments (zinc) become the anode, give up electrons to
the steel, and corrode instead of the steel.

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 Cathodic Protection
 Protective current supplies electrons to the structure.
 The electrons cover the electron requirements for the reduction of
oxygen which comes into contact with the metal surface.
 Without cathodic protection, the electrons cause decomposition of
the metal.
 The potential of the metal surface is sufficiently reduced to prevent
disassociation of positive ions from the metal.
 Where formerly an anodic reaction took place, the oxygen is
reduced by cathodic reaction.
 The entire surface of the structure becomes a safe cathode, i.e., the
metal is "cathodically " protected.

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 Corrosion Protection of Steel
Atmospheric corrosion occurs when steel is exposed to a
continuous supply of water and oxygen. The rate of
corrosion can be reduced if a barrier is used to keep water
and oxygen from contact with the surface of bare steel.
Painting is a practical and cost-effective way to protect steel
from corrosion. The “Steel Structures Painting Council”
issues Specifications for the surface preparation and
painting of steel structures for corrosion protection of steel.
In lieu of painting, the use of other coating materials such
as epoxies or other mineral and polymeric compounds can
be considered.

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 Corrosion Protection of Steel
The use of corrosion resistance steels such as ASTM A242, A588, or
A606 steel or galvanized or stainless steel is another alternative.
Corrosion-resistant steels such as A588 retard corrosion by the
formation of a layer of deep reddish brown to black patina (an
oxidized metallic film) on the steel surface after a few wetting–drying
cycles, which usually take place within 1 to 3 years.

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 Corrosion Protection of Steel

Galvanized steel has a zinc coating. In addition to acting as a

protective cover, zinc is anodic to steel. The steel, being cathodic, is
therefore protected from corrosion.

Stainless steel is more resistant to rusting and staining than ordinary

steel, primarily because of the presence of chromium as an alloying
element.

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 Fire Proofing of Steel
Although steel is an incombustible material, its strength
(Fy, Fu) and stiffness (E) reduce quite noticeably at
temperatures normally reached in fires when other
materials in a building burn. Exposed steel members that
may be subjected to high temperature in a fire should be
fireproofed to conform to the fire ratings set forth in city
codes. Fire ratings are expressed in units of time (usually
hours) beyond which the structural members under a
standard ASTM Specification (E119) fire test will fail
under a specific set of criteria. Various approaches are
available for fireproofing steel members.
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 Fire Proofing of Steel
Steel members can be fireproofed by encasement in concrete if a
minimum cover of 2 in. (5.1 mm) of concrete is provided. If the use
of concrete is undesirable (because it adds weight to the structure), a
lath and plaster (gypsum) ceiling placed underneath the structural
members supporting the floor deck of an upper story can be used. In
lieu of such a ceiling, spray-on materials such as mineral fibers,
perlite, vermiculite, gypsum, etc. can also be used for fireproofing .
Other means of fireproofing include placing steel members away
from the source of heat, circulating liquid coolant inside box or
tubular members, and the use of insulative paints. These special
paints foam and expand when heated, thus forming a shield for the
members.

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 Why do designers & owners choose structural
steel?
Speed of Construction
Lower Project Costs
Aesthetic Appeal
Design Flexibility
High Strength
Ease of Design
Sustainable
Innovative
Modifiable
Efficient
Reliable and Predictable
Readily Available

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 What are the disadvantages of structural steel?
Cost of Maintenance
Cost of Fireproofing
Susceptibility to Buckling
Fatigue
Brittle Fracture (under certain conditions)

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 Types of Steel

ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM), is a globally recognized leader in the development and delivery
of international voluntary consensus standards. Today, some 12,000 ASTM
standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety,
facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.

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Types of Steel

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Types of Steel

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References
 Michael S. Mamlouk & John P. Zaniewski, 2011,
Materials for Civil and Construction Engineers, Pearson,
pp. 23-30 (Chapter 1) & pp. 103-157 (Chapter 3)
 William T. Segui, 2013, Steel Design (Fifth Edition),
Cengage Learning, pp. 3-19 (Chapter 1)

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