Steel is widely used for buildings, cars, ships, bridges and other purposes. Its high strength, toughness, durability and light weight make it a valuable resource. It is made into different shapes to be used in various projects.
For example, flat bars are used for beams, angles are used for frames and plates are used for walls. The different forms of steel also differ in their chemical composition and quality. The basic types of structural steels are referred to as carbon steels (alloyed steel), steel buildings in the construction sector alloy steel, stainless steel and low alloy steel.
Carbon steel is produced in two forms – hot-rolled and cold-rolled. Hot rolled is characterized by higher strength, greater formability and a more uniform grain structure than cold rolled.
Alloy steel is a combination of two or more metallic elements to form a single type of steel. Stainless steel is an iron/chromium alloy containing up to 15% chromium, which makes it very strong and corrosion resistant. There are several grades of stainless steels, including austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, austenitic-ferritic and duplex grades.
Low alloy steel is also an alloy and is an inexpensive, general purpose steel with properties similar to carbon steel.
