Brief History
Metal Fabrication dates back to civilizations in ancient history where initially copper was melted and beaten to make various objects. This was then replaced by bronze which was used to make armor, coins, and weaponry denoting the bronze-age, and then came the iron-age. The Chinese had developed blast furnaces early in the 6th century B.C. But it was during the middle ages that blast furnaces became popular. Europeans used blast furnaces to make cast-iron for the purpose of creating tools and weapons. With the onset of the industrial revolution, there was increased urbanization in Europe. Cast-iron was replaced with a more versatile, fabricated steel.
What is Structural Steel Fabrication?
Structural steel fabrication is the process of cutting, bending, shaping, and assembling steel to create different products. Structural steel fabricators produce various steel sections and assemble them to create mega structures like buildings, industrial equipment, tools, stairs etc.
Cutting: Fabricators cut structural steel by shearing, sawing or chiseling with the use of tools such as laser cutters, plasma torches, and water jets.
Bending: Structural steel is ductile which makes it easy to hammer them and bend them. This can be done manually or can be machine powdered.
Assembling: This is the process where various fabricated steel sections are assembled to form complete structures. In most industries, steel sections are produced on the shop floor and then assembled on-site.
Applications
Structural steel fabrication has applications across various industrial sectors such as aerospace industry, construction industry, manufacturing industry, mining industry, energy sector, transport, automotive, and shipbuilding. Following are some of the structural steel products used industry-wise.
Manufacturing: Steel ladders, platforms, industrial stairs, steel handrails and mezzanines
Construction: Steel beams, girders, steel plates, and H-shaped steel sections.
Energy: Oil and gas well platforms, transmission towers, wind turbines, and pipelines
Mining: Rails, beams, rods, grating, pipes, and fittings
Shipbuilding: Steel flooring and grating, ladders, steel sheets and stairs
Aerospace: Various parts of aircraft.
Automotive: Safety features and various parts of the automobile engine.
To know more about the applications of structural steel read our blog post on ‘6 sectors that rely on Steel products and Fabrication services.’
This was a basic overview of the structural steel fabrication process carried out by our structural steel fabricators at Northern Weldarc. If you are on the lookout for fabrication services for your company, then get in touch with us at the earliest.
