Metals have played an integral role in the evolution of man throughout history. For more than 5,000 years metals such as iron has been used for various purposes. And we have come a long way from Stone Age to Iron Age and now the glass age. The creation of structural steel in the 19th century by Henry Bessemer revolutionized the manufacturing and construction industry. Structural steel replaced all other metals in the construction industry to build huge structures and it became the most preferred metal by most industry experts. This led to a rise in structural steel fabricators and metal shops.
Let’s go through the journey of structural steel from the time it was created for the first time till today.
Basic Process
Raw iron is the main ingredient in the process of creating structural steel. But iron is never found in its pure form, it is usually extracted along with impurities such as a high carbon content. Structural steel contains some amount of carbon hence while processing iron the amount of carbon content has to be altered to reach the desired proportion.
This process was invented by Henry Bessemer in the year 1813. This process has undergone various modifications ever since to form structural steel for today’s industrial needs. There are different configurations of structural steel available in the market. The main components in each of them are iron and carbon and other chemicals are added to the production process to improve strength, to change ductility, to improve the economics of use.
Why use Structural Steel?
The benefits of using structural steel are many, some of them are listed below,
- Steel is considered to be the number one choice by architects and engineers across the world because it can be formed into a shape as and when required. It is malleable, ductile and flexible.
- Structural steel is tensile, which means it has a high strength to weight ratio. This makes it easy to work with. It is highly durable and can withstand external forces such as earthquakes, heavy rains, and cyclones.
- Structural steel is a relatively cheaper compared to other building materials.
- It is environment-friendly, as it is easily recyclable.
- Structural steel sections can be easily fabricated and assembled with so many plus points, structural steel is widely used in most industrial sectors.
Northern Weldarc, is a metal fabrication company and we specialize in structural steel fabrication. Our structural steel fabricators are well-equipped to handle all kinds of industrial fabrication requirements. You can browse through our past projects to get a glimpse of our expertise.
