Metal Fabrication is a crucial process in the manufacturing and construction industry. This process converts raw materials into processed metal structures which are used to build machines, buildings, and bridges. Structural Steel is widely used in fabrication because it is – durable, flexible, tensile and affordable. Various types of steel sections are created using various fabrication processes. Some types of steel fabrication processes are listed below:
Cutting
This is the first stage of any fabrication process. Steel is first cut using a saw, water jets, plasma torches and lasers. There are other techniques used for cutting such as numerical control, chiseling, and shearing.
Folding
Folding or bending is done by a process called press brake. Steel needs to be bent to create certain steel sections. This technique is used to coin or air bend metal sheet into form. The press brake technique has a set of dies which pinches the metal to form a crease. Nowadays there is an off line programming software which makes press brake even more efficient.
Machining
It is the process of removing unwanted materials from the metal to acquire a particular shape as required by the designer. This process involves various sub-processes. "It can be done on a lathe, where the material rotates against a cutting tool or in some other cutting machine, where a rotating tool is moved in a variety of ways against a stationary piece."
Punching
This is a process wherein a piece of metal is punched using a punch press to create a hole in it. The punch often passes through the work into a die. It goes without saying that the punch and die have to be of the same shape as that of the desired size of the hole.
Shearing
It is also known as die cutting. This process is used to cut straight lines on a flat metal stock. During the shearing process, an upper blade and a lower blade are forced past each other with the space between them determined by a required offset.
Stamping
In this process, the die is shaped in a way that there is a raised portion of the material. It is a lot similar to punching.
Welding
Welding involves attaching two pieces of metal together to form a separate steel section or build a large structure. There are different types of welding processes which are used based on the metal and overall design of the structure.
We at Northern Weldarc, offer a wide range of services. We are a team of highly experienced, professional steel fabricators. Our facility includes a 5.5 acre secured yard with fencing and a 30,000 square foot storage facility. We are well equipped to handle all your structural steel production requirements.
For more details on types of steel fabrication processes, contact our team of professional fabricators today!
