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[NEW] What is Structural Steel? Its Type, Advantages & Disadvantages | Ultimate Guide on Steel Structure by Civil Experience

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In this Civil Experience article, we Explain full detail What is Structural steel, Use of Structural, What is the advantage of steel in the categories section, Disadvantages of steel so read the full article and follow us

Structural Steel

What is Structural Steel?

Ultimate Guide on Steel Structure by Civil Experience
Ultimate Guide on Steel Structure by Civil Experience

Structural Steel is defined as steel in which carbon and manganese are the main key elements that increase the yield strength of steel

Structural steels are the combination of iron containing carbon of less than 0.25% and manganese of less than 1.5%

Uses and Properties of Steels

  1. In high rises building construction because it has high ductility so in earth quack or in high wind flow chances of failure of structure is less
  2. Industrial buildings are highly useful because of their fast erection, economical in the long term, or Frequently location changes
  3. In Bridges construction because steel has a high ability to load transfer with their weight ratio with ductility

Types of Steel

The main types of steel uses and properties are Categories as below and after reading this your quarry such as what are the main properties of steel is slove

Carbon Steel

  • Carbon and manganese are the most important element for Strengthening steel
  • The minimum ultimate tensile strength of carbon steel is between 380 to 450 MPa
  • The minimum yield strength of carbon steel is between 230 to 300 Mpa

High Strength Carbon Steel

  • The carbon content of high strength carbon steel varies from 0.6 to 1.10%
  • It has low ductility, toughness, and also weldability
  • Highly use for transmission lines and also in microwave towers
  • The ultimate tensile strength of High strength of carbon steel is near around 480 to 550 MPa
  • Minimum yield strength varies between 350 to 400 Mpa

Medium and high strength micro-alloyed steel

  • IS 8500 gives details guidance on this type of steel
  • This type of steel has low carbon content but has high strength because of additional material added such as titanium, niobium, and vanadium, etc but not more than 0.25%
  • Ultimate tensile strength is between 440 to 590 MPa
  • Minimum yield strength varies from 300 to 450 MPa

Fire Resistant Steel

  • It is also called a TMT steel bar (know as Thermomechanicay treated steel)
  • High ability of performance better than ordinary steel under fire

Advantages of a Steel Structure

The steel structure has many advantages and almost engineers know but I'm sure this information is new for you so read and learn. If you like Civil Experience works then please join us and share with others.

Uniform Quality

If we look into the different types of advantages one is the better quality control of steels properties

This better quality control means the steel is basically a factory product so its quality is maintained in a better way with respect to concrete material So therefore its property will be uniform and its properties of steels are well defined So when we are going to design we know with confidence where these are the property 

We have going to get unlike in the case of concrete we are not very sure what properties we are going to achieve there will be a gap between the target strength and the design strength but in this case, that gap is quite less

Lighter in Weight

This is the advantageous property of the steel another property is it is lighter with respect to other building materials it is quite light in the sense the strength to weight ratio is very high means steels weight is light in comparison to its strength with less amount of space 

We can provide the member and that member can withstand a large amount of load with a small free space unlike in the case of concrete

The structure that is why it has certain advantages and also as it is lighter so the dead load on the structure will be less So if the dead load on the structure will be less so what it will create that consequently the size of the structural member for carrying out that load will be less So the space in the in-site will be comparatively high Compare to concrete structures

Faster and Time-saving

Now another aspect we have is that faster to erect means unlike concrete RCC structure this can be erated at the site very quickly because all steel load sections are available So once it is transported to the site just we need the connections properly and then we can erect the structure as we as desire

Another thing is the reduced site time faster construction means is very quickly construction can be made So the time of construction time will be comparatively less which is an advantage for construction purpose Then large column free space and amiable for alteration

This is what I was telling column free space will be getting high because the size of the column in case of steel structures size of the column will be comparatively less with respect to the RCC column So the free space  will be much more as respect to RCC and also as it is lighter so the size of the column will be comparatively less in instead of using RCC right

Then less material handling at a site in case of RCC structure we have to handle this is coarse aggregate fine aggregate cement then water and a lot of material handle has to be done and a lot of wastage also happens in that  in the site  lot of hazardous come into the picture at the site but in case of steel structure

We will be free from those type of hazardous and has less material handling is there so a loss of  means wastage will be comparatively less Then less percentage of occupied by a structural element that is what I told already and the most important thing is that it is a better ductile and hence (it is) it can carrying the  lateral load in a better way and that means it is earthquake resistant and resistance

Ductility of Steel

Ductile if the structure becomes ductile then what will happen that earthquake energy can be absorbed and without failure

It can be transferred to the ground So if the structure is ductile we can have better resistance due to seismic excitation also it will be better in case of a cyclone these are a few of the advantageous properties

Advantages of Structural Steel in Short notes

  • Structural Steel offers better compressive and tensile strength compared to concrete 
  • Structural Steel offers lighter construction
  • Erection is must faster than ordinary steel 
  • Steel can be easily recycled compared to reinforced concrete or masonry concrete
  • Structural steel has high ductility so it offers large deformation without failure
  • It offers prefabrication and demonstrability
  • Structural steel is highly used in load-bearing frame structure building, truss members, bridges, etc
  • Lapping can be eliminated  by adopting welding, bolting, riveting due to easy connections

Disadvantages of Structural Steel

I discussed and similarly, we need to know the disadvantages of steel material because unless we know the disadvantages we cannot make use confidently we can make use properly So when we are going to use steel we must know what are the advantages and disadvantages and then  we can make use wisely the steel material wherever it is necessary 

one disadvantage is that skilled labor is required unlike the RCC structure where skilled labor is required for connections because connections have to be made properly and that connections may be weld connections or bolt connections or maybe rivet connections with the accuracy means a higher degree of accuracy we have to joint so that the load is transferred from beam to column, column to foundation and also from secondary beam to beam from slab to means floor to beam etcetera 

Another thing is the higher cost of construction actually the material cost of steel is quite high as compared to concrete So construction cost will be quite high as compared to concrete So we have to make use of steel wisely because unnecessary if it is not required then we should not go for steel construction because it will make costly So this is another disadvantage because it is a high cost

Then another thing is maintenance cost is quite high maintenance cost is high means to after construction due to humidity and other problems it gets corroded so because of corrosion  steel strength get reduced So time to time frequently we need to make painting we need to make maintenance Therefore painting means time to time painting can have to be done and because of painting cost will mean maintenance cost will be high so unlike concrete structure here maintenance cost will be disadvantageous

Another is poor fireproofing as at 1000 degrees Fahrenheit that means 538°C almost 65% of strength remains So 35% of strength vanishes Similarly  at 1600°F 15% strength only remains that means 85% of strength got reduced So, therefore, it is less fireproofing so we have to be cautious about the fire safety while using the steel as a structural material

Then another problem is that electricity may be required if we construct in a remote area where electricity is a problem then we may not be able to go for welded connection properly So sometimes we need an electric connection which may not be available at the site so in that case, we mean we have to face problem from that So these are the few (advantages) disadvantages of the steel using as a structural material

Disadvantages of Structural Steel in Short notes

  • Structural steel required fire protection because it reduces its strengths at higher temperatures
  • It also required corrosion protection
  • Often needs of the concrete foundation
  • In every steel building, dividing and cladding walls are constructed using masonry or other materials
  • In most cases, it’s costlier than a concrete structure
  • Steel fabrication/structural steel fabricators and erection are small compared to reinforced concrete structures due to tolerances
  • Skill workers are needed in steel structures because welding and tightening of High strength friction grip bolts required proper training
FAQ1: What is Structural Steel?

Structural Steel is defined as steel in which carbon and manganese are the main key elements that increase the yield strength of steel Structural steel are the combination of iron-containing carbon of less than 0.25% and manganese of less than 1.5%

 

FAQ2: What are the Uses and Properties of Steel?

In high rises building construction because it has high ductility so in earth quack or in high wind flow chances of failure of structure is less In industrial building highly useful because of fast erection, economical in the long term or Frequently location changes In Bridges construction because steel has a high ability to load transfer with their weight ratio with ductility

 

FAQ3: What are the Types of steel?

1. Carbon Steel

2. High Strength Carbon Steel

3. Medium and high strength micro-alloyed steel

4. Fire resistant steel

 

FAQ4: What are the Advantages of a steel structure?

Advantages of Structural Steel in short Structural Steel offers better compressive and tensile strength compared to concrete Structural Steel offers lighter construction Erection is must faster than ordinary steel Steel can be easily recycled compared to reinforced concrete or masonry concrete Structural steel has high ductility so it offers large deformation without failure It offers prefabrication and demonstrability Structural steel highly used in load-bearing frame structure building, truss members, bridges, etc Lapping can be eliminated by adopting welding, bolting, riveting due to easy connections

 

FAQ5: What are the Disadvantages of structural steel?

Disadvantages of Structural Steel in short Structural steel required fire protection because it reduces its strengths at higher temperatures It also required corrosion protection Often needs of a concrete foundation In every steel building, dividing and cladding walls are constructed using masonry or other materials In most cases, it’s costlier than a concrete structure Steel fabrication/structural steel fabricators and erection are small compared to reinforced concrete structure due to tolerances Skill workers needed in steel structure because welding and tightening of High strength friction grip bolts required proper training

Author Aakash Dudhat

It is my pleasure to welcome you to civilexperiences.com, a website created and managed by Dudhat Aakash. In addition to having a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

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