Britain led the world&#;s industrial revolution. Through entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking, a greater amount of steel production was demanded from the machinery, ship building and railway sectors. Through the nationalisation and re-privatisation of the industry, steel production has had a fluctuating presence in British society. However, its exceptional properties have seen it remain ever present for construction applications.
Brown McFarlane has been a trusted supplier of steel products for over 128 years. As a leading provider of structural steel plates and other steel components, we understand the importance of using high-quality materials in any construction project.
Selecting the right building material is crucial for any construction project. However, with so many options available, choosing the ideal solution for your application can be overwhelming. Structural steel offers a complete solution for building projects, featuring a range of properties that has seen it become a leading choice in modern construction. Its popularity is evident in the steel share market price for single-storey industrial buildings and non-residential buildings which have increased considerably.
The structure of a building accounts for approximately 10-15% of the overall construction costs. It&#;s clear that choosing the right infrastructure in a competitive market is paramount. Steel-framed solutions can significantly reduce building structure costs compared to concrete, potentially saving you up to 6%.
Unlike traditional methods, steel construction utilises pre-fabricated components manufactured off-site. This allows for rapid on-site assembly with minimal disruption, leading to faster project completion and earlier return on investment.
Structural steel beams often feature web openings, enabling an open floor plan design with fewer columns and efficient use of space. This inherent flexibility allows for future changes to the interior layout, including walls and fixtures, making the building adaptable for various uses.
Another key benefit of steel structures is their ability to create more usable space. Mechanical ventilation systems for commercial buildings can be easily integrated within the structure without compromising on floor depth or layout. This is particularly advantageous when building height restrictions are a concern.
Most, if not all, steel structures are pre-fabricated meaning they are manufactured under controlled factory environments. This means that quality is assured as variables such as the weather are not affecting the property.
All steel structures are 100% recyclable making them an eco-friendly choice. Plus, due to the building&#;s adaptability and flexibility, the structure&#;s lifespan can be drastically lengthened in comparison to concrete assemblies where their purposes can be limited. All steel structures adhere to high environmental standards and achieve low operational carbon targets.
Backed by over 100 years of experience, Brown McFarlane&#;s experts can help to answer questions you may have about selecting the right material for your projects.
We have a comprehensive range of steel plate products to suit applications in a wide range of industries.
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Reference for factual information used in this article: http://www.steelconstruction.info/
Steel structures are very reliable. The reasons for this reliability include consistency and uniformity in properties, better quality control because of factory manufacture, large elasticity, and ductility. If different specimens of some type of steel are tested in the laboratory for yield stress, ultimate strengths and elongations, the variation is much lesser then other materials like concrete and wood. Further, because of truly homogeneous and elastic material, steel satisfies most of the assumptions involved in the derivation of the analysis and design formulas and the results obtained and reliable. This may not be the case in concrete structures because of heterogeneous material, cracking and non-linearity of stress-strain relationship.
Rolled steel sections are manufactured in factories. Also, the members may be cut and prepared for assembly in factories wile only joining of these components is carried out at the site by installing rivets or bolts and by welding different components. Sometimes parts of the structure are also assembled in the factories, that is, there is a great adaptation to prefabrication. Manual errors reduce greatly in such cases, the speed of construction increases and the total cost reduces.
Because of the industrial nature of steel construction. Progress of the work is fast making the structures economical. The reason is that these structures can be put to use earlier. The reduction in labor cost and overhead changes and the benefits obtained from the early use of the building contribute to the economy.
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The high strength of steel per unit weight means that the dead loads will be smaller. It is to be noted that dead loads are a bigger part of the total loads on structure. When dead load reduces, the underneath members become still smaller due to less weight acting on them. This fact is of great importance for long-span bridges, tall building, and for structures having poor foundation conditions.
Steel is a very homogeneous and uniform material. Hence, it satisfies the basic assumptions of most of the analysis and design formulas. If properly maintained by painting, etc. the properties of steel do not change appreciably with time; whereas, the properties of concrete in a reinforced concrete structure are considerably modified with time. Hence, steel structures are more durable.
Steel behaves closer to design assumption than most of the other material because it follows Hooke&#;s law up to fairly high stresses. The stress produced remains proportional to the strain applied oft the stress-strain diagram remains a straight line. The steel sections do not crack or tear before ultimate load and hence the moments of inertia of a steel structure can be definitely calculated. The moments of inertia obtained for a reinforced concrete structure are rather indefinite.
The Property of a material by which it can withstand extensive deformation without failure under high tensile stresses is said to be it ductility. Mild steel is a very ductile material. The percentage elongation of a standard tension test specimen after fracture can be as high as 25 to 30%. This gives visible deflections of evidence of impending failure in case of overloads. The extra loads may be removed from the structure to prevent collapse. Even if collapse does occur, time is available for occupants to vacate the building.
In structural members under normal loads, high stress concentrations develop at various points. The ductile nature of the usual structural steel enables them to yield locally at those points, thus redistributing the stresses and preventing premature failures.
Additions to existing steel structures are very easy to made. Connections between new and existing structures can be employed very effectively. New bays or even entire new wings can added to existing steel frame building, and steel brides may often be widened.
Steel sections cab be reused after a structure is disassembled.
Steel has a scrap value even though it is not reusable in its existing form.
Steel structures provide completely impervious construction and structures like reservoirs, oil pipes, gas pipes, etc. are preferably made from structural steel.
High-rise buildings, long span bridges and tall transmission towers are made up of structural steel. Industrial buildings up to a span of 90.m can be designed by plate girders or trusses. Bridge spans up to 260.m are made with plate girders. For through truss bridges, Bridge spans of 300.m have been used.
For temporary structures, steel construction is always preferred. Army constructions during war are mostly made out of structural steel. The structures may be disassembled by opening few bolts, component parts are carried to new places are the structure is easily reassembled.
Most steels are susceptible to corrosion when freely exposed to air and water and must therefore be periodically painted. This requires extra cost and special care. The use of weathering steels, in stable design applications, tends to eliminate this cost. If not properly maintained, steel members can loose 1 to 1.5 mm of their thickness each year. Accordingly such constructions can loose weight up to 35% during their specified life and can fail under the external loads.
Although steel members are incombustible, their strength is tremendously reduced at temperatures prevailing in fires. At about 400ºC, creep becomes much more pronounced. Creep is defined as plastic deformation under a constant load for a long period of time. This produces excessively large deflections/deformations of main members forcing the other members to higher stresses or even to collapse. Steel is an excellent conductor of heat and may transmit enough heat from a burning compartment of a building to start fire in other parts of the building to start fire in other parts of the building. Extra cost is required to properly fire proof the building.
The steel sections usually consist of a combination of thin plates. Further, the overall steel member dimensions are also smaller than reinforced concrete members. If these slender members are subjected to compression, there are greater chances of buckling. Buckling is a type of collapse of the members due to sudden large bending caused by a critical compressive load. Steel when used for columns is sometimes not very economical because considerable material has to be used merely to stiffen the columns against buckling.
In few countries, steel is not available in abundance and its initial cost is vary high compared with the other structural materials. This is the most significant factor that has resulted in the decline of steel structures in these countries.
For certain types of buildings, the steel form is architecturally preferred. However, for majority of residential and office buildings, steel structures without the use of false ceiling and cladding are considered to have poor aesthetic appearance. A considerable cost is to be spent on such structures to improve their appearance. Cladding is a covering of metal, plastic or timber put on the surface of a structural member to completely encase it. The cladding not only protects the member but also improves its appearance.
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