I.

INTRODUCTION
Steel is an alloy of iron and other elements, primarily carbon, widely used in
construction and other applications because of its high tensile strength and low
cost. The base metal, iron, is able to take on two crystalline forms (allotropic forms),
body centered cubic (BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC), depending on its
temperature. It is the interaction of those allotropes with the alloying elements,
primarily carbon, that gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In
the body-centred cubic arrangement, there is an additional iron atom in the centre
of each cube, and in the face-centred cubic, there is one at the center of each of the
six faces of the cube. Carbon, other elements, and inclusions within iron act as
hardening agents that prevent the movement of dislocations that otherwise occur in
the crystal lattices of iron atoms.

II.

RAW MATERIALS OF STEEL

For the production of steel, there is a need for iron raw material in the form of iron
ore or scrap metal, together with alloying elements so that the material acquires the
desired for properties. In the production of ore-based steel, coal is also needed as a
reducing agent and limestone as a slag former.
1) Iron ore
Iron occurs very rarely as a pure metal in the earths crust. On the other hand,
there is plenty of iron which is chemically bonded, in association with other
elements such as oxygen and sulphur. The most abundant elements in the
earths crust, in named order, are: oxygen, silicon, aluminium and iron.

2) Scrap metal
Iron and steel scrap is used as a secondary raw material, both for scrap-based
and ore-based steel production. The scrap is sorted into different classes and the
steel plants utilise a mixture of the types of scrap that best suit the steel that it is
intended to produce.
Scrap can be divided into three categories depending on origin:

Internal scrap is scrap that falls to the floor within the plants during steel
production and that is directly recovered for the production process. This scrap
has the advantage that its precise content is known.

Engineering workshop scrap is the scrap that arises during the working of steel
in workshops, within the construction industry, on bridge building etc.

Scrap metal collection is the scrap collected from end-of-life products e.g. on
demolition of structures and installations and from households. The scrap may
include everything from bridge beams to household utensils.

3) Coal
Charcoal was originally used in the production of iron. Charcoal was produced
from the combustion of wood in kilns (wood stacks). Today mineral coal is mainly
used, but it cannot be utilised directly in the blast furnaces. For this reason the
coal is carbonised which implies the removal of water and volatile matter. In this
way the coke (carbonised coal) acquires the strength that is required in the blast
furnace.

4) Limestone
Limestone is used as a slag former in the iron and steelmaking process. The slag
has several functions, but it is mainly an active component in the metallurgical
processes. The slag serves to bind substances which are not desired in the steel

being produced. This enables one to control the composition and thereby give
the steel improved properties.

5) Alloying elements
Steel is an alloy with iron as the base material. All steel includes small quantities
of e.g. carbon, silicon and manganese.

III.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF STEEL

1) Carbon (C) Next to iron, carbon is by far the most important chemical element in
steel. Increasing the carbon content produces a material with higher strength and
lower ductility. Structural steels, therefore, have carbon contents between 0.15 to
0.30 percent; if the carbon content goes much higher, the ductility will be too low,
and for magnitudes less than 0.15 percent the strength will not be satisfactory.

2) Manganese (Mn) Manganese appears in structural steel grades in amounts

ranging from about 0.50 to 1.70 percent. It has effects similar to those of carbon,
and the steel producer uses these two elements in combination to obtain a
material with the desired properties. Manganese is a necessity for the process of
hot rolling of steel by its combination with oxygen and sulfur.
3) Aluminum (Al) Aluminum is one of the most important deoxidizers in the
material, and also helps form a more fine-grained crystalline microstructure. It is
usually used in combination with silicon to obtain a semi- or fully killed steel.
4) Chromium (Cr) Chromium is present in certain structural steels in small
amounts. It is primarily used to increase the corrosion resistance of the material,
and for that reason often occurs in combination with nickel and copper. Stainless

steel will typically have significant amounts of chromium. Thus, the well-known
18-8 stainless steel contains 18 percent of nickel and 8 percent of chromium.
5) Columbium (Cb) Columbium is a strength-enhancing elements, and is one of
the important components in some of the HSLA steels. Its effects are similar to
those of manganese and vanadium; it also has some corrosion resistance
influence. Cb appears in types 1 and 3 of ASTM A572.
6) Copper (Cu) Copper is another primary corrosion resistance elements. It is
typically found in amounts not less than 0.20 percent, and is the primary anticorrosion component in steel grades like A242 and A441.
7) Molybdenum (Mo) Molybdenum has effects similar to manganese and
vanadium, and is often used in combination with one or the other. It particularly
increases the strength of the steel at higher temperatures and also improves
corrosion resistance. Typical amounts of molybdenum are 0.08 to 0.25 percent
for certain grades of A588 steel, and 0.15 to 0.65 percent for various types of
A514.
8) Nickel (Ni) In addition to its favorable effect on the corrosion resistance of steel,
nickel enhances the low-temperature behavior of the material by improving the
fracture toughness. It is used in structural steels in varying amount; for example,
certain grades of ASTM A514 have Ni contents between 0.30 and 1.50 percent;
some types of A588 have nickel contents from 0.25 to 1.25 percent.
9) Phosphorus (P) and Sulfur (S) Both of these elements are generally
undesirable in structural steel. Sulfur, in particular, promotes internal segregation
in the steel matrix. Both act to reduce the ductility of the material. All steel grade
specifications, therefore, place severe restrictions on the amount of P and S that
are allowed, basically holding them to less than about 0.04 to 0.05 percent. Their
detrimental effect on weldability is significant.

10) Silicon (Si) Along with aluminum, silicon is one of the principal deoxidizers for
structural steel. It is the element that is most commonly used to produce semiand fully killed steels, and normally appears in amounts less than 0.40 percent.
11) Vanadium (V) The effects of this chemical element are similar to those of Mn,
Mo, and Cb. It helps the material develop a finer crystalline microstructure and
gives increased fracture toughness. Vanadium contents of 0.02 to 0.15 percent
are used in ASTM grades A572 and A588, and in amounts of 0.03 to 0.08
percent in A514.
12) Other chemical elements Certain steel grades utilize small amounts of other
alloying elements, such as boron, nitrogen, and titanium. These elements
normally work in conjunction with some of the major components to enhance
certain aspects of the material performance.

IV.

TYPES OF STEEL
1) Carbon Steel. This is the most widely used kind of steel. Its carbon content is
under 2 percent and is usually less than 1 percent. It often also contains a little
manganese.
2) Stainless Steel. This is the most corrosion-resistant kind of steel. It normally
contains at least 12 percent (and sometimes up to 30 percent) chromium, and it
usually also contains nickel. A very popular stainless steel formulation is 18-8, 18
percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.
3) Alloy Steels. These contain a little carbon, and sometimes silicon, but they
mainly contain added metals, such as manganese (hardness), nickel
(strength), molybdenum (improved wear), tungsten (high temperature strength),
chromium (corrosion resistance), and vanadium (toughness).
4) Galvanized Steel. This steel is coated with zinc to protect against corrosion. The
coating is usually done by a hot dip process.
5) Electroplated Steel. This steel has a coating of another metal, usually tin,
applied by the use of an electric current. Tin-plated steel is widely used for
making cans and other containers.

6) Tool Steel. This is very hard steel made by tempering (heating to a very high
temperature and then quickly cooling).
7) Damascus Steel. This was a very high quality ancient steel with a beautiful wavy
surface pattern used in making sword blades. It seems to have come mainly from
India.
8) Wootz Steel. This was actually a European mispronunciation of ukku, the very
fine steel made in ancient India that they called "wook." (It is probably the same
material as Damascus steel.)

V.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES REQUIRED FOR DESIGN

1) Strength
Yield strength is the most common property that the designer will need as it is
the basis used for most of the rules given in design codes. In European
Standards for structural carbon steels (including weathering steel ), the
primary designation relates to the yield strength, e.g. S355 steel is a structural

steel with a specified minimum yield strength of 355 N/mm.

Hot rolled steels
For hot rolled carbon steels, the number quoted in the designation is the
value of yield strength for material up to 16 mm thick. Designers should note
that yield strength reduces with increasing plate or section thickness (thinner
material is worked more than thick material and working increases the
strength). For the two most common grades of steel used in UK, the specified
minimum yield strengths and the minimum tensile strength are shown in table

below for steels to BS EN 10025-2.

Cold formed steels
There is a wide range of steel grades for steels suitable for cold forming.
Minimum values of yield strength and tensile strength are specified in the
relevant product standard BS EN 10346:2009.

2) Toughness
It is in the nature of all materials to contain some imperfections. In steel these
imperfections take the form of very small cracks. If the steel is insufficiently
tough, the 'crack' can propagate rapidly, without plastic deformation and result in

a 'brittle fracture'. The risk of brittle fracture increases with thickness, tensile
stress, stress raisers and at colder temperatures. The toughness of steel and its
ability to resist brittle fracture are dependent on a number of factors that should
be considered at the specification stage.
3) Ductility
Ductility is a measure of the degree to which a material can strain or elongate
between the onset of yield and eventual fracture under tensile loading as
demonstrated in the figure below. The designer relies on ductility for a number of
aspects of design, including redistribution of stress at the ultimate limit state, bolt
group design, reduced risk of fatigue crack propagation and in the fabrication
processes of welding, bending and straightening. The various standards for the
grades of steel in the above table insist on a minimum value for ductility so the
design assumptions are valid and if these are specified correctly the designer
can be assured of their adequate performance.
4) Weldability
All structural steels are essentially weldable. However, welding involves locally
melting the steel, which subsequently cools. The cooling can be quite fast
because the surrounding material, e.g. the beam, offers a large 'heat sink' and
the weld (and the heat introduced) is usually relatively small. This can lead to
hardening of the 'heat affected zone' (HAZ) and to reduced toughness. The
greater the thickness of material, the greater the reduction of toughness.
5) Durability
A further important property is that of corrosion prevention. Although special
corrosion resistant steels are available these are not normally used in building
construction. The exception to this is weathering steel.
VI.

USES
Steel is an alloy that is most commonly used in the construction industry. It is a
fundamental resource for the construction of practically all types of buildings,
and necessary building parts, such as reinforcing bars for concrete, suspension

cables, cladding and roofing applications, coastal and flood defense

apparatuses and deck plates.

In packaging, steel is often used for food and beverage cans, aerosols, bottle
tops and containers to safely store and transport paint and chemicals. In the
energy sector, steel is used to construct gas and oil wells, pipelines and

turbines.
Steel is also fundamental to the transport industry, where it is ubiquitous in car
bodies, engine components, wheels, trains, rail systems, trucks, ships and jet
engines. Steel alloy is also crucial for the construction of several home
appliances, including refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, sinks, radiators, kitchen

utensils, razors and stereo equipment.

Steel plays an invaluable role in nearly every aspect of modern society. The
alloy is seemingly omnipresent due to its ability to add strength and durability to
all types of objects.