Light & Rolled Sections

Mild steel, otherwise known as carbon steel, is actually one of the most common steel materials in the market today. It comprises of carbon as an alloy with iron, which, when combined together, gives it a solid foundational strength and robustness that makes it highly popular in most steel applications.

Mild steel is a lighter type of steel that possesses a range of different characteristics to other steels. Here are just a few of its key factors:

• Low tensile strength – mild steel tensile strength is approximately 400 MPa. Despite this, the surface hardness can be enhanced with heat treatment.
• Cheap – other steels are more costly. Mild steel is prone to corrosion however it can be simply painted or primed like most other materials.
• Easy to cut, weld and drill – due to its relative softness in comparison to other steels, mild steel bars can often be customised to form one continuous steel sheet. This is also good for connecting metal joints.
• Malleable – it’s exceptionally easy to fabricate mild steel because as a whole, it is more ductile than high carbon steels and can be bent slightly easier. It possesses a carbon content of between 0.15-0.30% but certain brands carry no more than 2% carbon.
• Yield strength – mild steel yield strength is roughly 250 MPa. While most other higher carbon steels usually crack under stress, mild steel bends.

In summary, mild steel exhibits superb strength that meets minimum requirements for a large array of building applications. It is more cost-effective than other steels (such as stainless steel) when a large volume is required, however mild steel, due to its vulnerability to corrosion, means it doesn’t make the most attractive surface material. Unless of course, it is coated with an anti-rusting agent.

Here at Baker Steel Trading, we supply a wide range of rolled sections that take many shapes and sizes and serve vastly different functions:

• Equal and unequal angle bars
• Flitch plates (AKA flitch beams)
• Flat bars
• Square bars
• Round bars