08 Jul What you Don’t Know about Structural Steel

1. It’s stronger than normal steel

Like regular steel, the main components of structural steel are iron and carbon. However, structural steel contains additional alloys such as manganese, which helps improve its binding power and machinability. Manganese helps prevent steel from cracking when it’s being rolled, which helps it withstand any steel welding process during construction.

2. It’s more flexible than you think

Compared to mild steel, structural steel is incredibly ductile. Its carbon content means that it’s more malleable, and can be welded much more easily. Due to its weldability, structural steel fabricators, like Baker Steel Trading, can create almost any desired shape. One perfect example is steel frame buildings, which form the skeletal frame of structures. Read more here.

3. It can withstand almost any natural threat

Steel buildings can withstand almost any kind of extreme weather conditions, thanks to its malleability and robustness. Steel structures rarely succumb to any kind of wind damage. Plus, it’s entirely inorganic, so completely pest-resistant too. While over the course of many years, uncoated steel may rust, methods of steel finishing (such as primer coatings) help prolong its resistance. Here at Baker Steel Trading, we primer paint our structural steel products.

4. Environmentally beneficial

Steel support beams have unique properties which prevent it from degrading over time. Steel is an entirely recyclable and flexible material to work with, and its strength and relative lightweight properties allow it to be reused multiple times, if necessary. Over 80 million tons of steel are recycled every year.

5. Can be safeguarded in numerous ways

Universal structural steel beams can have additional fire-resistant coatings to improve its performance. Even though it wouldn’t melt unless it was exposed to temperatures surpassing 1300°C, it can still be safeguarded this way. If you want to enhance its corrosion resistance, applying zinc-based coatings are advised. When steel frame buildings, for example, are fabricated and then assembled on-site, it can be easier to manage the materials and ensure that all safety precautions are met.

Structural steel products should carry a CE mark for supply and distribution in the UK. CE marking is is a certification symbol that indicates conformity with health, safety and environmental protection standards for products sold in the European Economic Area (EEA). All of Baker Steel Trading’s steel is CE-approved.

6. It is lighter than other building materials

Steel weighs significantly less than other materials such as concrete. The weight of structural steel is comparatively (as much as 60%) lighter than a reinforced concrete frame building. More people are finding themselves using steel thanks to its flexibility and reduced construction time.