When it comes to building types, choosing the most future-proof type beforehand is the obvious choice. As such, steel structure is the type of building you’re looking for, performing better than any other possible structure type – concrete, timber, and so on.
Steel itself is an alloy of two material types – carbon and iron. Steel can also be infused with special properties by adding a number of additional materials in small percentages, be it sulfur, chrome, nickel, phosphorus, manganese, etc. This allows for several different varieties of steel to be produced. For example:
--Adding copper allows for better corrosion resistance properties of steel;
--Higher yield strength and tensile strength can be achieved by adding manganese and carbon, although there are two downsides, as well – the end result is harder to weld and has lower ductility (metal’s capability of extending by drawing without fractures);
--Both corrosion resistance and high-temperature resistance can also be boosted by adding nickel and chrome;
--Fatigue strength and the ability to weld can be improved by adding sulfur and phosphorus to the mix.
By its nature, steel structure is a structure made of multiple components connected with each other – with each component being created out of structural steel. Structural steel, on the other hand, is a steel-based construction material fabricated in a specific shape and composition to fit the necessary specifications.
There’s a massive selection of different steel sections that can be used as parts of a steel structure, with different shapes, sizes, and more. Some of the more common shapes that are used as steel structure materials are:
--Angle – a cross-section shaped like a letter “L”
--Sheet – a thin, flat piece of metal, usually 6 mm thick or less
--Plate – a thicker variation of a sheet, thicker than one-fourth of an inch
--HSS/SHS – Hollow Structural Section, or Structural Hollow Section, is a shape that includes circular, rectangular, elliptical, and square sections
--I-beam – a cross-section shaped like a letter “I”; a wide term that includes different kinds of beam types depending on the country:
In Europe – a wide variety of sections, such as HL, IPE, HD, HE, and so on
In the US – H sections, W-shapes, etc.
In Britain – mainly UCs and UBs (Universal Columns and Universal Beams)
--Structural channel – C cross-sections/C-beams
--Rod – a long and relatively thin steel piece
--Z-shape – half a flange in different directions, closely resembles letter “Z” with its composure
--Tee – a cross-section shaped like a letter “T”
--Rail profile – a variation of I-beam that is asymmetrical in its nature, includes at least four different variations:
Vignoles rail
Grooved rail
Railway rail
Flanged T-rail
While some of these variations are made by welding together either bent or flat plates, the majority of the examples above are created with either hot or cold rolling – passing metal stock through pairs of rolls to make them less thick.
When built right, this structure is supposed to provide fully rigid contraception capable of supporting massive weights. Some of the building types that are using steel structures right now are bridges, towers, pipe racks, high-rise buildings, industrial buildings, infrastructure elements, and more.
