Steel is the material
with the greatest
strength obtainable
at the lowest price.
• An alloy of iron and carbon, with very tiny
amounts of other metals to give it particular
properties. For example, nickel is added to make
stainless steel, which does not rust.
C Ni
Fe
• Carbon content of
steel varies from
0.1% to not more
than 1.7%.
• Iron with less
carbon is called
wrought iron and
is workable at low
temperature. Materials made of Wrought Iron
• Iron with high
carbon content is Materials made of Cast-Iron
called cast-iron
and is easily
melted, but brittle
material, which
can be cast into
complicated
shapes.
most commonly used steel in construction
account for 90% of total steel production
can be further categorized into three groups
depending on their carbon content:
Low Carbon Steels/Mild Steels contain up to 0.3%
carbon
Medium Carbon Steels contain 0.3 – 0.6% carbon
High Carbon Steels contain more than 0.6% carbon
All modern buildings contain steel.
Many innovative designs exploit the versatility of steel frames, which are
made either from steel 'H' and 'I' sections, or from tubular steel.
The concrete used in concrete-framed buildings needs reinforcing with
steel to give it the necessary strength. Even brick buildings use steel wire
to "tie" the walls together.
• Iron ore, which is found practically all over the
earth’s surface, is melted at high temperatures and
then alloyed with carbon to make steel.
• Modern structural steel is produced in two kinds of
strengths: regular structural steel, that starts
yielding under stress of 36,000 psi; and high
strength steel that yields at about 50,000 psi.
RUST
• All steel structures had to be painted at regular intervals
(of a few years) to prevent rusting.
• It is only in the last ten years that a new type of weathering
steel, labeled with proprietary names like COR-TEN by the U.S
Steel Company has solved this problem.
• Such steels have a rusting process which penetrates to a
few hundredths of an inch from the surface and then
stops, giving the steel a pleasant maroon color.
This weather-resistant, high-tensile
strength steel incorporates a
unique method that actually uses
rust to prevent rust, which is the
greatest weak point of steel.
Hokkaido 100 Years Memorial Tower
(Sapporo)
1969 1973 (four 1991 (22 years 2007 (38 years
years elapsed elapsed） elapsed）
• Steel properties which presents obstacles to its use in
structures:
: 1200°F - melting point
: 1170°F - transition temperature to brittleness
: Lamination
When steel more than two or three inches thick is
used in the beams of very long bridges or the columns
of very high buildings, unless carefully treated
thermally, these thick elements tend to slice into thin
layers, like a piece of pastry, due to locked in stresses.
: Steel is “fatigued” by reversal of stress from tension to
compression and vice versa, when this cycle is repeated
many times.
West Gate Bridge in Australia
Lamination as cause of collapse
Properties
Stress-Strain
The main mechanical property of the material is determined in a
tension test of a specimen.
The tensile stress and strain are measured at regular intervals
during the test, and a curve is plotted of the stress versus the
strain.
Four Phases
1. Linear Elastic Phase
2. Plastic Phase
3. Strain hardening Phase
4. Failure Phase
1. Linear Elastic Phase
:forms a straight line
:If the load is removed during
this stage both stress and
strain return to zero.
The slope of the straight line is
the elastic modulus.
The relation between stress and
strain is known as Hooke’s Law
(Robert Hooke 1635-1703).
2. Plastic Phase
:If the load is removed the
stress returns to zero and a
residual strain or plastic strain
remains.
2. Plastic Phase
:Plasticity-where strains
increase without any significant
change in stress.
:Phenomenon when pure
plasticity happens is termed as
Yield, and the stress level at
which it occurs is termed Yield
Point or Yield Stress.
3. Strain Hardening Phase
Phase where stress increases
again (though not linearly) with
increasing strain.
The material appears to stiffen
again following yield. This
phase continues until the stress
level reaches a peak - the
Ultimate Strength.
4. Failure Phase
Following the ultimate strength
the stress appears to decrease
with increasing strain up to
Rupture.
**In fact the actual stress does
not decrease, rather, the cross
section is reduced due to a
phenomenon known as
Necking.
MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES
OF
STEEL
Mechanical
Definition Force Applied Duration
Properties
A ductile material can be drawn
into thin long wire.
Ductility - Measure of how much a Tensile Force Brief period of time
material will stretch or deform
-
A malleable material can be
Malleability flattened into thin wire sheet.
Compressive Force Brief period of time
Sudden failure because
A brittle material breaks with there is no noticeable
Brittleness very little deformation. deformation to serve
Brief period of time
as warning.
Slow deformation over a period Extended period of
Creep of time.
Applied Force
years
A failure caused by repeated
Occurs with very little Even if over a short
Fatigue application and removal of
deformation. time
stress.
Mechanical Properties Definition Force Applied Duration
There is so little
Any stress above this
The stress below which the deformation, there is
Endurance limit will cause failure
material will not fail at any no warning and the
Limit number of cycles. break seems to be
if repeated enough
times.
sudden.
The capacity of a material to The toughness of a
Modulus of toughness
absorb energy while a force material indicates its
(the area under stress-
is applied to it. ability to withstand a
Toughness -It is the product of stress
strain curve) = average
sudden force, known
stress x strain (force x
and strain up to the point of as the impact load or
distance)
fracture. shock load
Ability of a material to
recover its original size and A measure of the
Modulus of resilience
shape after being deformed useful toughness,
(area under the stress-
by an impact load since beyond the
strain curve from zero
elastic limit
Resilience - The amount of energy that to the elastic limit) =
permanent
can be absorbed during the product of stress and
linear behavior of the deformation ordinarily
strain up to the elastic
specimen. renders the material
limit
- unfit for further use.
Mechanical
Definition Force Applied Duration
Properties
The stress at which strain
Proportional just begins to increase at
Limit a rate greater than in the
proportional range
Modulus of The constant value of
The modulus of elasticity
A stiff material deforms
stress divided by strain. less under a given
Elasticity or - indicates the stiffness of
stress than does a
Young's - ASTM E8 Static Tensile resistance to movement
material of less
of material
Modulus Test stiffness.
Not judged by the
amount of strain
The property of the Elastic Limit - many caused by a given
material that enables it to materials are completely stress, but by the
Elasticity return to its original size elastic throughout a completeness with
and shape after a force is range of stress from zero which the material
removed to this stress returns to its original
size and shape when
the force is removed.
Mechanical
Definition Force Applied Duration
Properties
The property that enables
a material changed in size
Permanent Set - a plastic
or shape by a force to
Plasticity retain the new size and
deformation that occurs
beyond the elastic limit.
shape when the force is
removed.
Yield strength - the
The lowest stress at which stress at which the
an increase in strain excessive plastic
Yield Point occurs with no increase in deformation is reached.
stress. -At a point zero slope in
the stress-strain curve.