Steel is one of the most versatile materials in modern industrial, processing and equipment supplies. You can use steel for various applications, from making hand-held tools to large machines used for excavation and other tough jobs. Essentially, steel can meet most of your needs because of the grades that it has. These grades encompass various properties, giving them the right combinations of qualities that enable you to mold steel into anything you want. If you are looking for some steel products to complete a construction project, use the following type of steel to fabricate your materials:
Carbon Steel
Carbon steel is one of the most popular types of steel in the fabrication market. It is renowned for its usability because it comes in three forms, giving you a range of metal types to select from. These three forms are high-carbon steel, medium-carbon steel and low-carbon steel.
- High-carbon steel – high-carbon steel also commonly goes by the name tool steel. It has high amounts of carbon in its molecular structure, with the carbon content ranging from 0.6% to 1.5%. Naturally, the heavy presence of carbon means that this type of steel is very hard and difficult to weld, bend or cut. It also becomes brittle and hard when treated with heat. High-carbon steel is your best bet when you want a material that can withstand impact or tools that can deliver high impact. A good example is a hammer.
- Medium-carbon steel – typically, the carbon content in medium-carbon steel ranges from 0.35 to 0.6%. It also contains about 0.06% to 1.65% of Manganese. Products made using medium-carbon steel are stronger and denser than those made from low-carbon steel. It is also difficult to bend this type of steel. You can use heat treatment to harden and temper this type of steel.
- Low-carbon steel – they contain the least amount of carbon, with the content ranging between 0.04% and 0.3%. The low amounts of carbon enable this type of steel to come in diverse shapes and densities. It is the material you should choose when you need flat steel sheets for your construction projects. If you want a little more strength, special treatment can be done to increase the manganese content, enabling you to use the material as structural steel.
Alloy Steel
Steel can combine with other metallic elements to produce specific properties that are not available in steel containing regular carbon. Alloy steels are reliable when you want steel material that can withstand certain weather elements, heat, cold and chemicals among other things. Common alloys involve a combination of steel with nickel, titanium, chromium, and copper.