Chapter 4: Iron and Steel
Instructor: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Contents
• Introduction
• Structure and Composition
• Production of Ferrous Metals
Iron
Steel
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Introduction
Iron in its various forms, including steel, is by far
the most important of the metals used in the
construction industry
Ferrous metals - includes all forms of iron and
steel.
Chemical composition and internal structure of
ferrous metals are closely controlled during
manufacturing.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Structure
Iron and steel appear to be smooth and uniform, yet they
consist of particles called grains or crystals that can be
distinguished under a microscope.
The grains are formed as the metal passes from the liquid to
the solid state.
This internal crystalline structure called the constitution
determines to a great extent what mechanical properties the
metal will have.
The strength of the metal depends on the cohesion of the
atoms in each crystal and the cohesion between adjacent
crystals.
Strain of any kind consists of movement of the atoms, closer
together in compression or farther apart in tension.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Composition
The chemical content of the metal is determined
by the composition of the iron ore, the way in
which the metal is heated, and the elements
added to it at different stages.
Iron ore contains varying percentages of
1. Manganese
2. Silicon
3. Sulfur
4. Phosphorus
5. Carbon
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of
Ferrous Metals
1. The first step in the manufacture of iron or steel is to
produce a low grade of iron in a continuously operating
furnace called a blast furnace.
- Iron ore, coke, and limestone are loaded continuously
at the top .
Iron ore is an oxide of iron found in nature mixed with
rock or soil called gangue .
Coke is produced by heating coal to drive the
impurities out.
Limestone is a type of rock that occurs in nature.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of
Ferrous Metals
2. Burning the coke and supporting the
combustion with a strong blast of hot air
melt the iron ore and limestone at a
temperature of about 1500°F (815°C).
The heat melts the iron, frees it of oxygen,
and forms carbon monoxide gas, which
imparts carbon to the liquid iron.
3. Melting permits separation of iron from the
gangue, which combines with the molten
limestone to form slag .
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of
Ferrous Metals
4. Iron is removed from a tap near the bottom
and slag from a tap slightly higher.
These are removed a half dozen times per 24
hours of operation.
5. The iron flows into molds and is allowed to
solidify into shapes called pigs, or it is taken in
a ladle while still liquid to be refined into
steel or a better grade of iron.
In either case, the product of the blast furnace
is called pig iron.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of
Ferrous Metals
Pig iron is not useful for construction
because it is weak and brittle,
although it is very hard.
The general term iron refers to a
ferrous metal that is of a higher
quality than pig iron.
To produce useful iron or steel, a
second melting is needed for further
purification.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of Ferrous
Metals - Iron
1. Pig iron is remelted in small
furnaces to make the cast metals.
2. The molten metal flows from
the furnace to a ladle from which it
is poured into molds to be formed
into useful shapes.
This operation is called casting.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of Ferrous
Metals - Iron
The materials of which molds are made
are listed below:
1. Molding sand: a cohesive mixture of
sand and clay.
2. Loam: a cohesive mixture of sand,
silt, and clay.
3. Shell mold: a mold consisting of a
mixture of sand and resin that
hardens when heated prior to the
casting.
4. Metal dies: molds machined to the
proper mold shape.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Types of Iron
1. Cast iron is a general term denoting ferrous metals composed primarily
of iron, carbon, and silicon, and shaped by being cast in a mold.
a. Gray cast iron, the most widely used type of iron, has a high
carbon content and contains large numbers of graphite flakes.
b. White cast iron contains its carbon completely combined with the
iron.
c. Malleable cast iron consists of white iron made tough and ductile
by annealing, which consists of heating to about
1600°F (870°C), holding that temperature for a time, and cooling
very slowly to about 1275°F (710°C).
d. Ductile Iron - Cast iron with the carbon reformed from flakes into
tiny spheroids by the addition of magnesium to the molten iron
2. Wrought iron is highly refined iron with slag deliberately incorporated
but not in chemical union with the iron.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of Ferrous Metals - Steel
Steel is defined as a chemical union of iron and carbon (carbon is, therefore, less than 2 percent by
weight) plus other elements.
1. Pig iron is further oxidized in another furnace at about 3000°F (1650°C) to produce steel.
2. Pig iron, scrap steel, and sometimes iron ore are melted together with a flux of limestone or lime
Phosphorus and sulfur are reduced to less than 0.05 percent of the steel.
Manganese content is reduced to an amount from 0.2 to 2.0 percent; silicon from 0.01 to 0.35
percent.
Carbon is the key element in controlling the properties of ordinary steel called carbon steel.
Strength and hardness increase with an increase in carbon up to about 1.2 percent.
Usually an amount less than 1.2 percent is specified in order to obtain a product satisfactory in
all respects.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of Ferrous Metals – Steel Alloys
alloy steel – result of steel with alloying elements
alloying element - Other elements may be added to impart certain properties to
steel.
Alloy agents are added to improve one or more of the following properties:
1. hardenability
2. corrosion resistance
3. machinability
4. ductility
5. strength
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Production of
Ferrous
Metals - Steel
The overall process of steel
production is shown in figure.
This process consists of the
following three phases:
1. reducing iron ore to pig iron
2. refining pig iron (and scrap
steel from recycling) to steel
3. forming the steel into
products
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Heat Treatment of Steel
1. Normalizing consists of heating the steel to a temperature of about 1500°F
(815°C) or higher, depending on the type of metal, and cooling several hundred
degrees slowly in air. This process increases uniformity of structure.
2. Annealing consists of heating the steel to a temperature slightly lower than for
normalizing and cooling it several hundred degrees very slowly, usually in a
furnace.
3. Quenching consists of cooling steel very rapidly in oil, water, or brine from a
temperature of about 1500°F (815°C). Quenching increases hardness and
strength, but reduces ductility and toughness.
4. Tempering consists of reheating the quenched steel to a temperature of 300 to
1200°F (150 to 650°C) and cooling in air to reduce the residual stresses and
increase ductility and toughness.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Typical rolled sections
Forming Methods
in Steel
1. Rolling consists of compressing
and shaping an ingot into a
useful shape by squeezing it
through a succession of rollers,
each succeeding set of rollers
squeezing the material smaller in
cross section and closer to the
final shape.
2. Forging consists of deforming
steel by pressure or blows into a
desired shape
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Forming Methods
in Steel
3. Extrusion consists of forcing a
billet of hot, plastic steel through
a die of the desired shape to
produce a continuous length of
material of reduced cross section
in the shape of the die.
4. Drawing consists of pulling steel
through a small die to form wire
or a small rod of round, square,
oval, or other cross section. Typical extruded sections
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
STRUCTURAL STEEL
• Structural steel is used in hot-
rolled structural shapes,
plates, and bars.
• Structural steel is used for
various types of structural
members, such as columns,
beams, bracings, frames,
trusses, bridge girders, and
other structural applications
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
STRUCTURAL
STEEL
• Due to the widespread use
of steel in many
applications, there are a
wide variety of systems for
identifying or designating
steel, based on grade, type
and class.
• Several grades of structural
steel are produced in the
United States. Table is a
summary of selected
information from various
sources.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
STRUCTURAL
STEEL
• Structural steels designated as
carbon steel are mild-carbon
steels .
• Those designated as high-
strength, low-alloy steel have
the carbon content of mild-
carbon steel with
columbium, vanadium,
nitrogen, or copper, or
combinations of them added as
alloys in small amounts.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
STRUCTURAL
STEEL
• Those designated as corrosion-
resistant, high-strength,
low-alloy steels have four times the
corrosion resistance of carbon
structural steel or two times that of
carbon structural steel with copper
and are also known as weathering
steels.
• Yield stress s used as a
basis for the design of all steel
structures. It is the yield point
for all structural steels that produce a
yield point on their
stress-strain curves. This includes most
structural steels
.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Structural Steel Cross
Sectional Shapes
• W shapes are doubly symmetric
wide-flange shapes whose flanges
are substantially parallel.
• HP shapes are also wide-flange
shapes whose flanges and webs
are of the same nominal thickness
and whose depth and width are
essentially the same
• The S shapes are doubly
symmetric shapes whose inside
flange surfaces have
approximately 16.67% slope.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Structural Steel Cross
Sectional Shapes
• The M shapes are doubly
symmetric shapes that cannot be
classified as W, S, or HP shapes
• C shapes are channels with inside
flange surfaces having a slope of
approximately 16.67%. MC
shapes are channels that cannot
be classified as C shapes.
• L shapes are angle . shapes with
either equal or unequal legs.
• In addition to these shapes, other
structural sections are available,
such as tee, sheet piling, and rail,
as shown in Figure
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
ASTM specifications/designations for
structural steels, and plates and bars
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Cold-Formed Steel
• Cold-formed steel is used for structural framing of floors, walls, and
roofs as well as interior partitions and exterior curtain wall
applications.
• The thickness of cold formed steel framing members ranges from 0.455
mm to 3.000 mm.
• Cold-formed steel used for steel framing members is predominately
manufactured from scrap steel using either electric arc or basic oxygen
furnaces to cast slabs.
• The primary method of manufacturing steel framing members is roll
forming.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Cold-Formed
Steel Grades
• Structural and nonstructural cold-
formed steel members are
manufactured from sheet steel in
compliance with ASTM
A1003/A1003M but limited to the
material types and grades listed in
the table.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Cold-Formed
Steel Shapes
• A wide variety of shapes can be
produced by cold-forming and
manufacturers have developed a
wide range of products to meet
specific applications. The figure
shows the common shapes of
typical cold-formed steel framing
members.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Fastening
Products
Fastening products include (Carter, 2004)
Conventional bolts
Twist-off-type tension control bolt assemblies
Nuts
Washers
Compressible-washer-type direct tension indicators
Anchor rods
Threaded rods
Forged steel structural hardware
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
STRUCTURAL CONNECTIONS
Steel members must be connected to
form a structure.
They may be connected by:
1. Riveting
2. Welding
3. Bolting
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Reinforcing Steel
• Since concrete has negligible tensile strength, structural concrete
members subjected to tensile and flexural stresses must be
reinforced.
• Either conventional or prestressed reinforcing can be used,
depending on the design situation.
• In conventional reinforcing, the stresses fluctuate with loads on
the structure. This does not place any special requirements on the
steel.
• On the other hand, in prestressed reinforcement, the steel is
under continuous tension. Hence, special steels are required for
prestress applications.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Conventional Reinforcing
Reinforcing steel (rebar) is manufactured in three forms:
1. Plain bars - provide only limited bond with the concrete
and therefore are not typically used in sections
subjected to tension or bending.
2. Deformed bars - have protrusions (deformations) at the
surface, thus, they ensure a good bond between the bar
and the concrete.
3. Plain and deformed wire fabrics - Plain wire fabrics
develop the anchorage in concrete at the welded
intersections, while deformed wire fabrics develop
anchorage through deformations and at the welded
intersections.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Conventional Reinforcing
To identify different bar types, marking symbols are rolled into the
bars as they are being produced. There are four marking symbols.
1. Letter code for manufacturer
2. Numerical code for bar size
3. Letter code for type of steel
4. Grade of steel
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Standard-Size of Reinforcing Bars According to ASTM A615
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Steel for Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed concrete requires special wires, strands, cables, and
bars. Steel for prestressed concrete reinforcement must have high
strength and low relaxation properties as follows:
1. High-carbon steels
2. High-strength alloy steels
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Steel for Prestressed Concrete
Properties of prestressed concrete reinforcement
are presented in ASTM specification A416/A416M
and AASHTO specification M203.
The specifications allow two types of steel:
1. stress relieved (normal relaxation)
2. low relaxation
Relaxation - refers to the percent of stress reduction
that occurs when a constant amount of strain is
applied over an extended time period.
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
Required Properties for Seven-Wire Strand
MKBP222: Engr. Diana A. De La Cruz
End of Chapter 4
