Steel Service Centers
Information about Steel Service Centers including: Aluminized Steel, Cold Rolled Steel, High Strength Steel, Hot Rolled Steel, I Beams, Spring Steel, Steel Beams, Steel Plates, Steel Tubing, Structural Steel, Steel Strip & Tool Steel.
Steel service centers are a necessary component in the production process of steel goods. They are used in many industries, including construction, automotive, electronics, shipbuilding and aerospace. These service centers purchase various alloys of raw steel, then process and treat them to fit the specific needs of their customers. The purchased raw steel undergoes different processes in service centers, and manufacturers may choose from hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel or aluminized steel, among others. These processes yield various types of steel to fit the manufacturer's specific needs, which include high strength steel, spring steel and tool steel. Steel service centers offer a large inventory of steel in different pre-made shapes, including I beams and steel beams, both types of structural steel, steel plates, and steel tubing. Because these steel service centers have a large inventory of steel at all times, ready to process and ship, the manufacturers save time and money because they don't have to worry about housing the steel themselves. Every single metal user in this country works with steel service centers at one time or another.
A large majority-70% of steel purchased by steel service centers-undergo some type of pre-production processing. The steel is often aluminized, a cost-saving procedure where cold rolled carbon steel is hot-dipped in aluminum-silicon alloy that coats both sides of the sheet of metal. After this process, the steel has the lower cost and lighter weight of steel, but the rust-resistant, conductive properties and smooth finish of aluminum. Aluminizing steel takes on properties of both high strength aluminum and high strength steel, which are possessed by neither metal alone. Steel may also go through a rolling process, through a pair of platens, or calenders, which compress and stretch the metal into an even grainflow through continuous rolling. Steel service centers will hot roll steel to obtain many different shapes but less structural integrity than cold rolled steel. During this process, steel is heated past its recrystallization temperature, around 1650 degrees F, and pushed through rollers that squeeze the metal. The steel becomes very pliable and easily movable when heated, and as it cools it has a long time to oxidize, causing it to become less smooth and take on a blue-grey finish. For steel that needs to be strong and have much structural integrity, steel service centers use cold rolling, which is done at room temperature. The steel is covered in oil, and the finished product is unoxidized. The shape range is very limited because the steel is not heated anywhere near its melting point. Both of these rolling processes are concerned with changing the material's mechanical properties rather than their shape.
After these pre-production processes take place, service centers offer a variety of different types of steel to meet manufacturer's different needs. High strength steel (HSLA), which is optimal for transportation equipment because of its structural integrity, high carbon and lighter weight, is often cold rolled or put through a post-cold rolled process such as quenching (heating, then immersing the steel in cold water or oil for strengthening). HSLA is alloyed with a number of metals, including copper, silicon, nickel chromium and phosphorus for greater resistance to corrosion, zirconium and calcium for shape control, and columbium, copper, vanadium and titanium for strengthening. More alloying elements typically increase material production and costs. Spring steel, a low-alloy, medium carbon steel with a high yield strength is hardened or tempered and often heat treated. It is made with silicon and because of silicone's elastomeric properties, spring steel is used to make automobile parts, wire such as guitar strings, and springs. Spring steel is an adequate choice for manufacturers who need a strong, heat and abrasion resistant metal to make tools or the molds for plastic injection molding. It often contains additives such as cobalt and nickel to improve its performance under high temperatures, and its properties are increased through quenching in oil or air hardening.
Steel service centers manufacture a number of different parts, including steel beams and I beams, which are structural steels that have been hot rolled and used in engineering and construction. They also offer various steel plates, often stainless steel, which have a flat rolled finish and are hot rolled or pickled, which is a treatment used to clean and remove impurities on steel by applying sulfuric or hydrochloric acid to the surface. Steel plates must have a thickness of 0.250 or more and are often used as flooring or for construction materials. Steel service centers also produce a variety of steel tubing, which come in many different shapes and sizes and are made through a cold-worked metal spinning procedure. They are used in almost every industry, including automotive, aircraft and construction, and they must meet tight specifications for their particular applications. Service centers also manufacture steel strips, which are often purchased by roll form fabricators who use them for trim applications and construction. Steel strips are cold or hot rolled and may be hardened, tempered or annealed. Lastly, steel service may also provide specialized finishing services which include slitting, shearing, sawing, coil coating and cutting-to-length. The steel product is then packed and shipped to the manufacturer.
Every steel product passing through a steel service center must be approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials, commonly referred to as ASTM, a non-profit organization dedicated to setting strict standards and ensuring the quality of products, materials systems and services, including all steel products, processes and materials. The ASTM's annually-updated book of standards covers steel pipes, tubes and fittings, steel plates, steel for machine structural use and steel for special purposes. More recently, the ASTM has developed new standards for annealed steel conductors. By combining the standards of annealed copper clad steel wire and hard drawn concentric lay stranded copper clad steel conductors, ASTM will raise awareness about copper clad steel as an alternative to solid copper, increasing its production within Steel Service Centers.
Steel Types
- contains
elements other than carbon, such as chromium, manganese, et cetera.
Alloy steels have a higher tensile strength, corrosion and oxidation
resistance and ductility than carbon steel does.
- is
a metal sheet that has been coated with an aluminum alloy.
- is
steel in its basic form, primarily consisting of iron and carbon. Carbon
steel makes up the majority of steel produced and is common in almost
every industry because of its high strength, although, it has a low
resistance to corrosion.
- is
steel that has been shaped without the application of heat. Cold steel
has a smooth surface texture and is common in light-duty furniture
and objects not needing the strength required of structural steel.
- are
steel beams shaped like majuscule letter I's that are used in
construction.
- is
steel that has been flat rolled, as opposed to steel in section form,
and maintains a certain amount of thickness that is based on plate
width. Plate steel is commonly used in construction and engineering
- ,
also referred to as "chromium steel," is the most common
type of steel manufactured by steel service centers. This corrosion
resistant material is preferred in the food and medical industries.
- are
round structures used in numerous applications to transport fluids
and to provide structural support to bridges, buildings and stairs.
Steel pipes maintain high strength and uniform thickness in rough industrial
applications.
- provide
support to railing, ladders, poles and exercise equipment and provide
strong protection to conductors and wiring. Steel tubing varies in
shape and wall thickness.
- ,
also referred to as "plate steel," is low carbon steel containing
manganese, which is commonly used in the engineering and construction
industry for the production of buildings, bridges and transportation
equipment. Structural steel has been hot rolled, often has a rough
surface texture and includes steel beams.
- consists
of iron and alloys of chromium and other elements to improve steel
properties, such as corrosion resistance. Tool steel is used in the
production of hand and power tools.
Steel Service Center Terms
-
Also called "self-hardening," it is steel that is hardened through
air cooling to reduce possible deformation.
- A
semi-finished steel form with a rectangular cross-section that is more
than 8". This large cast steel shape is broken down in the mill to
produce the familiar I beams, H beams and sheet piling.
-
The application of carbon to a low-carbon steel surface to increase the
strength of the steel. Carburizing is achieved through heating the steel
in a substance containing carbon, followed by hardening the steel through
heating and quenching the steel.
-
A method of steel formation in which a part is formed by the shaping of
a molten material in a mould is commonly used for more specific parts.
Casting is not used for the general production of steel types.
-
A solid material that consists of a combination of two or more constituents,
in which the individual components retain their separate identities.
- Surface
of steel that has a different composition than the original makeup resulting
from the application at elevated temperatures of carbon, nitrogen or another
element.
-
Steel treatment resulting in a steel surface hardness greater than that
of the internal region of the steel.
- Metal deformation
process in which the metal is subjected to temperatures low enough to
prevent re-crystallization of the metal during cooling.
- The
internal region of a steel part that remains unaffected by case hardening.
- The process whereby steel loses carbon from the steel surface
layer due to contact with a chemical substance. Decarburization reduces
steel hardness and strength.
-
The ability of steel to accept deformation without fracturing. Ductility
is a notable benefit of alloy steel.
-
The rolling of the edge of steel to smooth edges, which would be damaging
or minimize functionality of a piece.
-
A steel production process in which steel is heated, pressed and shaped
into the required form.
-
Steel heat treatment performed to refine grain size and to alleviate stress
in the interior by heating the steel to temperatures ranging from approximately
800°C to 900°C (1472°-1652° F) and air cooling the steel.
-
Rapidly cooling a metal from a high temperature.
- Steel rejected by the first customer due to flaws, at which point
the steel manufacturer or steel company must find another buyer.
- A class of steels including stainless, tool, alloy and silicon
electrical steels, as opposed to carbon steel.
- The extent to which steel or another substance can accept bending
or stretching without fracturing.
-
The applied stress at which irreversible plastic deformation is first
observed across the sample is called the yield stress, usually represented
as sy.