Structural steel (also known as section steel) is the backbone of the steel manufacturing industry. Designers, architects and engineers choose different parts according to their aesthetic and structural quality – their choice depends on size, weight and shape. This means that manufacturers such as steel manufacturing service companies can process steel into almost any shape or size, but this requires additional costs. On the other hand, in the whole steel structure and manufacturing process, you will see many common steel sections, which appear in the structure every day. Steel has strong versatility and can be molded into many different shapes. Now let’s read these shapes below.
What is structural steel?
Structural steel is a kind of steel used to manufacture various shapes of building materials. Many structural steel shapes take the form of slender beams with specific cross-section profiles. The shape, size, chemical composition and mechanical properties (such as strength, storage method, etc.) of structural steel are specified in the standards of most industrialized countries. Most structural steel profiles, such as I-beams, have high second-order section moments, which means that their cross sections are very hard, so they can withstand high loads without excessive sagging.
Steel profiles of different shapes
How often do we pay attention to the geometry of steel profiles used in buildings and realize the importance of shapes? These sections are marked by their cross-sectional shape profile. Here are some commonly used parts.
Angle steel
Structural steel sections with angles can be equal or unequal. Both are right angles, but the axes of unequal sides are different in size and are L-shaped. This part has higher strength (up to 20%) and higher strength to weight ratio. The inclined part is used for residential buildings, infrastructure, mining and transportation. They are available in a variety of lengths and sizes. The benefits are listed below.
- Provide high structural capacity in connection to resist bolt/weld shear.
- The height is preferred as the supporting member of the truss, because they provide a good axial bending capacity (tension/compression) combination.
- You can place it back to back to create a virtual service area.
Conical flange beam (I-section)
The tapered flange beam is of I-shaped section and also has various sizes. In buildings, these are usually used for cross sections of beams. Although they have a fairly high resistance ratio, when there is pressure along their length, they are generally not recommended because they do not resist torsion (torsion). Its benefits are as follows.
- Compared with solid rectangular or square section, the steel saving rate is high.
- General components – can be used for most structural component applications.
- The steel structure design manual defines a wide range of section availability to achieve optimal structural design.
- It provides good compatibility for the connection with other primary or secondary members.
Parallel flange channel steel (U-shaped section)
These U-shaped beams are U-shaped, at right angles, a bit like dowels. They have many different sizes, but both sides are always the same length and parallel to each other. They also provide a high strength to weight ratio and have a similar use as inclined sections.
- When bending is not the key factor, the ideal I-shaped substitute can save almost half of the steel.
- When multi-component system is used, high structural bearing capacity is provided. For example, floor joist system, purlins in roof truss, etc.
- You can place it back to back to create a virtual I-shaped section.
- Provide good compatibility for connecting other steel members and concrete/brick surfaces.
