 | Mike Davied is the owner & operator of Mikes Repair & Fabrication LLC located in Frontenac, KS. He has been repairing equipment for 40 years and has ran his own business for 20 years. For more information or to contact Mike please call 620-235-0061. |
Remodeling and Construction
2013-02-01 09:36:11
All about steel
Q-I would like to know about metals, including their shapes & sizes, any help would be appreciated.
A-What most people commonly refer to as iron is actually called mild steel, which is iron with some additives to enhance its strength & usability, commonly carbon. Steels are used in the manufacturing of structures, automobiles, as well as in ships & vessels. The two most common forms of steel are:
1.) Hot rolled, which means it is formed while the steel is hot, so it will be less dense and have a coating on it called mill scale.
2.) Cold rolled, which refers to it being formed while the steel is cold, so there is no mill scale and it will have slightly different properties making it more suitable for machining purposes.
There are many shapes, as in flats, rounds, angles, channels, tubes, & sheets. Sizes vary from very small to very large depending on a variety of factors. Most structural steel used in this area is measured in fractions of an inch dimensions, as in 2"X2"X1/4" angle , which would measure 2" wide X 2" tall X 1/4" in thickness. There are also some metric designations in use across the country.
Stainless steel is another form of steel, but it has other additives to prevent corrosion, as with mild steel there are many sizes, shapes, and grades, each with unique properties and uses (depending on additives & procedures when the product is manufactured).
Aluminum is also another metal used for the fabrication of structures as well as vessels, truck beds, castings, and the list goes on to include other more exotic metals including magnesium, nickel, titanium, etc. These are used in many applications from agriculture to aerospace, and medical to name only a few. As most different metals have different properties, their uses and the procedures to work with them vary per product. There are a host of publications describing metals & metallurgy.
Hope this was of help. Thanks for the question.
