Steel is without a doubt one of the most versatile construction material ever discovered by man. Since it’s discovery the construction industry overcame insurmountable challenges especially when it comes to vertical structures like sky scrapers.
Steel remains one of the best sought construction material. Why is steel such a priceless construction material? What are some of the advantages of steel in engineered constriction? Engineered construction is a process whereby the inherent properties of a construction material are utilized well through the knowledge of statics and material properties -read engineering to come up with a sound, economical and often times aesthetically appealing structure(construction). What are some of the inherent properties of steel when it comes to engineered construction? We shall look at 4 cardinal properties.
1 .Inherent Strength
Steel in it’s many forms is no doubt one of the best materials when it comes to tensile strength. What is tensile strength? Tensile strength can be defined as the maximum stress that a material can bear without breaking or failure. In simpler terms imagine that some weigh was put on your back. You withstand 5 kilograms, 10 kilograms, 20 kilograms, 50 kilograms . As the weights are increased you remain standing. However at a certain point you will give in and probably collapse. The force you withstand at the point of collapse this can be compared to tensile strength. Therefore steel can bear more loads because of it’s tensile strength. This quality has been effectively utilized by engineers world over to design simple to complex structures of amazing spans.
2 .Flexibility
Steel can be molded into different forms and shapes hence it is preferable when it comes to complex structures of wide spans like stadia, aircraft hangars, halls and bridges. It can be cut, recut , welded ,and even remolded. In engineered construction this quality is well utilized to produce pre-engineered buildings of different sizes.
3. Uniform Quality
For naturally occurring construction materials like timber, it’s very hard to get a material whose quality is uniform throughout it’s length. This brings a challenge when it comes to engineered construction because its’s rather hard to predict it’s behavior under load. However, since steel is a factory produced product under controlled processes its material behavior and qualities are known and easily derived for easier use in design. Laboratory analysis has therefore derived it’s qualities for engineered construction.
4. Recyclable
Steel is a green building material owing to the fact that it is recyclable to infinity while maintaining it’s inherent characteristics. Recycling on the other hand saves energy and reduces pollution.
Therefore, the next time you think of construction think of steel then think of engineered construction. Get to us for engineered construction-https://webmail.engiconstruct.com/ or engiconstruct2100@gmail.com. See more on https://engiconstruct.com/
