Structural steel is one of the most essential parts of the construction process, acting as a backbone to almost all infrastructures. Steel offers the best strength-to-weight ratio, making it an ideal choice as a construction material. Commercial, industrial, and residential buildings benefit from the strength and stability steel offers in addition to its aesthetic qualities.

Behind the excellence and superiority of structural steel is the demanding process of manufacturing the material into whatever form it is required to be.  If not processed correctly, all those benefits cannot be achieved and the risks of failure may occur.

What is the process of creating structural steel?

• Raw Materials: Structural steel begins at the crushing and sorting of raw iron. A variety of refining processes are involved in order to get the best iron grade. This iron forms about 60% of the final steel product. Any impurities from pure iron are removed by heating the ore in a blast furnace. The molten iron is then drawn for further processing to include other ingredients, like manganese, to achieve desired properties expected from the steel.
• Forming: Once all the ingredients are added, including carbon as the main basis of structural strength, the final product is then formed into various configurations. These can be in the form of beam, hollow steel, angle, plate, or channel, depending on what the steel will be used for. The different substances added to the alloy are done to improve strength and offer a varying degree of ductility.
• Welding: The final process involved in making structural steel is welding and fabrication. Wherein the material created is welded and fabricated to produce the finished product needed for a specific application. Compared to conventional riveting, welded structural steel is easier to mold and navigate, it is lighter, and more cost-effective.

If you require structural steel for any project, contact our expert team at Scarboro Steel Work! We’ve been in this industry for over 60 years and we’re one of the biggest steel fabricators in the area that can meet and exceed all your steel fabrication needs.