Steel has been used in the construction industry for many years and it is the perfect metal to be used for both strength and stability. You often find it used in the construction of girders that are designed to maintain the structure of a building as well as in sheets of metal that can be shaped using Euromac Bending Machines like the ones from www.cotswold-machinery-sales.co.uk/euromac/horizontal-bending-machines/. It is an incredibly versatile metal and here are some interesting facts that help show the many benefits of using steel in construction.
Steel has incredible elastic qualities which means that if it is put under stress and its shape changes, it will “bounce back” to its original shape quickly. This is especially true of stainless steel which is an alloy metal that has many of the positive qualities of steel. The time it takes steel to bounce back is so quick that in some cases steel is referred to as being more elastic than rubber.
Steel itself is an alloy metal. It has a base of iron that is then combined with carbon to create the new metal. Iron is an incredibly strong metal in its own right but when it is added with carbon to make steel, it becomes even stronger. In fact it is thought that steel is in fact 1,000 times stronger than pure iron. This is often the case with alloy metals. Alloys take on the properties of the different metal that are combined together. This means that you can
Sustainability is key when it comes to construction materials and steel has an incredibly high recycling rate with estimates of around 60% of all steel items being recycled. This shows how versatile steel is and how easy it can be smelted down from an existing item before being turned into something else. In a time when we are all incredibly conscious about what we through away and how we can find reusable products, steel is definitely one to help us with this.
Steel also has a high level of durability which makes it incredibly cost effective for a variety of different uses. A steel roof for example can last the best part of 50 years before it would need to be replaced. This makes it an incredible effective building material and one that we are sure to continue using for many years to come.