High performance steels

One of the more recent developments of new constructional steels is really a grouping of developments given the broad term high performance. High performance does not necessarily mean higher strength, but rather the improved performance of a number of interrelated variables.

For example, welding is used in most construction fabrication. This can be expensive, not just for the process, but for the precautions that have to be taken for thick sections and adverse site conditions. Many of the newer construction steels ease the need for these precautions by making it possible to produce high quality welds faster with less effort, with less consideration for pre-heat and post-heat and with less concern about internal cracking.

Ductility is a characteristic that permits steel to elongate without fracture, highly desirable for the process of forming cold steel into shapes and for steel structures that have to resist earthquake loads. Special ductile steels have been developed in Japan for earthquake-resistant building construction. In Luxembourg, steel profiles have been developed for their high degree of ductility, for use in the cold conditions of arctic and offshore construction.

Strength, however, remains one of the key characteristics of high performance steels. Within certain structural limits of defection, increased strength equates to reduced steel quantities, which in turn may lead to reduced construction cost.

The new high performance steels exhibit a collective mix of improved characteristics that more than compensate for their higher specific cost. They offer opportunities to reduce the finished-project cost by lowering fabrication cost and, by reducing material weight, the costs of shipping and erection, with an end result of improved performance and thereby improved value. Much of the early research in these products was done for military applications where combinations of reduced weight, higher strength and easier fabrication were more critical than cost. Adapting this technology to construction applications, along with appropriate and essential reductions in material costs, continues to stimulate further development of new steels.