Understanding the different end uses of steel

Steel is often referred to as a commodity. Although recognized as a material with a wide range of uses, the breadth of the different end uses is often not well understood. In the article that follows, the author discusses some typical end uses for steel illustrating the scope of the different applications for which this material is commonly used.

Flat products

Within flat steel products, several different product groups can be identified. These include:

• Plate, commonly used in shipbuilding, for the production of large diameter pipe (eg for oil and gas transportation) and for military applications as armored plate (tanks, personnel carriers).
• Hot rolled sheets and coils, where important uses may include low pressure tanks, heavy ducts and channels, gas and water pipes, rolled sections for construction use, machine parts, and some automobile chassis components.
• Cold rolled sheets and coils, where typical uses include roofing products, enamel coated cookware, packaging (including strapping), unexposed items of appliances such as refrigerators and freezers, construction stands, and machinery.
• Coated steel products, i.e. mainly zinc and tin coated steels, where key uses include highway crash barriers, air conditioning vents, lockers, cabinets, metal boxes, unexposed body parts, rail cars , drums, boats, roofing products PVC window assemblies, and at the higher end of the quality spectrum for exposed body panels, appliance panels, sandwich panels for construction applications; and tinplate for packaging (food and beverages).

Long products

Within long products, several different product groups can be identified. These include:

• Heavy sections, generally used to make bridges, or as building elements (girders) as load-bearing structures in buildings. Railroad rails are also an important end use for heavy steel sections.
• Light sections, which may include commercial bar products. [meaning round, square, hexagonal, rectangular, flat and other shapes used as support structures for building, construction and machinery], rebar (used to reinforce concrete, both horizontally and vertically), as well as engineering steel products (used for the production of crankshafts, gearbox gears, suspension arms, automotive springs, and hydraulic components ).
• Wire products, used for tire cords, mechanical springs (including bedding), steel cables, as well as for fasteners (nuts, bolts, screws), as well as wire mesh, nails, and fence products.

Inside the tube, other products can be distinguished. These include:

• Seamless tubing, where thinner applications include precision tubing and syringe needles; and the larger diameters find uses in oil and gas exploration, as well as in high temperature and pressure applications, including uses in highly corrosive environments.
• Welded pipe, which includes small, medium and large pipe, with uses ranging from furniture, gas and water pipes, as well as construction elements. The larger diameter pipelines are used to transport oil and gas across the country, submarine and intercontinental.

Although it is often referred to as a commodity, it is clear that the uses for steel are very varied. Many of the applications of steel are also highly specialized, especially in the case of:

• High speed steels, used for metal cutting.
• Tool steels, used to make tools (including stamping dies, shear blades, and hand tools such as machine tool keys and chuck).
• steel forgings (with very broad industrial applications including components and machinery).

With certain subgroups of steel (such as stainless steels) they themselves have other quite unique sets of applications (jewelry, surgical instruments, kitchen surfaces and tools).