Steel is an alloy, which is a mixture of different metals. The key ingredients of steel are iron and carbon. Other ingredients that are present in steel in small amounts include silicon, sulphur, phosphorus and oxygen.

Based on its chemical composition, steel is widely categorized as:

• Carbon steel- This is one of the most commonly produced steel, used for around 90% of total steel production. It is further categorized as low carbon steels, medium carbon steels and high carbon steels.

• Alloy steel- Bonded with alloying elements, alloy steel is quite stronger, tough, and more corrosion resistant.

• Stainless steel- Stainless steel is comprise of 10-20% chromium and is highly corrosion resistant. It can be further classified into austenitic, ferritic and martensitic

• Tool steel- Widely used for tools and drilling equipment, tool steel is highly durable and heat resistant.

Today, steel is widely known for its versatility, strength and value. It is used almost everywhere, mainly in construction. However, it wouldn’t be feasible to enjoy the benefits of steel without steel fabrication work.

Steel fabrication is simply the building of steelwork components by cutting, bending and assembling processes. After assembling and joining the components, a final product is formed. The key motive behind steel fabrication is to ensure a good strength and reliability of steel. The fabricators employ a number of techniques to transform basic parts of manufactured steel into predefined shapes that are ready to use and install. Steel fabrication generally takes place in two ways:

The raw material approach

The raw material steel fabrication approach is also known as the integrated route. Being a simple and reliable method, about 60% of steel fabrication takes place in this approach. Under this process, all the steel material is heated up to a very high temperature, melted down (the melting temperature of steel may vary from 1370 °C to 1510 °C) and the other materials (melted materials) are mixed into steel. Other materials are mixed with steel to improve its strength and toughness.

The electric arc furnace (EAF) method

The electric arc furnace method is quite an easy and much quicker method of steel fabrication. Under this method, the recycled steel is put into a furnace and melted down. It is then mixed with some other materials to form a final product. More than a third of steel fabrication takes place with the use of EAF steel fabrication method.

If you are searching for a company dealing in direct steel sales in Melbourne or if you have any kind of steel fabrication requirement, it is important to take help of an expert steel fabrication company, who has a good reputation in the industry.