The construction industry uses a large variety of different materials to build a range of structures. Many factors are considered for construction, including the cost, strength, corrosion resistance, etc. The most commonly used materials within the construction industry are reinforced concrete and structural steel, and this blog post will provide a comparison of the two.
Strength
The strength of the materials used for construction needs to be high due to the loads it will have to withstand. Concrete has a relatively high compressive strength, which makes it suitable for carrying much of the weight of the structure. However, it doesn’t have high tensile strength or ductility.
Structural steel, however, has extremely high strength, ductility, stiffness, and toughness, which is why it is used for a lot of building construction.
Constructability
The constructability of a material refers to how easy it is to be used in general construction tasks. Reinforced concrete takes one to two days to set once it has been pored out, and then it requires additional curing over a period of 28 days. This extended period considerably increases the time taken to construct a structure. In some cases, the concrete can be pre-cast into the required form to save time.
Structural steel doesn’t have the same time issues associated with it as reinforced concrete. They can be erected as soon as they are delivered, and they can be formed into any shape required with the use of bolts or welding.
Recyclability
Both structural steel and concrete are recyclable, posing no threat to the environment. Concrete rebar is often made of recycled steel, and when deposing of concrete it can be crushed and recycled, but not for re-use as building concrete.
Structural steel is very easily recycled, and new steel can be produced from recycled steel.
Cost
The price of concrete is generally quite stable, however supply and demand can impact the price and availability of concrete. The constructability of steel does mean that more labour hours are involved, which can increase the overall cost of construction.
The price of structural steel has increased over previous years, however, due to the high level of recyclability of steel, most structural steels used for construction today is recycled, reducing costs.
Structural Steel from Masteel
Masteel are worldwide suppliers of high-quality structural steel. Our steel has extremely high strength and high yield, enabling them to be used for a range of industries. If you would like any more information about the structural steel available from Masteel, please contact us.