Steel

Steel is an alloy of iron and a number of other elements, mainly carbon, that has a high tensile strength and relatively low cost.

Early forms of steel have existed since around 1800 BC, and it has subsequently be used through history by the Greeks, Romans, Indians and Chinese. However, British engineer, Sir Henry Bessemer was the first to develop a cost-efficient method for producing steel, and it was first mass produced for the manufacture of railway tracks.

There is an excellent, free-to-use, online encyclopedia for UK steel construction available at SteelConstruction.info.

SteelConstruction.info was created and is maintained by Tata Steel, the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) and the Steel Construction Institute (SCI).

The site contains more than 100 articles written by experts on subjects including:

• Cost planning.
• Life cycle assessment.
• Steel infographic.
• Sustainability.
• Corrosion.
• Construction.
• Fire engineering.
• Design.
• Links to more detailed resources.
• Acoustics.
• Floor vibrations.
• Health and safety.
• Fabrication.

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