Then, as now, the quality of steel that you use can be a matter of life and death. Whether that means your weapon breaking in the midst of combat, or a structure collapsing because of substandard construction materials, determining the quality of your steel is key in ensuring the durability and longevity of your next construction project. Now that we’ve established the importance of using high quality steel, the question still stands: How does one find out if your steel is substandard?
Have a Sample Tested in a Laboratory
The surest way to determine the quality of the steel is taking a steel sample and analyzing its molecular structure in a laboratory. While this isn’t always a practical option. It is the best way for construction material suppliers as well as buyers to get an idea of the molecular properties of your steel, if it is pure or alloyed with other materials, its carbon content, if it has been heat treated and tempered correctly. There’s no better way to determine the quality of steel than destructive testing in a lab.
Test the Steel’s Physical Properties
Another more practical way to determine the quality of your steel especially if you don’t have access to a lab is to test its physical properties, hopefully this is something done to ensure quality control before it reaches your local construction material suppliers, but just in case here are the most important properties you can have tested.
- Tensile Strength
- This property is the steel’s ability to carry load before it begins to take damage. It is usually tested by means of applying weight to a steel sample, and recording the amount of force that was exerted just before the steel breaks. The general rule is: the higher the tensile strength, the more weight your steel foundations will be able to carry
Flexibility
- It may seem ironic that something as hard as steel can be flexible, in the context of weapons such as sword, dagger, and knife blades this property is what makes it superior to the bronze weaponry that preceded it. Generally, properly tempered steel should be able to flex when force is applied to it, and be able to be bent back into shape when deformed. However, in the context of construction materials, flexibility tests are often applied to steel rebar which is often used in structural foundations and to serve as a building’s skeleton, it’s flexibility is tested by soaking the rebar in boiling water for half an hour after bent at an angle of around 135 degrees. If the rebar doesn’t show any cracks or damage after it is pulled out of the water, then it is of a quality make.
- Hardeness
- This is a steels ability to withstand being dented, and is tested by applying load to a sample and measuring the depth of the dent, and in general the shallower the dent is, the more durable the material and the safer it will be to use in your build
Measure the Steel’s Dimensions
This is perhaps the most basic way of determining the quality of your steel, since all you have to do is bring a few measuring tools with you such as calipers and a measuring tape when you go to your local construction material supplier to check that the dimensions of the steel you want to procure are to the necessary specifications. While this method is by no means comprehensive, if your supplier is trust worthy and properly accredited, the quality of the steel that they carry should be legit.
H&C 