determing grade of steel
determing grade of steel
(OP)
I have a client who has a steel beam he has had laying around for awhile that he wants to use in a project. Is there anyway to determine if its 30 or 50ksi steel? I couldn't find any stamping on it. Somebody told me that not to long ago everything was grade 30, is this true? I have always speced grade 50 but I'm a young buck.. Maybe its just safe to assume it's grade 30??






RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
Don Phillips
http://worthingtonengineering.com
RE: determing grade of steel
I've seen an article on a hand held electrical device that claims to provide the grade of material. I have not tried it. Has anyone else?
RE: determing grade of steel
Chris
"In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics." Homer Simpson
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
You may have specified the W sections as A36 but if you look at the mill certs for the steel supplied then I'm pretty sure you will find it to be grade 50 steel.
RE: determing grade of steel
RE: determing grade of steel
If it's been lying around long enough to be unidentifiable, it's scrap.
For the amount it might cost them to have proper testing conducted to determine the relevant properties, they might be able to instead buy a new beam (especially if they sell this one as...scrap).
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: determing grade of steel
You must not work for a contractor. We reuse a lot of steel.
RE: determing grade of steel
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: determing grade of steel
The first thing is to look at the size of beam (ie your plastic modulus and second moment of inertia) and determine what strength of steel it would need to be to handle the job... After that you can feel out whether or not the beam should be considered scrap as Hg suggests.
Humbly I offer the following: If you need 28ksi, use the beam, 33 ksi, probably still use the beam, 36ksi, maybe don't use the beam unless you know it is only a few decades old... Over 36ksi required steel strength = SCRAP.
*nods head to Hg & DonPhillips*
Cheers,
YS
B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
RE: determing grade of steel
We have started getting H-Piles now in grade 50 and are marking those. Otherwise we assume 36 ksi. Salvaged steel, if it is fairly recent, drawings wwill show if it is gr 50 otherwise we assume A-36 or A-7, Depending on the ageof the structure. We are generally pretty conservative with stresses anyway on old material.