Steel fabrication is the process of transforming raw steel into a final product that can be used in construction industry.
Structural steel go through several operations during the course of its fabrication such as surface cleaning, cutting and machining, punching and drilling, straightening, bending and rolling, fitting and reaming, and Fastening. The sequence and importance of shop operations vary depending on the type of fabrication required for the steel shapes requested by clients.
In this article, we are going to talk about the four basic processes of steel fabrication. Each process may be used to cut, drill, fold and weld the row steel and form the structures of buildings. Below is a brief summary of each process and how each one work.
1- Cutting or burning involves Shearing, Flame Cutting and or cold sawing the metal into the desired shape. Following surface preparation, cutting to length is always the first process to be carried.
2- Forming is another method used to process or fabricate steel. This is done by applying force, such as roll forming, extrusion, and press breaking. This process can be combined with welding in some specialized settings.
3- Machining is the process of metal removal from another source of material to make it into the shape that is needed. The range of motion of the cutting head is defined by the number of axes (i.e. a 3-axis or 4-axis machine).
4- Welding is the most common process of steel fabrication. Welding is a joining process where the metal pieces are heated, melted and mixed to produce a joint with properties similar to the material of the parts being joined.