High-Performance Steel Structures: Recent Research

Abstract

High-performance steel is defined as steel that has the combined characteristics of high strength, good ductility, high toughness, good weldability, and fabricability. These are the properties essential for successful construction of high-performance structures in a civil infrastructure system. For exposed structures, such as bridges and ships, good corrosion resistance is also necessary. From metallurgical composition and processing point of view, yield strength of above 450 MPa is considered as high strength. The fracture toughness, weldability, and formability of the steels should be significantly better than those of the conventional steels. Microalloyed steels with low carbon content, high manganese levels, and microalloy carbide and nitride formers have been available for sometime in construction of structures that require high strength, high fracture toughness, and good weldability. The low-carbon, age-hardenable steels have gained increasing usage in shipbuilding, heavy-vehicle manufacturing, and offshore structure construction because of their excellent weldability and fracture toughness. These steels have become known as high-strength low alloy steels, although their total alloy content is generally around four percent.