Simply put, steel fabrication is the process involving the transformation of raw steel into a product or item that can be used in construction or assembly. Steel is considered an alloy of iron and other metals. There are a wide variety of different kinds of steels, which are used in structural and fabrication operations. Essentially, fabrication is basically making a metal into the shape you need.
This blog post will provide a brief overview of steel fabrication Melbourne, discussing the basic methods of fabrication as well as the basic raw materials involved.
What Is Steel Fabrication?
Steel fabrication involves taking raw materials and shaping them to their desired form. The raw materials are melted down and mixed into steel before being constructed into the desired shape. The process requires a skilled technician who has the experience in taking raw components and transforming them into marketable items, and there is often very little room for error. Industrial facilities use steel fabrication to create everything from vehicular parts to household appliances.
The basic methods of fabricating include cutting or burning, forming, machining, or welding. Here is a brief overview of how each of these tactics work:
- Machining: This process involves using a specialized piece of equipment to shave away parts of the metal to make it into the shape that is needed. Some of the tools that are involved include lathes, mills and drills.
- Cutting: We utilize water jet cutting, an abrasive process that uses high pressure water to cut virtually any material with a high level of precision and no distortion. Check out the benefits of water jet cutting here.
- Welding: This is a common form of steel fabrication. Welding is used to bend or combine pieces to make them one piece. Check out this blog post on the differences between MIG and TIG welding. As a CT welding contractor, we specialize in MIG & TIG welding of Steel, Stainless Steel and Aluminum and use Pulsed welding machines to help control the heat put into a part, minimize distortion, and improve the quality of the parts we produce.
Step 1: Ideation
The ideation stage can be as creative or as standard as the client desires. When you partner with a fabricator who provides custom structural steel solutions, you have the freedom to order unique pieces specific to your project. Whether you need beautiful, handcrafted ornamental rails or straightforward caged ladders, a custom fabricator can adhere to your exact needs.
Step 2: Blueprint/Drawing Creation
During ideation, your vendor will listen to you and draw up blueprints using specialized engineering software. You can come prepared with your own blueprints or drawings for this stage.
Step 3: Convert Blueprints Into Shop Drawings
Your vendor will convert project blueprints into shop drawings for the completion of the order. The shop drawings and plans will adhere to the logistics of your project, such as deadlines and budget.
Step 4: Cut and Drill Steel Beams
The vendor will have special tools, such as saws, shears, lasers, punches, notches, and plasmas to cut and drill the steel beams according to project blueprints. At Swanton Welding, Inc, we use the Ficep 1003 DDVD VanGuard Drill Line for this stage of the process.
Step 5: Piece Etching
Your vendor will etch each piece with a unique part number and plate location. This makes final assembly on site fast, easy, and accurate, eliminating costly mix-ups and project delays.
Step 6: Component Assembly
Once your vendor finishes cutting and forming the components of your project, the team will weld and assemble the pieces. At this stage, the fabrication team will check to make sure all pieces assemble correctly and match order specifications.
Step 7: Custom Part Machination
If you request any custom metal fabrication, your vendor will create custom parts at this stage. Custom parts are ideal when you need components to fit a specific structure or product. You may need custom part machination if standard looks or sizes aren’t right for your project, either in function or aesthetics.
Step 8: Complete Assembly
Your vendor will complete a full assembly of your project, if possible. In some cases, partial assembly may apply. Complete assembly ensures all parts of the order are present and functioning. Changes at this stage are rare and only occur if there has been a mistake in a previous step.
Below-mentioned is some of the benefits of Structural Steel Fabrication:
- Durability – Steel possesses some fantastic features of being durable, corrosion-resistant, and tensile. Also, being lightweight & higher in strength, it is an excellent option for construction.
- Adaptability – Steel is exceptionally adaptable and flexible. Through the welding process & metallurgical properties, Steel forms any shape and size.
- Affordability – Structural Steel is much affordable than other metals such as copper, silver, gold, aluminum, and magnesium. Even while installing after fabrication, it offers increased efficiency saving both money and time.
- Safe – Steel fabricators coat Structural Steel with a fire-resistant material making it highly resistant to fire. It is also water-resistant & can withstand storms and earthquakes if appropriately built.
- Recyclable -Structural Steel is easily recyclable, again making it a fantastic environment-friendly option.
- Browning Enterprises Inc. is a Steel Processor and Fabricator serving several industries, including government & Race Tracks. If you are looking for “Steel fabrication near me,” your search ends here with us!
- Being a well- known Steel fabrication company, Alabama, we assure delivering the best value, using best practice and quality to the construction sector.
What to know about structural steel fabrication overall
In today’s society it is easy to see that there are more and more buildings being built to cope with the demands, these may be either residential buildings or offices and other business buildings. This has meant that building materials have come into more demand to cater for this rise.
If you are a building or construction company then you will want to use only the best materials in order to complete your project. By not using the best materials companies run the risk of completing a substandard job, putting their reputation on the line and not gaining anymore work.
When it comes to a building, you will want to make sure that it has strong foundations in order for you to build around it. This may be something like rolled steel joist (RSJ) beams to be used inside a residential property or massive structures for a warehouse. Each one needs to be built to the highest standards at all times.
Before starting a building project then you must make sure that you look properly into the best company to use in order to get the steel that you need. Many building contractors will work closely with architects so that they know exactly what it is that they need to order.
Steel fabrication is more of a complicated process than many people think. It is not simply producing the steel needed, it is the whole process of building the desired structure through the means of bending, cutting and assembling all of the pieces together once it has been completed.
Ideally, the company you look to work with in this instance will be able to complete the whole fabrication process in one place. This means doing the machining, cutting, forming and welding in the same building which would save a lot of time instead of transporting each part to a different place.
Sources-
https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-steel-manufacturing-and-fabricating-markets