Category Archive: High Strength Steel

High-Strength Steel: A Guide for Industrial Use and Fabrication

Oil and gas, construction, mining, and other industries with harsh operating environments require robust, high-strength materials and equipment. G.E. Mathis Company fabricates custom close-tolerance components from high-strength steel (HSS) designed for optimal performance in these applications. For over a century, we have been providing top-quality custom fabrications for customers around the world.

This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of high-strength steel types and their unique advantages over traditional steel for highly demanding industries and applications.

Table of Contents:

• What Is High-Strength Steel (HSS)?
• Types of High-Strength Steel
• Key Properties and Advantages of HSS
• Common High-Strength Steel Fabrication Challenges
• High-Strength Steel Material Types
• Industries Served

What Is High-Strength Steel (HSS)?

High-strength steel (HSS) is steel that has a yield strength of at least 600 MPa. Exhibiting excellent strength and durability, it is commonly used to fabricate stronger, lighter parts and products used in heavy equipment, construction, production machinery, vehicles, and more. Thinner dimensions of HSS can be used to offer the same or better strength in the final assembly, which saves space, processing time, and labor.

Types of High-Strength Steel

High-strength structural steel is typically categorized into the following types:

• Extremely High-Strength Steel (EHSS). Also called advanced high-strength steel (AHSS), extremely high-strength steel has a yield strength upwards of 1,000 MPa.
• Ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS). With a yield strength of at least 3,000 MPa, Ultra-high-strength steel is considerably stronger than low-strength standard carbon steel, making it ideal for load-bearing projects. It can also withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments.
• High-strength low alloy steel (HSLA). These grades have a high strength-to-weight ratio while offering good ductility and weldability. HSLA is often used in large-scale construction projects but can also be used to fabricate smaller structures such as storage tanks. High-strength low alloy steel demonstrates excellent abrasion and corrosion resistance, ideal for harsh environments such as pipelines, railcars, ships, and offshore drilling platforms.

Key Properties and Advantages of HSS

Compared to conventional steel, HSS offers the following distinct advantages:

Common High-Strength Steel Fabrication Challenges

Metal fabricators face several difficulties when working with HSS, which can negatively impact the quality and mechanical properties of the final product. Challenges include:

• Traditional fabrication techniques cannot process many HSS types, especially UHSS and EHSS.
• Fabricators must develop new fabrication techniques or add secondary processing to lower the risk of breakage.
• Fabricators must anticipate how the hot stamping process can change the HSS material’s mechanical properties and microstructure.
• Specialized welding expertise is required to create high-quality components with the desired mechanical properties.

These challenges highlight the importance of working with an experienced HSS fabricator like G.E. Mathis Company. We have the generational knowledge, resources, and capabilities to tackle these challenges and deliver high-quality components that can be used for a wide variety of demanding applications.

High-Strength Steel Material Types

At G.E. Mathis Company, we understand the need for high-quality, durable, reliable parts and products. We have worked extensively on tough projects, providing comprehensive solutions that utilize the following high-strength materials.

Three Large-Scale Metal Components You Didn’t Know We Fabricated

G.E. Mathis Company began as a one-man operation in 1905. Since then, we have grown to occupy a 135,000 square foot facility in Chicago, IL, providing fabrication services using state-of-the-art technology. While we started small, our dedication to providing oversized components is recognized today throughout the industry.

Demanding industries rely on our knowledge, expertise, and fabrication skill to create large-scale, intricate fabrications at close tolerances. Our work encompasses jobs at every level of complexity and size.

Whether we are constructing custom roll-formed cylinders, a custom-welded boom-tube, or performing architectural laser cutting of stainless steel panels, G.E. Mathis Company construction projects are virtually limitless:

·        Precision Laser-cut Architectural Panels

Our shop produced a set of intricate precision laser cut large panels. We cut each panel from A240-T304 stainless steel with our 6,000-watt laser, advancing from raw materials to fully finished, ready-to-install panels in just two weeks.

The final 91 individual architectural laser cut panels measured 0.25” thick by 63” wide by 163” tall, all of which now adorn a stunning outdoor installation.

·        Rolled Cylinder Segments

Petroleum tanks require some of the industry’s largest fabrications. We partnered with an oil industry client to produce premium quality rolled steel cylinders for a tank assembly. Working from a customer-supplied print, we rolled 0.375” thick 304 stainless steel plates through our variable geometry 3-roll pinch-type plate rolling machine to produce 32 rolled segments.

After rolling, each cylinder section had a 300” interior radius through 45° and was 96” long. All 32 rolled segments arrived at their final destination within three weeks.

·        Custom-welded Crane Boom

Cranes are essential for moving large-scale components; building them requires heavy-duty welded rectangular tubes. Our client needed a custom boom tube section for an enormous crane. Utilizing our submerged arc seam welder, we welded STRENX® (Domex) 100XF channels into rectangular tubes that measured ¼” thick by 18” by 20” by 240” long. After welding, we inspected each piece, and delivered them within a three week timeframe.

These pieces were noteworthy for their exceptional accuracy. Our skilled welders produced 50 of these welded boom-tubes at tolerances of ±0.125” and better.

Custom Solutions from GE Mathis

The examples above are just a sample of our precision custom products. At G.E. Mathis Company, we provide custom large-scale manufacturing for virtually every industry, including:

• Agricultural
• Architectural
• Chemical
• Construction
• Defense
• Energy
• Marine
• Mining
• Trailer / Truck body
• Contract manufacturing
• High-quality components

For more information about these projects, please see our portfolio gallery or contact one of our representatives directly today.