Steel facts - Do you realy know everything there is to know about metal?

INFORMATION QUICK AND EASY

Here we show you allthe surprising, fun and facinating facts about steel and aluminium that will bring you an understanding of the diverse and inspiringaspects of these materials. Immerse yourself in the world of the small and large wonders of our materials and be inspired by their versatile applications and fascinating properties. We not only provide you with interesting information but also an entertaining way to learn more about metal processing.

GENERAL

Modern ships are made of around 90% steel. The largest container ship in the world, the MSC Gülsün, weighs over 21.000 tons and can transport more than 23.000 containers.

Steel makes global shipping stable and durable.

Also known as Cloud Gate, “The Bean” in Chicago is one of the most famous steel installations in the world.

Made from 168 stainless steel panels which have been polished to such an extent that no seams are visible - the result is a truly stunning mirror reflecting the city skyline.

The Tianmen Mountain Cable Car in China, the longest cable car in the world, has a length of 7,455 metres.

With its steel suspension cables, it is extremely strong and flexible ensuring safe transport of passengers - even at great heights and adverse weather conditions.

The longest steel cables in the world - in lifts, cable cars and bridges - can carry several thousand tons of weight.

A single steel cable, such as that of the Zugspitze cable car in Germany, is up to 30 kilometres long and extremely resilient.

At 508 metres, Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world for a long time. 36.000 tons of steel were used in its construction!

Thanks to flexible yet incredibly strong steel frames, skyscrapers can even withstand earthquakes and storms.

Spacecrafts such as the Saturn V rocket, which took astronauts to the moon, used special high-strength steels.

The rocket contained around 270 tons of steel that could withstand the enormous forces during launch.

Without steel, there would be no manned space travel.

Every tonne of recycled steel saves around 1.400 kilograms of iron ore, 630 kilograms of coal and 55 kilograms of limestone.

This saves more than 1,5 billion tonnes of raw materials every year - making steel the absolute recycling champion among materials!

The Titanic was built with around 50.000 tonnes of steel.

Even today, ships are still largely made of steel, as only this material can withstand the enormous stresses and corrosion risks in salt water in the long term.

Steel is everywhere in our everyday lives. Every year, 1.9 billion tones of steel are produced worldwide, and stainless steel alone accounts for around 50 million tones.

In the kitchen, 90% of cutlery contains stainless steel, as do many household appliances.

The Eiffel Tower is made of 7,300 tones of iron, which at the time was produced using a special forging technique similar to today‘s structural steel.

In modern structures, steel can support buildings over 800 metres high, such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world.

The first skyscrapers, such as the Home Insurance Building in Chicago (1885), has reached a height of 42 metres with the help of steel frames.

Today, modern steel structures can make buildings such as the Shanghai Tower, with a height of 632 metres, possible. Without steel, this type of construction would be unthinkable!

Over 50% of the weight of a modern car is made of steel. Around 900kg of steel is used per car, including the high-strength steel for safety systems.

In trains, steel wheels carry more than 16 billion tones of freight worldwide every year.

Every year, around 2 million tons of stainless steel are used for medical applications.

A surgical scalpel can be made of stainless steel that is just 0.1 millimetres thick, ideal for precision cuts.

In addition, around 20 million steel implants are used worldwide every year.

In aeroplanes, high-strength steel provides the necessary stability for turbines and engines.

An Airbus A380 contains around 50 tons of steel to cope with the immense load during take-offs and landings.

Without steel, commercial aviation would not be possible!

APPLICATIONS

How and what is steel used for?

Cymbals made of 1.4305 / AISI / SAE 303 deliver the clear, sharp ‘crash’ that drummers need for their signature sound.

This steel offers the right balance between hardness and resonance to create impressive, long-lasting sounds - ideal for drummers looking for the perfect beat!

While Edison invented the engraving tool, O'Reilly turned it into the tattoo machine in 1891 - and its needles?

Made from stainless steel! PREMIUM 1.2099 / BS 1.2099 is a perfect match: corrosion-resistant, durable and strong - perfectly suited for precise and hygienic applications such as tattoo needles and other surgical instruments.

1.2738 / BS 1.2738 steel is the key to the precise and long-lasting production of filling lines for drinking cans. Whether it's a classic cola can or an energy drink, this steel ensures that the moulds remain robust and dimensionally stable, enabling millions of identical cans to be produced to the highest quality. Absolutely perfect for mass production in the beverage industry!

From welding to moving parts, robotic arms in modern automotive workshops benefit from the incredible strength of 1.2709 ESR. Able to withstand extreme pressure, this ultra-high strength steel ensures precision and reliability every time it's used.

Perfect for today's demanding automotive plants focused on efficiency and durability!

Razor blades produced from 1.2436 / BS BD 6 provide exceptional sharpness and durability.

For barbers, this high-strength steel ensures that the blades retain their precision and edge even after many uses – perfect for the clean, smooth cut professionals appreciate!

Safety pins made of 1.2067 / BS BL 3 provide high strength and stability. Made of this steel, the pins close reliably and last a long time, no matter how often they are used.

A must-have in every sewing box – robust, durable and safe!

Filter carriers and steam nozzles in espresso and coffee machines are often made of 1.4301 / BS 304 S 15.

Robust and corrosion-resistant, this steel ensures that important components remain durable and hygienic, ensuring that your morning coffee is always perfect – reliably and in barista quality!

Horseshoe nails that are made from 1.7131 / BS 527 M 17 offer the necessary strength and resilience to securely attach horseshoes to hooves.

Steel of this quality ensures a long-lasting, reliable connection between horse and iron – perfect for uncompromising performance in any terrain!

Juggling clubs that need to be both light and durable, choose handles made of 1.8550. Perfect for demanding jugglers, this high-strength steel ensures that the clubs stay in your hands even with intensive use and are extremely durable.

If the Golden Gate Bridge were built today, it could be constructed with significantly less steel. Thanks to modern high-strength steels, which are lighter and more resilient, less material would be required without compromising stability.

In addition, construction costs would be lower, resource utilisation more sustainable and the service life longer.

The famous yellow bath ducks owe their perfect shape to the precision of 1.2311 AISI / SAE P20.

This material is used for the
injection moulds,
which ensure long-lasting and detailed results.

Ideal for moulds that often and reliably produce squeaky classics such as rubber ducks!

Lasha Talakhadze from Georgia lifted a total weight of 488 kg and has made history with it.

A barbell bar is made of steel that is alloyed and hardened to withstand the stresses, just like our PREMIUM 1.4305 AISI / SAE 303, a corrosion-resistant austenitic chromium-nickel steel.

Once made of bone, now made of high-quality steel - the key to fast and manoeuvrable ice skating lies in the blades.

PREMIUM 1.4034 stainless steel offers just that: corrosion-resistance, full hardenability and high wear resistance - ideal for long-lasting and high-performance skates!

Chocolate moulds made from 1.2312 AISI / SAE P20+S are the secret behind perfectly shaped Easter bunnies and Father Christmases.

In the confectionery industry, this polished steel ensures precise and durable moulds that reproduce even the finest details.

Diver‘s watches made from 1.4404 AISI / SAE 316L offer outstanding corrosion resistance and durability, even in the harshest underwater conditions.

This stainless steel protects the case from salt water and ensures reliability at any depth - ideal for precise, robust timepieces that work just as well under water as they do on land!

MATERIAL GRADES

Technical properties, guide values and applications for ABRAMS PREMIUM STEEL

Standard values:
• Chemical designation: 90MnCrV8 / 100MnCrW4 • Working hardness: 57-62 HRC • Delivery condition: maximum 229 HB

Technical features:
• High wear resistance
• Good hardenability & dimensional stability

Standard values:
• Chemical designation: 90MnCrV8 / 100MnCrW4
• Working hardness: 57-62 HRC
• Delivery condition: maximum 229 HB

Technical features:
• High wear resistance
• Good hardenability
• Good dimensional stability

Reference values:
• Delivery hardness (annealed / tempered): max. 215 HB
• Tensile strength (deliv. cond.): approx. 690 N/mm2
• Working hardness: max. <20 HRC

Technical properties:
• Excellent corrosion resistance
• High temperature resistance
• Good weldability

Reference values:
• Delivery hardness (annealed / tempered): max. 270 HB
• Tensile strength (deliv. cond.): approx. 920 N/mm2
• Working hardness: max. 65 HRC

Technical properties:
• High wear resistance
• High toughness
• Good compression strength

Reference values:
• Delivery hardness (annealed / tempered): max. 241 HB
• Tensile strength (deliv. cond.): ca. 815 N/mm2
• Working hardness: max. 55 HRC

Technical properties:
• Corrosion-resistant
• Good machinability
• Can be hardened and polished

Reference values:
• Delivery hardness (annealed / tempered): max. 418 HB
• Tensile strength (deliv. cond.): ca. 1420 N/mm²
• Working hardness: max. 45 HRC

Technical properties:
• High-impact toughness
• Good dimensional and shape stability
• Easily polishable and weldable

ALLOYS

Which alloying elements are there and how do they influence steel?

NICKEL improves the toughness, and also the hardenability, tensile strength, yield strength, corrosion resistance and heat resistance of the steel.

It is an important alloying element in austenitic stainless steels with a nickel content of between 8 and 26 %. In duplex steel, it is between 2 and 7 %.

COBALT blue, also called Thénard blue, has long been used to colour glass and ceramics. Cobalt also increases corrosion resistance in hard metals, e.g. in turbines or cutting tools.

PREMIUM 1.2709 ESU AISI / SAE 1.2709 ESR - an ultra-high strength tool steel alloyed with cobalt, with excellent toughness and high tensile strength.

TUNGSTEN, with the highest melting point, and chromium, for corrosion resistance, improve the performance of steel.

In our ABRAMS precision steel, they ensure hardness, toughness and wear resistance - perfect for industrial applications!

Adding SILICON increases the strength, wear resistance and scale resistance.

PREMIUM 1.2344 AISI / SAE H13 is a hot work steel with a high silicon content and is suitable for forging tools, dies and hot shear knives among other things.

MANGANESE improves the forgeability, weldability, strength and wear resistance of the steel. In high-alloy steels, it has a ferrite-stabilising effect. It promotes austenite formation, which is important for stainless steels, and increases hardenability.

One example is our PREMIUM 1.7131 AISI / SAE 5115 case-hardening steel, which combines wear-resistant surfaces with a tough core.

MOLYBDENUM is found on earth as hexamolybdenum, an alloy of molybdenum, iridium, iron, osmium and ruthenium. It is also found in foods such as spinach and eggs.

It improves the hardness, tensile strength and wear resistance of steel. Our PREMIUM 1.7225+QT AISI / SAE 4140+QT, a molybdenum-rich steel, is often used in vehicle construction due to its high strength and toughness.

Steel facts - Do you realy know everything there is to know about metal?

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Steel facts - Do you realy know everything there is to know about metal?

INFORMATION QUICK AND EASY

GENERAL

APPLICATIONS

MATERIAL GRADES

ALLOYS

Our catalogues for download

Steel

Aluminium

Taps

About us

Please visit us on:

ABRAMS STEEL GUIDE®:

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Do you have any questions?

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