Steel Plates 1

Description /Shipment / Storage

Metal is metal by an industrial process into thin, flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed with sheet metal. Thicknesses can vary significantly, extremely thin thicknesses are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 inch) are considered plate.

Sheet metal is available in flat pieces or coiled strips. The coils are formed
by running a continuous sheet of metal through a roll slitter.

The thickness of sheet metal is commonly specified by a traditional, non-linear
measure known as its gauge. The larger the gauge number, the thinner the metal.
Commonly used steel sheet metal ranges from 30 gauge to about 8 gauge. Gauge
differs between ferrous (iron based) metals and nonferrous metals such as
aluminium or copper; copper thickness, for example is measured in ounces (and
represents the thickness of 1 ounce of copper rolled out to an area of 1 square
foot).

There are many different metals that can be made into sheet metal, such as
aluminium, brass, copper, steel, tin, nickel and titanium. For decorative uses,
important sheet metals include silver, gold and platinum (platinum sheet metal
is also utilized as a catalyst).

Sheet metal is used for car bodies, airplane wings, medical tables, roofs for
buildings (architecture) and many other applications. Sheet metal of iron and
other materials with high magnetic permeability, also know as laminated steel
cores, has applications in transformers and electric machines. Historically, an
important use of sheet metal was in plate armor worn by cavalry, and sheet
metal continues to have many decorative uses, including in horse tack.

Steel sheets are flat products with a rectangular cross-section, the width of
which is much larger than the tickness. A distinction is drawn between hot- and
cold-rolled sheet.

Hot-rolled sheet in sheets is produced from semifinished products
(slabs or billets), which are reduced to certain thicknesses by rolling and
annealling and cut mechanically or by burning into rectangular or also other
shaped sheets.

Cold-rolled sheet in sheets is produced by removing rust from
hot-rolled sheet by “pickling” it in a weak acid solution, then
washing, brushing, drying, oiling and unrolling the sheet and finally
performing cold-rolling by passing the sheet through a reducing mill and
cutting into rectangular or also other shaped sheets. Cold-rolled steel is a
more highly finished product and has a smoother surface, greater dimensional
(thickness, width, length) and greater strength.

Mild hot rolled steel plates of various sizes are used extensively in tank
construction, ship building and in the fabrication industry. The larges sizes
are shipped in single pieces and in most instances stored outside, unprotected
against the elements, prior to shipment. Therefore, they are generally loaded
in a rusty condition. Stacks of these plates when viewed from the side often
look wavy owing to wrong placing of dunnage. Prior to shipment the stacks are
not under pressure, as they might be in the hold of a ship, so that the
apparent deformations will probably only be temporary. Sometimes in handling, a
plate will develop a transverse kink which must be considered as damage as the
defect is permanent and will required a re-rolling operation to re-flatten it.
In handling large plates special gear is required in the form of hooks coupled
to chains.

Long plates are usually stowed athwartships in the hold of the ship, but care
must be taken to use plenty of suitable dunnage placed in line through the
stow; this being particularly required when other cargo is to be loaded on top.
One incident involved a coil stowage on top of plates, which is not to be
recommended – through lack of and improper placing of dunnage, the entire
shipment of plates was deformed to a serious extent.

Small dimensional hot rolled steel plates are shipped in unprotected bundles
which are secured with metal strapping bands. The sizes of these bundles vary,
but dimensions of plates around 1 to 2 m. are not uncommon. Such goods usually
appear to be in a rusty (i.e. rust stained) condition when shipped.

Hot-rolled sheets are held together in packages with steel strapping. In order
to prevent movement of the sheets in transit and during storage, at least two
steel straps are used in both the transverse and longitudinal direction. An
oxidation layer (scale), which provides limited corrosion protection, is formed
on the surface of steel during hot-rolling or annealing. This layer is,
however, highly sensitive and may easily flake off.

Pickled and oiled hot-rolled sheet and cold-rolled sheet, together with hot-dip
galvanized fine sheet (i.e. electrolytically) coated sheet, for example plated
with zinc etc.) electric steel sheet and tinplate are provided with multilayer
packaging in accordance with their quality, the route and duration of transport
and frequency of handling.

In the case of hot-rolled steel, it is usual to store it in the open and to
transport it without protection, such that no protection is provided against
rain etc. Such sheet therefore generally exhibits a layer of surface rust (rust
film). Since the rust is removed from the steel (by pickling) prior to further
processing, the quality of the steel is not impaired. Hot-rolled sheets must
also be protected from chloride solutions (e.g. seawater or fertilizer), since
pickling cannot remove uneven local corrosion or pitting corrosion. Especially
in the case of damage by salt water, the sheets should be rinsed off with fresh
water as soon as possible after arrival with the receiver and then pickled
because significant delay prior to pickling may have the above-stated
consequences. For reasons of quality maintenance, the aim should always be to
store, handle and transport the sheets in the dry.

Cold-rolled sheets are more sensitive to corrosion than hot-rolled sheets, such
that not only cold-rolled steel, but also surface-treated hot-rolled steel is
additionally packed, for example, in fiber-reinforced packing or plastic-coated
kraft paper and plastic films. It is therefore important to keep moisture away
at all times; unprotected storage in the open or unprotected cargo handling in
wet weather should be avoided.

Galvanized or tinned sheet and electric steel sheet should be treated similarly
to cold-rolled sheet, but no corrosion protection agents, such as VCl paper,
should be used for galvanized and tinned sheet as such agents may react with
the surface coatings. Moisture may, for example, give rise to a white bloom on
the zinc coating. If rain or condensation water penetrates between the closely
sheets of metal, the thin, protective zinc oxide layer does not form, but
rather a thicker layer of pure zinc oxide. At the contact points between the
sheets, this layer has the appearance of scurf.

Application 

Hot-rolled steel is used e.g. for the manufacture of pipes, steel doors and tanks or is further processed into cold-rolled steel.

Much cold-rolled steel is processed in the automotive industry, but some is
also used in the manufacture of household goods (e.g. fridges).

Galvanized sheet is used, e.g. in the automative industry or in the production
of roofing materials (e.g. flashing, guttering). 

Tin plate is used in the packaging industry for the production of cans, for
household goods and toys and for similar products. 

Electric steel sheet is used, for example, in transformers, electrical
machinery and equipment.

Stainless steel sheet is used, for example, in the manufacture of machinery,
tools and containers.