Most consumers take for granted the convenience of steel and its continued availability in the consumer market. Most people may be surprised by how much steel and metal-derived products that they use every day and every year,
The average person uses over 275 pounds of metal every year in some capacity. People use metal via components in their cars, staircase railings, metal pots and pans, and kitchen utensils, grooming products, appliances, and so on. The lid on the glass jars you buy at the supermarket is made of metal.
However, these products are steel products produced on an industrial scale. Steel and metal products are made on an industrial and global scale via expensive processes to recoup incredible processing costs.
Over 1.5 tons of iron ore must be processed and purified to make one pound of consumer-grade steel.
Still, most consumers don’t consider the ubiquity of steel and stock metal products on this scale. Many consumers and small business owners transact in angle iron due to its strength, versatility, and environmental friendliness.
Angle iron is suitable for use in small home and backyard projects and large-scale industrial projects. You are surrounded by angle iron every day and may not even realize it.
So, what are angle iron benefits?
If you require the best in angle iron, prefabricated, and construction-grade steel, contact South Austin Metals today.
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What is Angle Iron?
Angle iron is a mass of metal that has been bent and processed to form an “L” shaped structure. An angle iron L-cross shape structure is always formed at a 90-degree right angle. The shape and size of angle iron can be made in bespoke sizes, structural angles, and size dimensions.
Angle iron’s L-shaped structure on an L-shaped bar can have two exact length or uneven length legs meeting at a 90-degree angle. Some in the industry also know an angle iron as an L-beam, L-bar, or as an angle bar.
Angle iron is formed this way because the L-shaped structure of the metal makes it durable, strong. It can bear excessive amounts of weight and pressure like a load-bearing platform.
Angle iron is also used to stabilize and strengthen other materials, like wood and weaker composites, in a structure supporting capacity.
How is Angle Iron Made?
The signature aesthetic form of angle iron, its 90-degree L-shaped structure, is what gives the metal its strength and durability. However, that begs the question; how is angle iron made?
Angle iron can be manufactured through various processes, but many people think it is done only by welding two separate iron pieces together. Creating angle iron products in this manner is possible but potentially dangerous when not performed by experienced professionals.
Angle iron is renowned for supporting vast amounts of weight and pressure according to the dimensions and scale of the metal.
Welded seams, microscopic fractures, and voids in the metal cause unpredictable and catastrophic fractures to occur when subjected to significant weight and pressure.
Most angle iron is manufactured via an extrusion, roll forming, and die punching process. Stock metal sheets are fed into roll-forming devices that tightly grips the metal. The metal is fed into a successive series of rollers, which are heated, which bends the metal along the turning axis of each roller.
Each roller incrementally and strategically bends, presses, and shapes the metal as it moves through the device. As the metal leaves the last heated roller, it has assumed its signature 90-degree “L.”
The angle iron is then ejected from the roll former and cut per the client’s dimension specifications. The structural integrity of the angle iron is augmented significantly, making it capable of supporting more weight and pressure relative to its previous stock metal form.
And relatively little scrap metal is created in this process, which is then recyclable.
OK, so what are the benefits of using angle iron?
Versatility
Angle iron is optimal for use in home handyman projects and repairs. Angle iron brackets are used to support and hold cabinets and shelves into place.
Or you can also use angle iron to enact structural repairs on fences, closets, windows, and so on. Window framing and art installation framing are often constructed with angle iron supports.
Angle iron brackets can be screwed or bolted between tabletops and legs to provide added support.
Backyard barbecue and grilling enthusiasts can use angle iron bars to create multi-tier grilling elevations for enhanced slow cooking.
In many home construction projects, angle iron can be used to manufacture the frame for a go-cart or lawnmower. Or you can use angle iron to create structural bracing for a trailer.
Angle iron is often used to make scaffolding to support workers in construction projects. Large scale angle iron bars are used to produce structural, stabilizing, and pressure support beams in bridges, spans, and towers.
The value of angle iron as a construction material and vital building component to the construction industry is priceless.
The versatility of angle iron products can only be limited by a client’s design specifications or the prowess of a business proposal.
Stabilizing Structural and Strength Support
Angle iron is specifically designed to add stabilizing supports to the structures it is attached to. Manufacturing angle iron legs to meet in an L-shape at 90-degrees augments its strength and ability to handle intense weight pressure.
The L-shape of angle iron prevents warping, bending, and buckling from weight and pressure to an incredible degree. Angle iron strength increases appreciably along its length according to its dimension and size relative to its structural intent.
Strength
Angle bars can support a couple of pounds and up to thousands of pounds of weight and pressure relative to their design intent.
The angle bar brackets on a kitchen or conference table can handle hundreds of pounds of weight. Contrast that with the large-angle iron beams used in the construction of bridges, spans, and towers.
Such constructs weigh hundreds of thousands of tons, support their weight and support the weight of countless vehicles and pedestrians. Angle iron support is unseen by many but is always at work.
Recyclable
Angle iron and its post-manufacturing scraps are easily recycled, re-melt, purify, and recast into new products. When you transact in angle iron, it is easy to eliminate waste and mine for additional iron ore.
Source Your Angle Iron From the Specialists
Do you need guidance on buying angle iron for your next project? Get in touch with South Austin Metals now.
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