Sep 28 2012
Metals, Alloys and Carbon and a simplified approach on how it relates to metal fabrication
Pure or unaltered metals are found in nature. Metals are known to be good conductors of electricity and heat. Taking pure metal and mixing it with carbon and other elements make it a great product for metal fabrication. A metallurgist can go into great detail of the elements in each sheet metal product. This can become so complicated it will make your head spin. We will leave that to a metallurgist. Highlights of common sheet metal materials used in metal fabrication at Noble Industries will be covered in this article.
Let’s start with the term steel. Steel is an alloy that is a mixture of iron and other elements. Carbon and iron mixture is the most common steel as it is easier to form than iron. Within carbon steel (low, medium, high or ultra high carbon steel) carbon is the largest element in the mixture. With a higher carbon content the steel gets stronger and harder but becomes tougher to form or weld. The grade of the sheet metal product is determined by the elements within the sheet metal. Customers that request carbon steel for their metal fabrication will also request our powder coating services as carbon steel will corrode. High strength low alloy steel is used in automotive aftermarket products because it is more resistant to corrosion than some other carbon products because it has less iron.
Noble Industries processes 30,000 tons of sheet metal in carbon steel a week. 1008/1010 or A36 material is typical for many of our fabricated products. Other customers ask us to use 201 stainless steel for their automotive metal brackets as it has excellent resistance to corrosion and bends easily. While 201 stainless steel costs a little less than other grades of stainless and is great under rain, auto exhaust fumes it does not do as well when exposed to solvents and chemicals.
If your product is going to come in regular contact with sewage, solvents and chemicals then 304 or 316 stainless is a better solution. Noble Industries provides cnc laser cutting including 3D laser cutting for a large priority of our carbon steel or stainless steel sheet metal clients. When larger production runs of metal fabricated parts exist, punching or stamping is a solution that Noble Industries can offer.
Noble Industries can be your 1st source for metal fabrication so contact Brenda Snyder at 317-773-1926 for more information.
