Tata Steel has introduced a new type of steel that can speed up the construction of new buildings and reduce the weight of machinery or large vehicles.
Described as an innovative and stronger structural steel tube product and known as Celsius 420, the new metal has been designed in conjunction with the construction industry and will be used in what Tata described as ‘demanding building projects’.
Henrik Adam, Tata Steel’s chief commercial officer in Europe, said that the new metal is in a class of its own. “In Celsius 420 we’re bringing to market an entirely new range of hot-finished hollow structural steel sections,” he said.
Because it offers significant weight savings, Celsius 420 enables construction teams to use smaller foundations and fewer temporary stuctures and this helps to cut on-site construction time and costs.
There is also potential for the product in the mechanical products sectors, such as industrial machines, agricultural vehicles and vehicle axles.
The Celsius range of products is already well established in the structural hollow sections market, according to Adam, who added that Tata’s customers are constantly on the look-out for new materials with enhanced properties. “That’s why we focus so much on innovation to develop next-generation products,” he said.
The new product is claimed to be easily weldable, meaning that high-strength structures can be fabricated without changing standard weld procedures. It also means that tight radiuses can be maintained on the corner profiles of square and rectangular sections.
Tata’s head of marketing for construction and infrastructure, Jonathan Clemens, said the new product offered ‘big advantages’ through lower material costs, good weldability and improved performance and this was because of a high degree of uniformity in wall thickness.
According to Clemens, customers can reduce the weight of the material they use, which means additional benefits in terms of reduced building infrastructure requirements.
“…the product has excellent sustainability credentials that come from the steel’s endless recyclability," claimed Clemens.