High-Performance Steels in the United States

<p>In 1992, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated an effort with the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the U. S. Navy (Navy) to develop new high-performance steels (HPS) for bridges. The driving force for this project was the need to develop improved higher strength, improved weldability, higher toughness steels to improve the overall quality and fabricability of steels used in bridges in the United States. It was furthermore established that such steels should be "weathering". By this is meant the ability to perform without painting under normal atmospheric conditions.</p>

Fatigue Research on High-Performance Steels in Canada

<p>Compared to conventional structural grade steels, high-performance steel (HPS) pro­vides higher strength, improved weldability, greatly enhanced fracture toughness, and comparable ductility, as well as having "weathering" properties. The improved char­acteristics of HPS are achieved through lower levels of carbon and other elements, in conjunction with advanced steel-making practices using either quenching and tem­pering or thermo-mechanical controlled processing. All of these properties make HPS highly desirable for bridge applications. Indeed, although its development spans only the past decade, it is rapidly gaining popularity for use in highway bridges and is be­coming more widely available. Although many highway bridges have already been put into service in the United States, Canada has yet to implement this technology in bridges. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the use ofHPS will become common in the Canadian market in the near future.</p>

High-Performance Steels in Europe

<p>Since the first application of steel in steel structures in the 19th century the develop­ment of steel construction has been closely linked to the development in material properties and production methods. Significant achievements concerning strength, economy, design versatility, fabrication and erection techniques and service perform­ance would not have been possible without the substantial improvements of steel. Es­pecially with the application of "new" production processes for carbon steels such as the thermo-mechanical rolling and the quenching and tempering process, steel with a high construction strength but guaranteeing also good fabrication properties such as weldability was introduced into the construction market.</p>