Shopping for the Right Steel Beams

Steel is one of the most common materials used for creating structural support in buildings today, helping to create everything from small single-story offices and residential homes to the tallest skyscrapers in the world. If you are in need of steel beams for your next construction project, here are the basics that you should know about steel beams and what to look for when shopping at Wasatch Steel.

Types of Steel Beams
The most common types of steel beams that you can purchase today include I-beams and H-beams.

• I-beams are named for their shape as a capital “I”, which short flanges and a longer cross-section through the middle. These are one of the most common beams used in construction today, helping to build tall skyscrapers, offering support for highways and freeways, and creating the backbone for heavy machinery like industrial cranes. 
• H-beams, like I-beams, resemble the capital letter “H”, with longer flanges and a shorter cross-section. This type of steel beam from Wasatch Steel is often used when you need to minimize the side-to-side bending that occurs. 

Getting the Right Grade
Steel comes in many different grades, which is a measure of how steel is manufactured with metal alloys. The different metals mixed with steel create many different properties, and the steel grade that you need will depend on what you are using the steel beams for, the specific structural needs of your building, and any building codes or requirements that are in place.

Building Adequate Support Structures
Steel beams help you create the “backbone” for your construction project, whether it’s a tall building that will house thousands of offices or a freeway that will support the weight of thousands of cars every day. The strength and durability of steel make it an ideal material for a wide array of different projects, but it’s important to calculate the strength requirements in order to get the right steel for each different kind of job, whether it’s heavy duty, light duty, or even prefabricated steel. You have to identify what kind of compressive, tensile, and shear stresses a beam will encounter when a load is applied in order to find the right beam and the right specifications to withstand bending and breaking.

Get Help on Your Analysis
If you’re not sure what kind of steel beams will work best for your next project, there are a wide variety of tools that you can use for analysis. There are structural analysis software tools available that allow you to plug in the information for your design and layout and discover which steel beams are right for the project. You can also work with a building engineer before you get started to ensure you have the right beams to support your construction project.

When you need to find the right I-beams or H-beams for any construction project, whether it’s a do-it-yourself weekend adventure or you are working on it as part of your day job, you can find the biggest supply and lots of great people ready to help you at the steel supermarket at Wasatch Steel.