Our new super heavy beams added to the XCarb® recycled and renewably produce range
Like a tree with its roots, trunk and branches, beams are the main elements of the steel frame used for a construction project. And trees are continuously growing and adapting themselves to their environment. Sections are just doing the same. Over the years, buildings are becoming higher, architectural plans are more sophisticated and, in the meantime, the urbanisation is pushing further the limits of habitable areas while the climate itself is changing, getting hotter, colder, wetter… And to satisfy all these new market challenges, we need to continuously innovate for our structural sections portfolio. Our latest, impressive record is two new super wide flange shapes up to 1488kg/m (1000 lbs/ft), in XCarb® recycled and renewably produced.
This great achievement comes from ArcelorMittal’s Differdange plant, where it was made possible by a specific device installed at the end of the rolling line there – the Quenched and Self Tempering process (QST) – which allows the production of thick Jumbo sections in high strength steel. Although used to producing heavy sections, the set-up of this QST device still had to be adapted for these new dimensions. The first rolling of new heavy jumbo beams has been carried out in 2023, then the jumbo beams were tested for quality approval, and were ready for their global unveiling at the end of March 2024 at the NASSC Steel Conference in San Antonio, USA.
13% more load bearing capacity
Rolling super wide flange shapes up to 1488kg/m means a remarkable size and weight increase of 13% on top of our own previous record size and weight, which means as well up to 13% more load bearing capacity, allowing for new heights using single elements. This simplifies greatly the process of designing and fabricating a column, since it allows to create stronger columns without the traditional need of reinforcements using additional plates, saving in fabrication costs and embodied carbon of the solution.
85% embodied carbon savings
The main application of the new sizes will be mainly in high-rise buildings for columns and piling in heavy infrastructure works, in markets all around the world like North America, Southeast Asia or Middle East. For this type of applications, there is today no solution on the market able to come close to the ratio between load capacity vs. compactness and embodied carbon that our Jumbo sections provide, and this is a clear competitive advantage.
The heaviest hot rolled beam ever
Size: 926 lbs/ft and 1000 lbs/ft (up to 1488kg/m). They are the heaviest hot rolled beam ever produced in Luxembourg and worldwide.
Quality: these extra heavy beams are available in standard and high strength steel.
Circularity: they are made from 100% recycled steel and will be recycled again at the end of their usage, contributing thus to the circular economy.
Environmental footprint in CO2eq: it is one of the lowest on the market thanks to utilisation of scrap and renewable electricity, which are the characteristics of the XCarb® recycled and renewably produced brand.
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The giant with outstanding weldability properties
The new jumbos have been developed to satisfy the requirements of the ASTM A913 product standard (up to Grade 65 quality). Thanks to the QST accelerated cooling treatment, these new products are expected to demonstrate excellent weldability properties under a very low preheat level. This point will be assessed through an exhaustive campaign of weldability tests. As for previously developed heavy products, the weldability investigation will start with laboratory-scale weldability tests aiming at identifying the appropriate welding parameters. Once this is done, a complete joint penetration butt-welding test will be carried out using these parameters to validate the good weldability behaviour of the section under conditions that are representative of its typical application.
At the rolling mill, accurate control of the thermomechanical process as well as QST parameters were done, ensuring thus surface, dimensional and internal quality control, approved by ultrasonic testing. Equipment of our finishing and fabrication shops allows further preparation of these beams for a specific project.
#Together towards net zero!
The new beams in XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel have been rolled in ArcelorMittal Differdange, using 100% scrap and 100% renewably produced electricity coming from solar and wind sources. This significantly reduces the impact of the steel beams and therefore helps to reduce the impact of the project in which they are used.
