Types of Structural Steel Shapes Manufactured by Structural Steel Fabrication Companies

Steel started out as a revolutionary component for making cars, machines and in construction; it has now gradually expanded into every industry imaginable. In spite of steel’s diverse applications in almost all kinds of industries, steel continues to dominate the list of raw materials required for the construction of buildings and houses.

Structural steel fabrication companies, firms who produce steel used for making structures create many variants to structural steel for use in different areas of construction such as foundations, beams, pillars and many more. Here are commonly used structural steel variants for construction:

H-Shaped

These are long steel structures that look like the letter ‘H’. Commonly used for making deep building foundations, H-shaped steel piles help keep the foundation concrete together and firmly inside the soil with high load-bearing capacity.

C-Shaped

These are long beams that look like the letter ‘C’ when viewed from far. They are commonly used for constructing bridges and large piers. The C-shape of the beams gives them incredible stability for bearing constant heavy loads of vehicles moving on the bridge.

I-Shaped

These look like H-shaped beams at first glance, but they are generally used for making horizontal beams in buildings. The I-shape affords plenty of free space for the addition of vertical beams when joining multiple beams together.

L-Shaped

L-shaped structural steel beams have a variety of applications ranging from reinforcing walls and pillars to being used for making building foundations. The L-shape gives those beams a small footprint along with high load-bearing capacity.

T-Beam

Often made by combining two I or H shaped beams or custom made in T-shape, these beams offer the same advantages as L-shaped beams; added stability while reducing footprint and space taken up by the beam. They are generally used in the construction of large buildings and warehouses.

Hollow Section

These are steel bars that look solid from inside but are hollow from inside. This helps these bars lose weight while sacrificing little instability and load-bearing capacity. They come in various shapes and designs.