Regardless of the type of structure you’re building, steel strength can significantly impact the overall durability of the completed project. From steel support beams to steel-plated insulated panels, it is one of the preferred building materials because of its incredible strength and resilience.
However, even though steel is incredibly durable, it is still important to understand how it will behave in real-world conditions. External factors, like temperature fluctuations and environmental stresses, can sometimes cause steel to expand and even slightly warp.
To help you understand why steel strength is important when constructing durable buildings, we will explore its properties and learn how to mitigate potential steel-related issues by selecting high-quality, steel-based materials like Isowall Insulated Wall Panels.
The Role of Steel Strength in Structure Durability
Steel is an essential material in construction because of its immensely high tensile strength, so it only makes sense that measuring the exact strength of a steel-based building material is important.
Essentially, the stronger the steel is, the more capable it is of supporting heavy loads without deforming or breaking. Even a relatively low steel grade can support significant weight, making it crucial for large buildings and those subjected to dynamic forces like wind and physical impacts.
Another important factor when discussing steel strength is calculating its flexibility. High-strength steel is more flexible and resilient, meaning it can absorb and dissipate energy but retain its original form.
No matter what type of forces a building is exposed to, the steel used within its design needs to have resistance without breaking. The higher the strength of the steel, the more capable it will be of doing so.
Aside from tensile strength, higher-strength steel is also durable against wear and tear that can deteriorate weaker metals. From abrasion to moisture exposure, the steel components used in your building’s construction need to be capable of withstanding real-world stresses without warping or becoming weaker.
Understanding the Behavior of Steel in Real-World Conditions
While steel is an incredibly strong and reliable building material, like any other, it is not perfect. Understanding how steel behaves in the real world can help you design far more resilient structures, which is why we will discuss how even the most well-designed and correctly manufactured steel components can still be susceptible to certain issues.
Thermal Expansion and Contraction
Like any other type of metal, steel expands and contracts when its internal temperature changes. When the exterior temperature rises or falls, its shape may temporarily differ. This is due to the basic laws of thermodynamics: When steel, or any other metal, is heated, it expands, and when it cools, it contracts.
This cyclical pattern can cause minor stresses along the surface of the material, leading to slight warping issues. To counteract these forces and the potential warping and misalignment issues that can result, it is incredibly important that designers make room for thermal expansion where necessary.
If, for example, you were installing metal wall panels, you would want to ensure that you left suitable gaps between panels during installation. While the gaps do not need to be large enough to contribute to thermal bridging, you must allow some movement.
Oil Canning and Visual Distortion
When steel components are exposed to uneven temperature fluctuations or direct physical impacts in one specific area, they can begin to distort. Unfortunately, uneven heating and cooling are common in building construction and should be accounted for during the design phase.
For example, if one specific portion of a steel wall panel were exposed to direct sunlight daily while the rest was constantly in the shade, you would have to anticipate some level of ‘oil canning’ due to the expansion and contraction differential.
Oil canning is a term that describes the perceived wavy look that large, flat areas of sheet metal can have. Fortunately, oil canning is largely a cosmetic, surface-level issue that does not have any significant impact on the structural integrity of the metal.
It also tends to be the type of issue that is only visible from certain perspectives. Plus, it can be minimized through proper alignment of the metal sheets, and by providing adequate space for thermal movement.
Rapid temperature changes, as opposed to gradual changes, can also exacerbate the natural waviness and so-called oil canning issues that can occur in steel.
Again, these naturally occurring issues can be mitigated during the building’s design phase. Appropriately positioning steel components to avoid uneven heating and cooling can really help.
Mitigating Natural Steel Behavioral Issues
One of the best ways to reduce these natural issues is to choose high-quality steel components designed to have completely uniform surfaces. Profile selection can also help reduce the visual impact of warping issues. For example, steel surfaces with a micro-rib design can minimize visual distortions and the visibility of warping.
The surface colour of the steel can also help reduce the visual impact of these small surface issues. Opting for darker colours, like black and dark blue, can mask minor warping that has occurred as a natural side effect of thermal expansion and contraction.
Incorporating proper support into the design also helps, as will using flexible fastening systems to keep metal surface panels from dealing with the full force of environmental stresses.
Why Choose Isowall Fire-Rated & Insulated Wall Panels for Your Steel Structure?
When paired with a solid design plan, Isowall Fire Rated & Insulated Wall Panels stand out as one of the premium options on the market today. They combine the natural strengths of high-grade steel with a high-performance insulating core.
Since they use high-grade 26-gauge steel sandwiched around an innovative insulating core, they can minimize the natural impact of thermal expansion. The laminated sheet steel gives the panels a durable and uniform outer surface that is also permanently bonded to both sides of the expanded polystyrene foam core with a thermosetting adhesive, preventing warping and bubbles from forming beneath the surface of the steel.
Isowall Wall Panels are also incredibly easy to install, and they are available with different surface options, including both embossed steel and smooth steel, allowing you to choose the aesthetic look of your completed project while simultaneously reducing the visual impact of natural warping issues that could occur in the future.
The availability of an option for a microrib finish on the exterior side of the panels can also help to mitigate the unappealing visual impact of any oil canning that can occur as a natural behavior of the steel.
The panels are also pre-painted and available in a range of colours, which makes it even easier to avoid the look of visual disruptions along the surface of the steel.
Beyond their outstanding durability, Isowall Wall Panels offer numerous advantages over other wall coverings. Their impressive R-value of 4.1 per inch means they are an energy-efficient building material. The insulating core and continuous insulation it provides can help you reduce operating costs by reducing the demands on your heating and cooling systems.
Plus, they absorb noise better than plain metal panels and have a high fire rating, making them a safe and practical building material.
Choose Superior Materials and Manufacturing
The key to the success of Isowall Insulated Wall Panels is that they are designed for uniformity and quality. By using the best materials and revolutionary manufacturing techniques, the panels overcome many of the natural limitations of typical building materials.
If you are looking for a high tensile strength building material that acts as both a thermal and fire barrier and a moisture—and chemical-resistant surface material, look no further than Isowall Fire Rated & Insulated Wall Panels.