Steel vs Concrete for Buildings
Steel and Concrete are the basic building materials used for construction of any building. You might think which material is better to construct a building. It all depends on the type of building and its usage needs. Each material has its pros and cons associated with it.
If we look for safety, the building core of a concrete building is very safe and offers adequate protection against impact. A concrete building can also withstand fire for a long time so basically no fireproofing is required. Concrete also offers protection against high winds and earthquakes. In turn, steel requires spray-on fireproofing to enhance its fire resistant capabilities. Steel can also tolerate earthquakes which makes it a preferred building material choice for active seismic zones. Steel also has the strength to face high winds without breaking down.
If we compare the cost of two materials, concrete prices are quite stable as compared to that of steel. Concrete make use of binding material called cement which faces shortage sometimes. So problems can arise in that situation. Regarding the design aspect of the two materials, concrete can take any shape or form while steel has got the highest strength to weight ratio for any construction material.
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The article is good but does not give a comprehensive picture. When choosing a material for building the start point is designing keeping in mind the strength and weakness of construction material. There are several advantages of steel over concrete while there are few advantages of concrete over steel. As a final product, a building needs to take the best of steel and concrete in a combination that gives the most optimum result. So what are the advantages of steel over concrete?
1) Due to its higher strength to weight ratio, a thinner wall made of steel will give equal or more strength compared to a wall of concrete. Means a room made of steel walls will give extra floor space.
2) Due to its modulus elasticity property, steel walls columns behave more robustly during earthquake led vibration.
3) A steel intensive building can have a far shorter in-site project duration period leading to substantial labor cost savings
4) Due to steels’ superior shear and tension properties a far longer spanning roof is possible without the need of intermittent columns, leading to greater usable space. For example in large car parks.
5) Construction sites of steel intensive building is far cleaner than concrete intensive building. Very less chance of loose suspended particle in air if the building being built is using only steel with low concrete use.
6) Because steel can be recycled 100%, it is far more ecological friendly.
7) This recyclable property also means, a steel building has a resale value. A steel building owner, after several decades, if decided to dismantle his house to built a brand new one, the steel coming from the dismantled building will fetch at least scrap value.
There are several other advantages of steel as a choice for building construction. Just to name one more, pests don’t thrive in steel buildings.
There are few disadvantages of steel as a choice for building material, where cement can play a very complimentary role, to diffuse these weaknesses of steel and in combination enhance the total worth of a building
1) Steel is a poor insulation and weather resistant compared to cement. So whichever area of steel needs to be protected against weather degradation or heat conductivity, a cement layer of just about sufficient thickness is the answer
2) Cement is superior to steel is compressive strength. Then the plinth foundation of a building made with Reinforced Concrete is a better choice.
By a holistic design, a steel building can be more robust, more beautiful and even cheaper in total cost compared to a completely concrete building.