QUALITY CONTROL OF REBARS

P. NALLATHAMBI

QUALITY CONTROL OF RE-BARS

AS A GOOD CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL, REBARS SHOULD OFFER HIGH STRENGTH, GOOD BONDING WITH CEMENT, EASY BENDABILITY, GOOD WELDABILITY AND GOOD PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE, CORROSION AND EARTHQUAKE AND OTHER SIMILAR HAZARDS. REINFORCEMENT ACTION OF THE REBARS IN CONCRETE IS EFFICIENT ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF BOND STRENGTH BETWEEN THE REINFORCING STEEL BARS AND THE SURROUNDING CONCRETE. FURTHER, BECAUSE OF THE WIDE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DEFORMABILITY CHARACTERISTICS, MAINLY MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AND YIELDING OF STEEL AND CONCRETE, CONCRETE DEVELOPS TENSILE CRACKS. MAJOR CRACKS CAN BE AVOIDED BY USING DUCTILE MILD STEEL AND BY IMPROVING THE LOCAL BOND ALL ALONG THE BAR. THE BOND IS IMPROVED BY ENSURING A NON-SMOOTH SURFACE, THAT IS, BY PROVIDING RIBS OF CERTAIN PROFILE AND DEPTH ON THE SURFACE OF THE BARS AND BY USING DEFORMED BARS WITH RIBS AND RIDGES.

PROPERTIES OF STEEL
REBARS IS MADE UP OF IRON, CARBON AND ALLOYS IRON AND CARBON IS CALLED CARBON STEEL IRON, CARBON, NICKEL, CHROMIUM AND VANADIUM CALLED ALLOY STEEL SOFT CARBON STEEL HAS < 0.45 % OF CARBON HARD CARBON STEEL HAS > 0.50 % OF CARBON CARBON GIVES STRENGTH AND HARDNESS. MORE CARBON DECREASE DUCTILITY, MALLEABILITY AND TOUGHNESS TENSILE STERENGTH, HARDNESS AND ELASTIC LIMIT INCREASES WITH INCREASE OF CARBON CONTENT UP TO 1 % CARBON CONTENT UPTO 0.25% 0.25 TO 0.7% 0.70 TO 1.25% OVER 1.25 %

MILD OR SOFT STEEL MEDIUM CARBON STEEL HIGH CARBON STEEL EXTRA HARD STEEL

CARBON GIVES STRENGTH AND HARDNESS TENSILE STERENGTH, HARDNESS AND ELASTIC LIMIT INCREASES WITH INCREASE OF CARBON CONTENT UP TO 1 %

CARBON DECREASE DUCTILITY, MALLEABILITY AND TOUGHNESS

IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE ALL THE PROPERTY OF ABOVE. THEREFORE, STEEL IS GIVEN TREATMENT TO GET MORE STRENGTH AND HAREDNESS WITHOUT ADDING MORE CARBON, SO THAT DUCTALITY AND TOUGHNESS ARE MAINTAINED. TREATMENT TO STEEL 1. COLD TREATMENT. 2. HEAT TREATMENT- HARDENING, CARBURISING, TEMPERING AND ANNEALING (SOFTENING) ETC.

TYPES OF RE-BARS BASED ON TREATMENT

1. MILD STEEL 2. CTD REBARS3. TMT REBARS4. QST REBARSNO TREATMENT COLD TREATMENT HEAT TREATMENT QUENCHING (RE HEATING) TREATMENT

MILD STEEL REBARS

SOFT CARBON STEEL CONTAINS 0.2 TO 0.5 % OF CARBON POSSESS EXCELLENT DUCTILITY, RELIEVED FROM STRESSES, ELONGATION UP TO 25-30%, EASY TO BEND BUT EASILY CORRODRD NOT HARDENED/ TEMPERD

COLD TWISTED DEFORMED BARS

CTD STEEL BARS ARE BOTH ECONOMIC AND EFFICIENT, AND IS SUITABLE FOR ALL REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTIONS. IT IS WIDELY USED IN BUILDINGS, RESERVOIRS, POWER STRUCTURES, ETC. THE SALIENT FEATURES OF OUR CTD STEEL BARS

GREATER YIELD AND BOND STRENGTH. GOOD BENDABILITY AND WELDABILITY. LESSER CRACKS. BETTER SAFETY FEATURES DUE TO HYPER RESISTANCE. THEY ARE SUITABLE FOR BOTH COMPRESSION AND TENSION REINFORCEMENT.

DRAWBACKS OF CTD REBARS

CTD BARS ARE PRODUCED BY COLD TWISTING OF RIBBED BARS OF SPECIAL PROFILE. CARBON CONTENT IN THE BARS IS RESTRICTED TO SOME EXTENT, THESE BARS HAVE AN INHERENT PROBLEM OF POOR WELDABILITY AND DUCTILITY AS CERTAIN MINIMUM CARBON CONTENT IS ESSENTIAL TO ACHIEVE DESIRED STRENGTH. AN ADDITIONAL OPERATION OF TWISTING IS INVOLVED IN THEIR PRODUCTION, DUE TO WHICH THE BARS ARE SUBJECTED TO TORSION STRESSES AND BECOME LESS CORROSION RESISTANT.

THERMO MACHANICALLY TREATED TMT REBARS

TMT STEEL BARS EXHIBIT VERY HIGH BENDABILITY AND RE-BEND ABILITY FEATURES DUE TO LOWER CARBON CONTENT AND HIGHER ELONGATION WITH EXCELLENT YIELD AND DIUCTILITY CHARACTERISTICS, IDEALLY SUITED FOR APPLICATION IN EARTHQUAKE ZONES
Chemicals Properties Carbon Sulphur Phosphorus Mech. Properties Yield Stress Tensile Strength Elongation Unit % % % IS:1786 (Fe 415) 0.30 max. 0.060 max. 0.60 max. IS:1786 (Fe 415) 415 min 10% over YS 14.5min.

Unit N/mm2 N/mm2 %min

PROPERTIES OF TMT REBARS

TMT IS A PROCESS IN WHICH THE RIBBED BAR IS HEAT-TREATED IN THREE STAGES DURING THE PRODUCTION PROCESS ITSELF. THE FINISHED BAR HAS A GRAIN STRUCTURE COMPRISING A TOUGH OUTER LAYER OF TEMPERED MARTENSITE AND A DUCTILE CORE OF FERRITE-PEARLITE. THE COMBINATION OF SUCH FEATURES IN THE CROSS-SECTION OF THE BAR GIVES EXCELLENT YIELD STRENGTH TO THE BAR ALONG WITH SUPERIOR DUCTILITY AND WELDABILITY. THE DESIRED LEVEL OF STRENGTH IN TMT IS ACHIEVED BY HEAT TREATMENT AND NOT BY INCREASING CARBON CONTENT IT OFFERS EXCELLENT WELDABILITY, DUCTILITY AND EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE. DUE TO THE STABILITY OF THE MICROSTRUCTURE AT HIGH TEMPERATURES, THESE BARS EXHIBIT GOOD FIRE RESISTANCE TOO.

The advantages of TMT

Properties
1 2 3 4 Weldability Formability Fire Hazards Ductility and Fatigue Strength

TMT Bars
Better and no loss of strength. Excellent due to uniform elongation. Bend 1d and rebend 4D. No loss of strength upto 500 deg. C. Very high. Most suited for eartquake resistant structures and equipment foundations subject to international codal practices. Better corrosion resistant. Prewelded meshes can be used to manual bending at site; saves construction time. Easy working at site due to excellent features of ductility and bendability. Reduces fabrication time. Comparatively lower. Availability of higher grade like 500N/Sq mm and 550N/Sq mm. Lesser requirement of bar length in welding as compared to mechanical anchorages and results in overall saving

5 6

Corrosion Resistant Workability

7 8

Transportation Overall L Economy

The Macro and Micro structure of TMT bars.

A dark etched peripheral rim of tempered martensite and a grey core of ferrite pearlite are observed. The tempered martensite surface layer is very hard while the ferrite pearlite core is soft. The result is a structure with a high yield strength combined with high ductility. As the heat removal system is very rapid, the tempered martensite surface layer is thinner but harder leading to higher elongation.
Ferrite-Pearlite core Microstructure of TMT bar Tempered Martensite Rim

TMT DEALERS IN INDIA

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF STEEL COMPANIES IN THE COUNTRY, WHO PRODUCE TMT BARS UNDER THE LICENSE FROM SIDERURGIE FRANCAISE OF FRANCE, CENTRE DE RECHAERCHE METALLURGIQUES OF BELGIUM OR HENNINGSDORFER STAHL ENGINEERING OF GERMANY. RASHTRIYA ISPAT NIGAM AND TATA STEEL USE TEMPCORE PROCESS, WHILE SAIL USES THE THERMAX PROCESS

WHAT IS QST ?
(a) Quenching - The hot rolled bar leaving the final mill stand is rapidly quenched by a special water spry system. This hardens the surface of the bar to a depth optimised for each section through formation of martensitic rim while the core remains hot and austenitic. (b) Self Tempering - When the bar leaves the quenching box, the core remains hot compared to the surface allowing heat to flow from to the surface causing tempering the outer martensitic layer into a structure called Tempered Martensite. The core still remains austenitic at the stage. (c) Atomospheric Cooling - This takes place on the cooling bed where austenitic core transformed into ductile ferrite pearlite structure. Thus the final structure consists of an optimum combination of strong outer layer (tempered martensite) with ductile core (ferrite pearlite). This gives its unique combination of higher strength and ductility.

WHY QST?
Until the 1960s mostly plain mild steel rebars with yield strength of about 250 N/mm2 were used. Around 1960 ribbed mild steel bars were introduced to allow for a better bond with concrete. Both the plain and the ribbed bars had very high ductility as indicated by the elongation values. The steel industry first developed, in the late 1960s, the cold twisted deformed (CTD) rebars generally in the yield strength range of around 400 N/mm2 with elongation values of 14-15%. Since high strength was achieved at the cost of ductility, higher strength CTD bars did not gain global acceptance as elongation values dropped to 12 % or less. The demand of civil engineers for rebars of yield strength 500 N/mm2 with good ductility & weldability remained unfilled. The other drawback of CTD rebars was that the surface stresses due to twisting led to a high corrosion rate.

WHY QST ?
The objective of guaranteed minimum 500 N/mm2 yield strength with adequate ductility for seismic zones was finally met through the development of the Quenching & Tempering technology in early 1980s. Two such processes were developed in Europe, Thermex and Tempcore, and both received world patents and global acceptance amongst the civil engineers because it met all their requirements. The steel mills all over have increasingly resorted to these unique technologies and demand for such rebars continues to increase.

THE PROPERTIES OF QST

The basic aim of thermo-processing or quenching & tempering technology is to meet the desired properties as per global civil engineering demand. Basically, these are: Minimum Yield Strength 500 N/mm2

Minimum Tensile Strength 10% more than YS subject to minimum 560 N/mm2 Stress Ratio (TS/YS) 1.10 (generally 1.15 to 1.25) Minimum A5 Elongation 16 (generally 18 to 22) Weldability Consistent with industry requirements. Germany adopted the newly developed quenching and tempering technology in mideighties and immediately reaped great cost savings on account of use of Grade 500 rebars.

STEEL
CHECK THAT STEEL IS PROCURED FROM MAIN / SECONDARY PRODUCERS AS SPECIFIED IN CA. CHECK EACH AND EVERY BAR HAS THE TRADE MARK AT ONE METER INTERVALS TO ENSURE THE GENUINITY. CHECK STEEL IS FREE FROM CRACKS,SURFACE FLAWS, LAMINATIONS AND ANY OTHER HARMFUL DEFECTS. CHECK THE STEEL IS WELL AND CLEARLY ROLLED TO THE DIMEN SIONS,SECTIONS AND WEIGHTS SPECIFIED. CHECK STEEL IS STORED IN A MANNER SO AS TO PREVENT DETORIATION AND CORROSION. TEST THE STRENGTH OF STEEL BEFORE INCORPORATION IN THE WORK.

LABORATORY TEST ON REINFORCEMENT STEEL BARS

SL N O TESTS METHO D OF TESTIN G FREEQUENCY OF TESTS LEVE L OF TEST S C REM ARKS

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
(i) ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH (ii) ELONGATION (iii) BEND TEST (iv) REBEND TEST

IS 1786 I. BARS LESS THAN 10MM: ONE SAMPLE (3 1985

SPECI MEN EACH TEST FOR EVERY 25TONNES OR PART THERE OF) II.BAR SIZE 10MM TO 16MM: ONE SAMPLE (3 SPECI MEN EACH TEST FOR EVERY 35TONNES OR PART THERE OF) III.BAR SIZE OVER 16MM: ONE SAMPLE (3 SPECI MEN EACH TEST FOR EVERY 45TONNES OR PART THERE OF)

THANK YOU