India's Tata Steel Limited has developed a hot rolled, fire-resistant E350 structural steel that can retain a substantial proportion of its strength at high temperatures, a company statement said on Tuesday, October 6.
The steel can retain two-thirds of its room-temperature yield strength at 600°C for up to three hours and the ability to retain strength at elevated temperatures will slow the loss of load-bearing capacity of steel structures during a fire, the company said.
It will provide occupants and emergency responders with additional time before structural performance is significantly compromised. The new steel has been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) under IS 15103, the Indian standard for fire-resistant structural steel, it said.
Tata Steel stated that the product has been developed through an advanced alloy design involving an optimized combination of micro-alloying elements and microstructural engineering. The design improves the steel's strength retention under elevated-temperature conditions without compromising the performance requirements of structural applications, it added.
