steel service center Archives | National Material Company

11 10, 2019

Galvanized Steel: Types, Uses, Benefits.

marshall2019-11-01T14:10:28+00:00October 11th, 2019|News Blog|

Part of an ongoing series on Galvanized Steel

Mosaic-style background of various galvanized steel textures with the words “Galvanized Steel: Types, Uses, Benefits” in the foreground.

What is Galvanizing?

Galvanizing, or galvanization, is a manufacturing process where a coating of zinc is applied to steel or iron to offer protection and prevent rusting. There are several galvanizing processes available, but the most commonly offered and used method is called hot-dip galvanizing.

Galvanized steel is among the most popular steel types because of its extended durability, having the strength and formability of steel plus the corrosion protection of the zinc-iron coating. The zinc protects the base metal by acting as a barrier to corrosive elements, and the sacrificial nature of the coating results in a long-lasting and high-quality steel product.

This versatility makes it applicable to a variety of projects and industries, including agriculture, solar, automotive, construction, and so on. Below, we aim to provide a comprehensive description of how galvanized steel is processed, different galvanization methods, its benefits, and how it is used in these various industries.

The steps in the galvanizing process are as follows:

The steel is cleaned in a degreasing solution
After being cleaned, the steel is pickled by being lowered into a vat of diluted hot sulfuric acid
The steel is then fluxed in an aqueous solution (typically zinc-ammonium chloride)
After the flux, the steel is galvanized through immersion in a vat of molten zinc
Afterward, the steel is inspected for consistency and a complete coating

A worker at National Galvanizing donning full safety gear as he stirs a molten zinc bath with stack of zinc ingots in the foreground.

What are the advantages of galvanized steel?

Many different industries utilize galvanized steel primarily because it has such a wide array of benefits for industries to take advantage of, including having:

Low initial cost compared to most treated steels. In addition, galvanized steel is immediately ready to use when delivered. It does not require additional preparation of the surface, inspections, painting/coatings, etc. sparing companies more costs on their end.

Longer life. With galvanization, a piece of industrial steel is expected to last more than 50 years in average environments, and can last over 20 years with severe water exposure. There is no maintenance required. The increased durability of the steel’s finished product also increases the product’s reliability.

The sacrificial anode ensures that any damaged steel is protected by the surrounding zinc coating. It doesn’t matter if the steel section is completely exposed; the zinc will still corrode first. The coating will corrode preferentially to the steel, creating a sacrificial protection to the areas that are damaged.

Rust resistance from the zinc coating. The iron elements in steel are incredibly prone to rusting, but the addition […]

29 05, 2019

Steel Service Center Spotlight: National Galvanizing

andre2019-06-19T19:06:59+00:00May 29th, 2019|News Blog|

National Material L.P. and its metal service centers have a long history of quality and service dating back to 1964. Since its founding, N.M.L.P. has grown to over 30 business units and is now one of the largest suppliers of steel in America. The National Material group of industrial businesses consists of five groups; Steel, Stainless and Alloys, Raw Material Trading, Aluminum, and Related Operations.

National Galvanizing, located in Monroe, Michigan is an ISO 9001:2008 certified leader in the heavy gauge galvanizing industry. Their 245,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility offers multiple services including pickling, galvanizing, galvannealing, and slitting, all in one location. This combination of capabilities provides customers with unparalleled responsiveness to meet the ever-changing demands of today’s steel market.

National Galvanizing is a joint venture between National Material L.P. and Heidtman Steel, and has been leading the heavy gauge galvanizing industry since 1984.

Advantages of Galvanized Steel

Galvanized Steel is treated with zinc to create a long-lasting alloy that is resistant to rust and corrosion. This process creates a final material with the strength and formability of steel plus the corrosion protection of zinc-iron coating. Zinc protects the base metal by acting as a barrier to corrosive elements, and the sacrificial nature of the coating results in a long-lasting and high-quality steel product.

Rust Resistance: The iron elements in steel is incredibly prone to rusting, but the addition of zinc acts as a protective buffer between the steel and any moisture or oxygen.

Easy Inspection: It’s easy to tell how strong a galvanized coating is just by looking at it. There are also quick stress tests that can determine how thick the zinc coating is.

Sacrificial Anode: This ensures that any damaged steel is protected by the surrounding zinc coating. It doesn’t matter if the steel section is completely exposed; the zinc will still corrode first.

Longer Life: With galvanization, a piece of industrial steel is expected to last more than 50 years in average environments, and can last over 20 years with severe water exposure. No maintenance required.

Galvanizing Advanced High-Strength Steel

In addition to leading the heavy-gauge galvanizing industry, National Galvanizing also provides complex galvanizing chemistries that allow for the galvanizing of advanced high-strength steel.

Galvanizing advanced high-strength steel, versus galvanizing regular steel, is a more sophisticated process. First, the coils of steel are cleaned and put through both a zinc pot and chemical treatment to passivise the rust. Afterwards, the steel is tempered and tension-leveled to produce a high surface quality on the galvanized steel.

In addition to the material durability described above, Galvanized Advanced High-Strength Steel is a remarkably strong material. Because AHHS is both light-weight and exceptionally strong, advanced high strength steel is becoming the go-to material for the growing regulatory needs of the automotive industry and beyond. Its concentrated properties allow manufacturers to easily reach their emission, safety, and fuel […]

8 11, 2018

Pre-Painted Steel by NMC Partner Interstate Steel Company

marshall2018-11-09T16:25:35+00:00November 8th, 2018|News Blog, NMC Media|

National Material Company is proud to be a partner with Interstate Steel company, a leader in providing steel services and highly engineered, pre-painted steel products. ISC provides a variety of processes including slitting, blanking, pickling and oiling, hot dipped galvanized steel, configured blanking and cut-to-length.

What is pre-painted steel?

Pre-painted steel is manufactured through a continuous coating process that utilizes cleaning, pretreating, painting, and curing in coil form. Typically painted with two-coat paint systems, the coils receive a primer and a finish color coating on the side meant for exterior exposure and the reverse side receives a primer and topcoat. This system creates very uniform, aesthetically pleasing steel.

There are many options when it comes to pre-painted steel and they can vary in:

Metallic coating thickness
Types of top-coatings (polyesters, acrylics, silicone-polyesters, etc.)
Color
Treatments and primers

Pre-painted steel is typically used when the appearance of the steel matters and the steel is meant for long lasting durability. For example, primer coats can help prevent undercutting of paint and make the steel corrosion resistant.

Interstate Steel Company pre-painted steel and services

ISC has had decades of experience and knowledge in painting systems for steel, coil coating, and painted end use applications. They are well known as a leader in pre-painted steel and their expertise shows when NMC conducts business with them.

Some of the many benefits we’ve found in working with ISC is their:

ISO-certified quality system
In-line shape enhancement
In-house metallurgy and testing lab
Customized inventory program
High-quality parts
Environmental consciousness
Speedy processing and delivery

Together, National Material Company and Interstate Steel Company try to provide the most reliable, long-lasting steel in the industry and by working together, believe we can go above and beyond our customers’ requirements. Whether you are looking for pre-painted steel or one of our many other steel offerings, if you believe your company can benefit from our services, please visit us at http://www.nationalmaterial.com/ or call (U.S.) 847-806-7200 to discuss how we can be of service.

About National Material L.P. – Since its founding in 1964, National Material Limited Partnership has grown to over 30 business units and is now one of the largest suppliers of steel in America. The National Material group of industrial businesses consists of the Steel Group, Stainless and Alloys Group, Raw Material Trading Group, Aluminum Group, and Related Operations.

17 10, 2018

Steel Service Center Spotlight: National Blanking

Kelly Smith2020-04-01T21:13:37+00:00October 17th, 2018|News Blog, NMC Media|

National Blanking steel service center is a joint venture between National Material Company and Heidtman Steel Products which have enjoyed the synergy of working together for decades to provide quality products to their customers. Partnering to offer customers first operational blanks, including a strong expertise in high-strength low alloy steels, and Advanced High-Strength Steel.

Originally built in 1959 as Toledo Pickling and Steel Service, the facility operated a batch pickler, numerous slitters, and level lines. Toledo Pickling grew rapidly and outpaced the building, resulting in the purchase of another facility down the road where the first blanking press was installed. Incorporated as Toledo Blank Inc. (TBI) in 1974, the company cultivated a reputation as one of the foremost blankers in the country. TBI’s excellence in blanking continued with its new ownership when New Technology Steel acquired the business in 2003.

That tradition followed and prospered under Heidtman Steel with their acquisition of the facility in 2009. In December 2016, Heidtman and National Material Company grew its partnership with the genesis of the joint venture National Blanking LLC. The newly-structured JV allows National Blanking the opportunity to leverage new resources, to tap a larger, more diversified sales force, and to chart a new course for profitable growth.

“What sets National Blanking apart from our competition is our customer-centric commitment to excellence. We understand our customers’ gold standards in regards to quality, service, and on-time delivery. Every employee strives to exceed those expectations every single day,” says Matt McCaffrey, General Manager of National Blanking and 15-year employee. “My favorite part of working at National Blanking is our people. Most of our staff have been with us for more than a decade which has helped cultivate a true sense of family in our work environment. I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with.”

National Blanking offers a broad range of blanking and steel services covering a wide scope of industries. The facility supports press sizes up to 1200 tons with bed sizes up to 84” x 120”, coils up to 55,500 lbs. and 72” wide, with a gauge range of .020 – .500. Other capabilities include circle blanking utilizing multi-cavity tooling with an expansive selection of diameter components that allow the retrofitting of existing tooling to provide low cost solutions for our customers. Our on-site die shop supports flexible value-added services including blank-through, compound, and progressive blanking.

National Blanking serves the following industries: Tanks & Pressure vessels, Agriculture, Appliance, Automotive, Construction, Drums/Containers, Energy, Filters, Furniture, Heavy Equipment, Heavy Truck, HVAC, Lighting, and more. Steel products made at National Blanking are used in wheels, hot water heaters, compressors, trucks and trailers, and medical equipment.

“We strive to build a culture of employee empowerment. We focus on giving our employees not only the training and skills to perform their jobs, but the opportunity and encouragement to engage in all processes and future opportunities for our company,” McCaffrey continues, “the sky is the limit for us. With our knowledge and experience in the industry, we strive to continue our commitment […]

4 04, 2018

The Differences Between Hot and Cold Rolled Steel

marshall2018-04-04T18:33:39+00:00April 4th, 2018|News Blog, NMC Media|

When approaching your project, it is crucial to know the type of steel that is best suited for your needs. Different types of steel manufacturing can produce material that performs better for the specific applications. The hot and cold rolled steel manufacturing methods specifically have a great effect on the overall performance of the steel.

Prior knowledge of distinctions between the two methods can help your company save on time, raw material cost, and additional processing. This article aims to explain the differences between hot and cold rolled steel and discuss the advantages (and limitations) of each.

NOTE: Hot-rolling and cold-rolling should not be mistaken for different grades of steel. Steels of different grades can be produced as hot-rolled or cold-rolled.

HOT-ROLLED STEEL

Hot-rolling refers to a mill process in which you roll the steel at a temperature above its recrystallization temperature; a heat that typically exceeds 1000° F.

When steel is heated past its recrystallization point, it becomes more malleable and can be properly formed and shaped. It also allows for the ability to produce larger quantities of steel. The steel is then cooled at room temperature, which “normalizes” it, eliminating the worry for stresses in the material arising when quenching or work-hardening.

When the steel cools off, it will shrink non-uniformly, which gives slightly less control on the overall size and shape of a finished hot-rolled product.

Hot-rolled steel typically has a scaly surface finish. For situations in which the appearance of the material is a concern, the scales can be removed by several techniques: pickling, grinding, or sand-blasting.

These properties make hot-rolled steel most suitable for structural components and other applications where incredibly precise shapes and tolerances are of less importance, such as:

Railroad tracks
I-beams
Agricultural equipment
Sheet metal
Automotive frames

COLD-ROLLED STEEL

As you might suspect, the manufacturing process behind cold-rolled steel is a bit different. Despite the name, this process refers to steel that is pressed with the pressure of a roller at room temperature.

Compared to hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel has a nearly 20% increase in strength through the use of strain hardening. It’s through a series of breakdown, semi-finishing, sizing, semi-roughing, roughing, and finishing that cold-rolled steel shapes can be created.

Cold-rolling steel allows for the creation of very precise shapes. Since the process is performed at room temperature, the steel will not shrink as it cools, as it does in the hot-rolled process.

The exterior finish of cold-rolled steel is very desirable when aesthetics and visual appeal are a priority in your project.

However, the applications of cold-rolled steel are somewhat limited to a couple of shapes – square, round, flat, and variations thereof.

Typical uses for cold-rolled steel:

Strips
Bars
Rods
Home appliances
Roof and wall systems
Metal furniture
Aerospace structural members

HOT AND COLD ROLLED STEEL. WHICH DO I NEED?

If you require large structural components, you will most likely need the hot-rolled steel process to create the parts. For smaller parts that require more precise and durable qualities, then the cold-rolled steel process is the way to go. If you have questions about […]