Sheet metals and their importance in today’s industry

The sheet metal has been used since ancient times. At the beginning, it was produced by primitive techniques that included hand-fed batons powered by water. Today, advanced production techniques are used, including the rolling of metal blocks by means of rollers with different spacing.

With this processing method, plates of different thicknesses can be produced, which can be divided into:

• Fine sheet metals – up to 1 mm thickness
• Thin sheet metals – from 1 to 2,75 mm thickness
• Medium sheet metals – from 3 to 4,75 mm thickness
• Thick sheet metals – from 5 to 60 mm thickness

One of the most famous sheet metals used daily in almost all households is aluminum foil. In addition to this, one of the most popular sheet metals are golden leaves whose thickness can be just around 0.005 mm.

Sheet metal types

Today there are many different types of sheet metals that find their application in different industries. Generally, the sheet metals can be divided into:

• Construction sheets
• Ship sheets (plates)
• Car sheets (plates)
• Coal sheets
• Transformation sheets
• Other types of sheets

In addition to the mentioned division, the sheets can also be observed from the aspect of the construction, ie their shape. Thus, for example, we can nowadays find ribbed sheets that are primarily intended for roofing. Furthermore, smooth, bent or corrugated sheets can also be applied.

The sheets can furthermore be divided according to the way they are produced, ie processed. According to this division there are annealed sheets, soft and hard sheets, as well as normalized sheets.

Metal sheet processing

Depending on its properties, metal sheet can be processed in many different ways. Along with laser cutting, as one of  as one of the most economical cutting techniques, plasma and oxy fuel gas cutting are also offered on the market.

However, what you should pay attention to when cutting with laser is the reflection that can cause damage to the laser cutter.

In addition to being cut, there is often a need for sheet bending. This type of treatment is carried out by means of special blades or presses which, under certain pressure with the help of plastic deformation, form a sheet according to the desired and required shape.

The application of sheets in the industry

The sheets are in the industry used for the production of various products starting from cans in the food industry to the manufacture of various machine parts.

In addition, sheets made of stainless steel are used in the process industry, ie in the industry where the demands on the construction materials are exceptionally large.

One of the most important metal sheets used in the industry is the white (steel) sheet. The white sheet is obtained by cold rolling and is coated with a tin of 0.01 mm thickness, which gives it resistance.

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The importance of metal in today’s industry

Today’s world is unimaginable without the metal structures whose application spreads from the car industry to building bridges. Although concepts such as iron, metal, and steel are being used every day, the question arises as to whether there is a difference between them? One of the common mistakes that appears daily is to equalize or use the terms iron, metal, and steel as synonyms.

However, there is a certain difference in the aforementioned terms, ranging from the conceptual definition itself to the way in which steel or iron is obtained in the first place.

What’s the difference between metal iron and steel?

What are metals?

Metals, ie, metallic elements are the chemical elements that got their name thanks to the metal link through which the atoms in the crystal grid are connected. Looked through the prism of chemistry, metals found in nature can be found in pure form, without any additives. Furthermore, each metal has its physical and chemical properties that shape its behavior.

In addition to the above-mentioned division, metals can be divided into precious, semi-precious and common metals. The classification of metals with respect to the preciousness depends on its corrosion resistance. Precious metals are therefore resistant to all types of corrosion while the common metals are on the other hand subject to corrosive action.

All metals have a glossy surface and excellent processing properties. However, due to the reflexive properties, there are problems with laser cutting.  Mainly, in nature, they can be found most often in a solid state, except mercury which is liquid.

Is there a difference between metal and steel?

There is. Due to its chemical properties, stainless steel can’t be classified as metal, but as alloy. Thus, metals as such in their structure don’t have any admixtures as opposed to the steel which has.

However, despite the fact that steel is not a metal, it possesses properties that have metals. For example, steel plates can have a glossy surface just like metals. Observed through the prism of the properties, steel is a good electric power and heat generator just like all metals. Nonetheless, because of its composition, it can’t  be placed in the metals category, in a periodic system of elements.

And what about the difference between iron and steel?

Željezo se kao takvo može klasificirati kao sirovina koje se upotrebljava u izradi kako slitina tako i komponenti poput vijaka. Sukladno tome i činjenici da čelik ima udio željeza do čak 99% izvire glavna razlika između ova dva elementa.

In addition, another thing that affects the significant difference between steel and iron are its properties. That is just why stainless steel (inox) is corrosion-resistant, has good thermal conductivity and properties that make it one of the most widely used constructional metals .

Iron is an important raw material for component making

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