The birth of weathering steel can be traced back to the development of copper-containing steel, so-called copper steel.
In 1910, steel plates produced by the United States Steel Company with a copper content of 0.07% and exposed to three different corrosive environments (rural, industrial, and marine) were 1.5-2% more resistant to atmospheric corrosion than ordinary carbon steel.
So, in 1911, U.S. Steel began selling steel plates with a certain copper content.
When the copper content exceeds 0.25%, the improvement in the corrosion resistance of the material is not obvious, and the corrosion resistance of the Cu content of 0.15% is similar to that of 0.25% copper in most cases.
Once this characteristic of copper-containing steels was understood, research on weathering steels rapidly progressed, leading to the development of high-strength low-alloy steels. In the 1920s, U.S. Steel produced a range of high-strength, low-alloy steels primarily used in the railroad industry.
Finally in 1933, U.S. Steel produced the first generation of weathering steel for commercial use under the name USSCOR-TENSteel, a name that reflected two characteristics that distinguished CS, namely corrosion resistance (COR) and its superior mechanical properties. Performance(TEN).
The product improves the mechanical properties of traditional carbon steel by 30%, thereby reducing the necessary steel plate thickness and correspondingly reducing the weight of the overall building structure.
The United States has conducted two high-profile scientific research projects. One began in 1941 and was hosted by the ASTM Committee. The other began in 1942 and was spearheaded by the United States Steel Company. With the metallographic research, people began to study different alloys. A deeper understanding of the role played by elements (copper, chromium, nickel, phosphorus, etc.) in atmospheric corrosion.
In the first study, 71 low-alloy steels were exposed to Bayonne, N.J. (industrial atmospheric environment) and Block Island, R.I. (rural atmospheric environment) and Kure Beach, N.C. (marine atmospheric environment).
In the second study, 270 different steels were exposed to South Bend, Pa. (semi-rural atmospheric environment), Kearny, N.J. (industrial atmospheric environment), and Kure Beach, N.C. (marine atmospheric environment).
