WORLD HEADLINESWorld
Sumitomo to Supply Lightweight H-Beams for Elevated Roads
Jan. 27, 2010 Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. has announced that “a large quantity” of its SMart BEAM™ lightweight welded H-beams is being adopted in the Second Keihan Highway, which is currently under construction.
The highway—a toll road with a length of 28.3 km that links Kyoto and Osaka—is scheduled to open on March 20, 2010. The installed area of sound-absorbing panels for the underside of the elevated road is approximately 140,000 m2. Sumitomo Metals has received orders for approximately 1500 tonnes of the roughly 1800 tonnes of lightweight welded H-beams to be used as supporting beams.
Lightweight welded H-beams are continuously manufactured from hot-rolled coils by means of high-frequency resistance welding. Because they are less thick than standard rolled H-beams, Sumitomo Metals says that it is possible to reduce the weight of steel material used by a maximum of around 40% when compared to rolled H-beams with the same section properties.
SMart BEAM H-beams are welded after cutting hot-rolled coils to the necessary width; as a result, the company says that it is possible to manufacture various sizes, dimensional precision is high, and the products can be processed on automatic lines. According to Sumitomo Metals, most steel-related prefabricated housing manufacturers in Japan have adopted these products as beams for their houses.