Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) has changed the face of construction industry by becoming the most effective and easy construction material of modern times. RCC has a high compressive strength compared to other building material. Its ability to take any shape has made it a preferred building material. TMT steel bars are widely used in general purpose concrete reinforcement structures, bridges and flyovers, dams, thermal and hydel power plants, industrial structures, high-rise buildings, underground platforms in metro railway and rapid transport system.
Any building structure with plain cement concrete cannot survive until it is strengthened with TMT steel bars. Rebars possess unique mechanical and chemical properties which make buildings safe by tolerating various damages forcing acting on building materials. Earthquake, wind-storm, load of the occupants, dead load of the building can be easily absorbed by using TMT steel bars.
TMT steel Bars is an acronym for thermo-mechanical treatment. Thermo Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars are manufactured using the Quenching & Tempering (Q & T) technology. A TMT bar gets its strength properties from quenching and tempering. No mechanical treatment is involved in TMT Bars. In TMT steel bars, the carbon content can be restricted to 0.2% to attain weldability and at the same time no strength is lost on this account. The joints can be welded by ordinary electrodes and no extra precautions are required. Another advantage of TMT bars is their tough surface providing high yield strength and a soft core providing excellent ductility. Strength, weldability and ductility are such properties which declare TMT steel highly economical and safe for use. An additional advantage of TMT steel is that a twisting operation is included in Tor steel, which subjects the bars to torsional stresses making them less corrosion resistant while TMT bars are free of such stresses thus having superior corrosion resistance.
The TMT process gives the bar superior strength and anti-corrosive properties. Controlled water-cooling prevents the formation of coarse carbides, which has been cited as the main cause for the corrosive nature of common bar. Due to very high elongation values and consistent properties throughout the length of bar, TMT steel rebars have excellent workability and bend ability. The soft ferrite pearlite core enables the bar to bear dynamic and seismic loading. TMT steel bars have high fatigue resistance to Dynamic/ Seismic loads due to its higher ductility quality. This makes them most suitable for use in earthquake prone areas and above all it is cost effective. The grades of TMT bars available are Fe- 415, Fe – 500, Fe – 550, 600 grade, and CRS grade. The diameters of TMT bars manufactured are 6, 8,10,12,16,20,25, 28, 32, 36, 40 MM & the standard length is around 5.5 mtrs to 13 mtrs. Thus summing up, thermo mechanically treated steel is a new-generation-high-strength steel having superior properties such as weldability, strength, ductility and bend ability meeting highest quality standards at international level.
Considering these quality standards, the TMT steel bars manufacturers are using advanced technology and machineries to get the desired products. India is witnessing continuous growth in infrastructure development, opening gate of opportunities for the building material industries. TMT steel bar has become an essential part of the construction activity, and this has fuelled the demand of the reinforced bars in the construction process. Steel giants are already rolling out high quality TMT steel bars to cater the market demand.
