Metal Structural Members

a general term for structural members made of metal and used in construction work. Metal structures currently in use are made from steel or lightweight alloys (for example, aluminum alloys).

Until the early 20th century, metal structural members in buildings were made mainly from cast iron (usually in columns, beams, and staircases). The dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in Leningrad (22 m in diameter) is made of metal. Steel structural members are used on a large scale in construction as load-bearing frameworks of industrial, residential, and public buildings; in span structures of bridges and frameworks for blast furnaces, gasholders, reservoirs, and masts; and in supports for power lines. Members made from aluminum alloys have a number of advantages (light weight, corrosion resistance, ease of manufacture, and good decorative properties). They are widely used as enclosing elements and in the form of ornamental parts of buildings.

Metal structural members are made mainly from shaped or sheet metal. Components of structures can be joined by welding, riveting, or bolting. In machine building, the term “metal structural member” is usually used to mean parts made of shaped metal, as distinguished from castings and forgings.