Is steel a better building material or is concrete?

Steel is better, more stronger, takes less space, more compatible, more life span as compared to concrete which will be cumbersome for the same strengt. Also the pace or work with steel will be very high. can complete targets within planned period. also manpower required will be less. Profits are also rewarding.

Well said Venkatesh, I agree with you steel is better than concrete. In todays construction steel will help to develop better infrastructure. Because nowadays people look for more modernized buildings which can be build better using steel. Steel can be better utilized in big infrastructural projects than for small buildings.

Thanks...  

I go with steel. Since steel is well known for its property of taking any complicated shape. Moreover it finds its challenge in steep and high rise buildings whereas the concrete cannot. Also steel adds value to aesthetic importance of a building, which makes an architect to go with wider options in enriching the aesthetic look of the building. One important criteria where concrete can challenge steel is the time duration between the completed design drawings and the fabrication of structural steel components. It is up to the steel detailer/fabricator to speed up this process. But in construction site concrete can never compete with steel either structural reliability or construction time.     

Best reason why steel is better then concrete  :

1. Steel can be recycled ,concrete cannot be recycled.

2. In all advanced countries majority of construction consist of metal (steel , aluminium etc.)and glass .They use very less concrete as because concrete causes degradation of environoment as well as pollution and it is not bio degradeable.

Steel is far ahead of concrete in all case. It is lighter, durable, cost effective in long term & most importantly very safe during construction.

for faster construction achievement steal is better option

 steel reduces the cross-section area and gives high strength  and also will be cheaper for huge structures

where ever tension has to bear in concrete steel should be provided,while there is only contraction concrete will do.Both steel as well as concrete have their own importance as per requirement and project requirement.

I agree that steel is more useful, but it is case specific. Considering high rises steell will be said beneficial but in common ressindetial cases stell wont prove to be the best. here concrete is better. So no statement can be clearly made.

TC

hi,.i feel steel wd be the better building material for the days to come than concrete, though concrete has versatile usage n great advantages bt its use should be minimised in view of saving natural resources n maintainin a healthy enviroment by tuning into eco freindly constructions and designs. since the present trend in design is "go green concept". id prefer "steel" to be a better building material to stay "eco friendly".

i agree with mr. jha.moreover in case of high rise building concrete is more preferable cause anti corossion status.

I support Mr.Vikas.Steel do have some advantages over concrete like Steel construction increases flexibility and adaptibility,Long spanning structural steelwork systems create column free areas that offer greater flexibility of floor layout and enhance the lettability of the space. Light steel partition walls can be easily relocated, leading to adaptable buildings with the ability to meet future needs.Steel is also 100% recyclable without any loss of quality.

So in my view steel holds an advantage over concrete in some ways.

The argument is tricky one !! Almost like which hand is important Left or Right ?

Of course we cannot deny the steel its importance in construction industry. Concrete is also equally important economically.

We can have entire structure built-up by steel but for concrete we cannot have the entire structure just made up of concrete (Yes we can have but ...too big sizes...)

Steel is always a better option as compare to concrete.

It has more tensile strength than concrete, it does not require setting period, so do not require to wait for 21 to 28 days to get the strength, you do not need curing - which saves lots of water ......& much more.......

To me the Primary reason why steel is so often favored over concrete, like even if the steel structure has to be encased in concrete for fire resistance, it is that the prefabricated steel can be erected so quickly, compared to a poured concrete frame, where each pour has to be properly cured to attain sufficient strength to support addition of floors above.

Poured concrete structures rise relatively slowly, and with the high cost of labor and equipment like huge cranes, this may price the concrete frame out of competition. You can't afford to keep a construction crew waiting on the job for concrete to cure.

 steel is strong in tension as well as compression.A simple example in practice we are using Doubly reinforced beam not Singly reinforced beam because of lesser depth,higher moment of resistance and withstand both sagging and hogging bending moment.

As we now very well that steel is very good in tensile strength and Concrete is good in compression. For the construction of High rise building we require the structure which is good in tensile strength. By using the steel we reduce the cross sectional area of the struvtral member. So in RCC construction Steel play a major role with concrete 

Actually for highrise building steel structure is best, but also concrete is neccessary, steel have high tesile strength while concrete have high compression strength, so for high rise structure steel or R.C.C is best, but steel have lower cross section area + lower weight + high tensile strength + easy to erection + lower cost than concrete + easy to manage whole structure for engineer + standered structures are availabel in market, so because of many speciality of still  we can say, steel is better than concrete for highrise structure.

I agree both materials play equal importance,  steel is strong in tension & compression and concrete is strong in compression and concrete will take some tensile forces also then only it is good.

Concrete is weak in tension, strong in compression,but steel is strong in

tension as well as compression.A simple example in practice we are using Doubly

reinforced beam not Singly reinforced beam because of lesser depth,higher

moment of resistance and withstand both sagging and hogging bending moment.

I agree to Mr Jha's reply, It should be considered on case to case basis. By using steel quality of construction can be maintained which is impossibile in case of concrete.

Hi

For a construction importancey of both the materials are equal. But still if u ask my preferance is towards seel because including all other abve benefits u can reuse steel if necessary.

I totally agree with Mr. Jha's answer.