Talk:I-beam
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Hello. I'm new to Wikipedia, so please correct me if I'm wrong in approach or substance. I'm a design engineer, and I was reading this article on I beams. I noticed a line to the effect of "I beams generally contain more than 99% recycled content". This struck me as an unreal looking statistic, and I read the reference. The most relevant line in the three page reference document was:
"Scrap consumption in the United States is maximized between the two types of modern steel mills, each of which generates products with varying levels of recycled content. One type of mill produces much of the steel for light flat-rolled steel products with about 30% recycled content. The other type of mill makes steel for a wide range of products, including flat-rolled, but is the only method used domestically for the production of structural shapes and has about 95% recycled content. (These processes are covered in detail on the following pages.)"
Where did that 99% come from? It could have been a misreading of a line in the reference that said (I paraphrase) "almost 100 percent of structural steel sections and plate are recycled", where recycled is a verb, not an adjective... meaning that if you scrap a ship, almost 100% of the structural steel is reclaimed. That's different, of course, from claiming that 99% of a NEW beam is made of recycled material. How would you even measure "more than 99%"? It just sounds bogus. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Again, thanks for your patience if I'm speaking out of turn.
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[edit] Article read
This article reads very technically. Someone should look to make it more suited for the common reader and then go into details further down the article. Perhaps mentioning that this is the most common used framing in skyscrappers, and how it came to be, and then move on to its statistics etc. 142.35.144.2 05:38, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] I-beams vs Wide flange shapes
As an old structural designer it seems to me that the terminology used here is peculiar: an I-beam is a special type of beam that is almost never used anymore. It is a historical anomaly, an outgrowth of when beams were constructed of cast iron back in the early nineteen hundreds. At least in the United States. The wide flange beam on the other hand is essentially universal in structural design. Granted, The term I-beam is used in lay parlance and it should certainly be mentioned, but IMHO, since this is an encyclopedia a relic should not be touted in the dominant way it is here. wgoetsch (talk) 15:38, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Horizontal
In referring to parts of I-beams, the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" are meaningless without indicating how the beams are oriented. Unfree (talk) 09:44, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Question - Designation and terminology
Hi,
I like to inquire, what does it mean the +28 number in this marking: W16x31+28?
Thanks!
Someone should write into the Article! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.98.117.131 (talk) 10:22, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
