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Steel
Steel is one of the most common metals used in construction and building. It is composed primarily of iron. Steel is typically more than 99% iron. The remaining material is carbon. The steelmaking process starts with the melting of iron ore. This is called "smelting." As the ore melts, the molten iron can be extracted due to variances in the melting points of the elements in the ore. The iron is then refined further until molten steel is produced and finally cast into a usable product. Since steel is a metal comprised of two other elements, it is called an "alloy." Steel is not as conductive as its constituent metals making it less receptive to electrocharging.
Steel and Electricity
Steel, like most metals, is capable of conducting electricity, but it is not as efficient as other metals. Using copper as the standard for metal conductivity, steel is 1/10 as conductive. Copper conducts at about 58.5 x 10.E6 siemens per meter; steel conducts at 1/10 of that, or 58.5 x 10.E5. That can also be written as 5,850,000 siemens per meter. Knowing the conductivity of steel is important when electrocharging steel as it allows the user to anticipate the response of the steel and take proper precautions such as insulating sensitive components.
"Electrocharging"
"Electrocharging" refers to the process of charging something with electricity. It is not a very common term as "charging" usually refers to an object being filled with electricity. When discussing steel, electrocharging refers to providing an electrical current to the steel via chemical or other means. Simply connecting a battery to a piece of steel can cause it to become electrocharged, but this does not have any practical purpose, due to the relatively poor conductivity of steel.
Uses of Electrocharged Steel
Since steel can not be used effectively to conduct electricity, electrocharged steel is used in experiments and testing to measure the properties of steel, primarily the aging process. In 1980, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory submerged steel in an arsenic solution and charged the solution with electricity, which then traveled into the metal. This caused hydrogen to gather on the surface of the metal, speeding up the natural process of hydrogen building up on the surface of metals used in construction. Scientists could then observe the effects of the hydrogen on the metal and better understand how steel reacts to aging.