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Q.WhichhighstrengthdeformedsteelrebarisbetterforRCConstruction?
TORsteel(Fe415)orTMT(Fe500)

Comments
These days, high yield strength deformed (HYSD) TOR 415 & TMT 500 steel rebars are
widely used in the construction of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. Following major
parameters should be checked & compared while determining the quality of any steel
rebars;

TensileStrength

Ductility

Bendability

Weldability

Durability

BehaviorUnderCyclicLoading

Atfirst,themanufactureprocessandconfigurationoftheTOR&TMTSteelrebarsshouldbe
thoroughlyunderstoodwhichhavebeendescribedindetailbelow;

(A) ManufactureProcessandConfiguration
TORRebars
Conventionally,Rebarsareproducedbytwodifferentmethodsofproduction.Inthefirst
type, the bars possessing ribs at their surface are hot rolled from steel billets along with
definitechemicalcompositiontoachievedesiredstrength.
Another one is produced by Cold Working Process that involves the stretching and
twistingoftheMildSteel(MS)barof250MPainarepeatedmanner.Rebarssuchproduced
areColdTwistedDeformed(CTD)rebars
Onloading,Steelwillfollowalinearelasticpathsimilartothatoforiginalmildsteeltillit
reachesthepointwhereunloadingstarts;whichalsobecomesanewyieldpoint.Please
referFIG1.Therequiredincreaseinyieldstrengthisachievedbyappropriateselectionof
unloading point. These rebars are commercially manufactured under the trade name of
TORSteel.TORSteelofFe415gradeiswidelymanufacturedinourcountry.

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FIG1(TypicalStressStrainCurveforMildSteelRebars;ShowingLoading/UnloadingPath)

TMTRebars
TMT stands for Thermo Mechanically Treated steel rebars are produced by applying
latest advanced technologies resulting in far more superior properties than conventional
CTD/TORrebars.
Thermo mechanical treatment is an advanced heat treatment process in which hot bars
comingoutoflastrollingmillstandarerapidlyquenchedbyaspecialwaterspraysystem.
Rapid quenching provides intensive cooling that converts surface layer of the bar to a
hardenedstructurecalledMartensiteandwithhotcore;austenitic.

FIG2,(LongitudinalViewofTMTSteelRebars)
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The rebars crosssection with a temperature gradient is then allowed to cool in ambient
conditionscalledSelftempering.Uptothisstagetemperatureofcoreishigherthanthat
of the surface. Heat is then allowed to flow from the core to the surface resulting in
tempering of the surface that gives outer surface a strength and toughness while core is
turnedintoaDuctileFerritePearlite.

SpecialHeatTreatmentofQuenching&Temperingthuschangesthestructureofmaterial
to a composite structureof ductile inner core having a structure of Ferrite Pearlite and
withstrong,toughoutersurfaceofTemperedMartensite.

ThisishowTMTrebarsprovidetheuniquecombinationofstrengthandductility.

FIG3,(CrossSectionsofVariousSteelRebarsShowingtheirConfiguration)

Followingdescribestheparametersthosearetobeconsideredinthedeterminationofthe
qualitystructuralsteelrebars;

(B) QualityofStructuralSteelRebars
TensileStrength

Obviously,TMT500hashighervalueofyieldstrengthof500MPatothatoftheTOR415
which has yield strength of 415 MPa only. For an applied load on the structural element,
definitely,useofTMT500graderesultsinlowersteelquantity.Ithasbeenfoundthatuse
ofTOR415gradealmostincreasesthesteelquantityby20%tothatoftheTMT500grade.
Thatalsomeans ifthetotalsteelconsumptioninaprojectusingTMT500gradewas200
tonsthenbyusingTOR415gradetotalconsumptionwouldbe240tons.Therewouldbe
hugesavinginsteelof40tonsbyusingTMT500grade.ReferAppendixformoredetail.
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Ductility
Ductilityisanabilityofanymaterial/structuralelementtodeform,withoutcollapse,even
after reaching the failure load. This property protects the rupture / structural collapse or
prolongs the rupture / collapse process. Materials with no ductility are brittle ones. Also,
Structureswithnoductilitycollapsealmostsuddenly/immediately.Itcantresistthefailure
load without sudden collapse. Mathematically, Ductility is expressed as ratio of Ultimate
DeformationtoYieldDeformation.ReferFIG4.

FIG4,(LoadDeformationCurveofanElastoPlasticSystem)

ElongationalongwithitsYieldStrain/Deformation(uy)ofasteelrebarplaysamajorrole
initsductility.Elongationofasteelrebarreferstoabilitytoelongatebeforefailure.Itisan
ultimatestrain/deformation(um)atfracture.Yieldstrain/deformationcorrespondstothe
YieldStrength(fy);whichismaximumloadthatanelementcanundertake.ReferFIG4.
Higherelongationvalueprovideshigherductilityingeneral.Also,Lowyieldstrainvalueof
steelrebarsprovideshigherductility.Steelspermittedtouseasreinforcementbarsasper
theISCodes;IS:4321982,IS:17861985alongwiththeircharacteristicsareasfollows:
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Recentcodesdemandforthehigherelongationvalueswithaminimumelongationof14.50
%inalltypesofsteelrebars.
TMTrebarswithitssoftductilecoreofFerritePearliteexhibitexcellentductilebehavior
withanelongationvalueof16.0%.CommerciallyavailableTMTbrandsevenclaimtohave
elongationvalueof1825%.
ThoughtheYieldStrainofTMTrebarsishigherthanthatofHYSD415;sufficientductility
can be achieved because of its higher elongation values in Reinforced Concrete (RC)
Structures.InRCtechnology,itsnotonlytheyield/elongationvaluesofasteelrebarthat
improvesits ductilebehavior.In factinRCelements,itstheinterplaybetweenthesteel
rebarsandconcretepropertiesthatdeterminestheductility.
Bymeansofproperdesignandmaintainingotherdetailingfactorssufficientductilevalue
canbeeasilyachievedevenwiththesteelrebarshavinglowerelongationvaluesandhigher
yieldstrain.

Bendability
Bendabilityisrequiredtogivesteelrebarsadesiredshape;suchasattheendconnections
ofBeamColumnJoints.
TMT rebars with its soft inner core results in good bendability to achieve various shapes.
TORsteelhasproventrackofitsbendability.

Weldability
TMT rebars with low carbon content are highly weldable. Appropriate Carbon content is
necessary to impart strength in rebars. However higher carbon content hinders the
weldability.
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VariouscodesallowmaximumCarboncontentof0.30%.Howeverkeepinginviewofthe
superior weldability characteristics, the maximum Carbon content should be less than
0.25%.
Some of the available commercial brands in Nepal claim to have their TMT rebars with
Carboncontent0.17%0.25%.

Durability
Resistance against the corrosion of steel rebars is the key parameter in durability of
structure.
Resistance of rebars against corrosion depends upon its chemical composition. Though
good quality concrete is a prerequisite for the corrosion resistance of RC structure, the
qualityofrebarshasalsoasignificantinfluenceonit.

Duringthecoldtwistingprocessapartofresidualstrainiswithheldintheperipheryofthe
CTD bars. This residual strain in TOR initiates the corrosion process faster than in TMT
rebarsthatdoesntincludeandtwistingandstretchingprocess.

BehaviorUnderCyclicLoading
Earthquakeimposesrepetitiveloadingfornumberofcyclesorcyclicloadinginastructure.
In such, load that doesnt cause failure in a single application can result in failure when
applied for number of cycles. This process of failure under the repeated loading is also
termedasFatigue.
Thus behavior of materials under the cyclic loading should also be checked. It has been
foundthatthestressstrainbehaviorofmaterialslikesteelisalsoahistorydependent.
TMT500,ThermoMechanicallyTreatedrebarsareintrinsicallyhardandstrongthanTOR
415.MaterialsthoseareinitiallyhardandstrongshowSofteningBehavior,whereasinitially
softmaterialsshowStrainHardeningundercyclicloading.
BothTOR415&TMT500rebarswiththeirhigherelongationvaluesinminimumof14.50%
can accommodate inelastic strains imposed by cyclic loading; if proper ductility factor is
maintainedinaRCstructure.

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Conclusion
TMTrebarsproducedfromlatestthermomechanicaltreatmentpossessfarbetterqualities
than conventional TOR rebars in much ways as discussed above. It also results in huge
savingincostofsteelbyalmost20%.PleasereferAppendixforcalculation.
Nevertheless,onlyGenuineTMTrebarsmadefromtheSteelBilletsobtainedfromprimary
source,Ironores,shouldbeused.TMTrebarsareoftenmanufacturedfromthesecondary
sourcesasscrapmetals.
AlsotheprocessofTMTmanufactureissophisticated&advancedprocessthatchangesthe
atomicstructureinmetaltogiveitsenoughstrengthalongwiththedesiredductility.Itis
not ensured that all the steel mills from the various companies could perform these
processesinaspecifiedmannerastheyclaim.
If TMT rebars obtained from secondary sources and manufactured in technically sub
standardsteelmillareused;thensuchTMT500rebarscouldhavelowerstrengththanTOR
415. It also could impart high degree of hardness due to high carbon content and other
defectivechemicalcompositionsresultinginlowerductilityandotherkindsofdefectsthat
willputinfrastructuresinperil.

Preparedby
Str.Er.AmreetRTuladhar
M.Sc.inStructuralEngineering
BuildingResearchInstitute(P)Ltd.,Nepal
BREINS,Kathmandu

30MARCH2010

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APPENDIX
ComparativeStudyonStrength&Ductility
Example1onFlexuralElements,BEAMS
LetsConsider,
BeamSize
DepthofBeam

600.00mm

WidthofBeam

230.00mm

AppliedMoment

150.00Knm

GradeofConcrete

M20

DesignoftheabovementionedBeamyieldsfollowingresults.

GradeofSteel

TOR415

TMT500

AreaofTensile
SteelRequired

857.27sq.mm.

711.54sq.mm.

DepthofNeutralAxis

Rotational
DuctilityFactor

186.91mm

186.91mm

1.85

1.68

ItisquiteclearfromtheaboveexamplethatuseofTOR415resultsinhigherareaof
steelreinforcement.Butitsductilityishigherthanthatofbeamsectionreinforcedwith
TMT500.ThoughtheductilityfactorofbeamsectionreinforcedwithTOR415ishigher,
italldependshowmuchofductilityfactorisrequired.Supposeiftheductilityfactorto
be maintained is just 1.5 only, then use of TMT 500 steel rebars would be quite
beneficial.
Also, intheabove example, ductility factor in case of TMT 500 could beenhancedto
1.85bymeagerincreaseinbeamdepthby15mm;thatagainlowersitssteelquantity
from711.54sq.mmto686.40sq.mmduetoincreaseinbeamdepthto615mm.
FromthisexampleitisquiteclearthatinordertoachievetherequiredStrengthfora
givenDuctilityDemand,useofTOR415graderesultsinincreaseinsteelquantityalong
with meager decrease in concrete quantity in comparison to use of TMT 500 grade
steelrebarsbythefollowingpercentages:
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%IncreaseinsteelquantityinusingTOR415overTMT500

+24.89%

%DecreaseinconcretequantityinusingTOR415overTMT500=

2.44%

Example2onAxialBendingElements,COLUMNS
LetsConsider,
ColumnSize
WidthofColumn

300.00mm(Xdir.)

DepthofColumn

400.00mm(Ydir.)

AppliedLoads

Pu

905Kn

Mx

68.00Knm

My

110.00Knm

GradeofConcrete

M25

BiaxialDesignoftheabovementionedcolumnwithreinforcementdistributedequally
ontwosidesyieldsfollowingresults.

RebarDetailing

2.38%

AreaofTensileSteel
Required

2856sq.mm.

2.00%

2400sq.mm.

420+616

GradeofSteel

%ofSteelRequired

TOR415

TMT500

420+816

%IncreaseinsteelquantityinusingTOR415overTMT500

+19.00%

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