Construction Of Steel – Shelf

Project and Seminar Material for Chemical Engineering

Abstract

The steel-shelf was constructed at the mechanical Engineering workshop of the Institute.

The first step taken in the fabrication of the shelf was the selection of the material suitable for the construction; mild steel was chosen.

The construction has the following steps: drawing and dimensioning of the proposed steel – shelf, market surveying and procurement of the needed materials, marketing out and cutting of the material, welding, filling, and finally painting to prevent corrosion. The dimension of the steel – shelf are:

1219.2mm height, 939.8mm width and 457.2mm breadth.

The purpose is to produce a steel shelf that will be economically cheap and can meet up to the standard in the market.

Title page i
Certification page ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of content

Chapter One

Introduction

Chapter Two

2.0 Literature review
2.1 History of the steel-shelf
2.2 Types of shelve 7
2.3 The design of shelf
2.4 Steel making
2.5 Comparism of wood and steel
2.6 Material of construction
2.7 Corrosion
2.8 Prevention of corrosion
2.9 Maintenance of shelf

Chapter Three

3.1 Construction procedure
3.2 Description of the modern steel-shelf
3.3 Safety precaution
3.4 Observations

Chapter Four

4.1 Cost analysis
4.2 Discussion
4.3 Recommendation
4.4 Conclusion
References

Chapter One

Introduction

A steel shelf is a set of shelves made of steel with compartments and partitions where books or files and other reference materials are kept in the libraries. It can be used to store chemicals and other laboratory equipments or apparatues in the laboratories. It can also be used to store other valuable materials at home and industries. When used in libraries for packing books it is called book shelf but if it is used in industries to store materials it is referred to as facility for storage.

A shelf can be made of wood, glass or metal (steel). It could be dismountable or undismountable. In consideration of some factors, we decided to design and fabricate an unddismountable steel shelf. This undismountable steel-shelf has a longer life span and serve its purpose better than any other shelf.

Being undismountable, there will be no lose of parts as in dismountable ones. Also, steel as a material of construction has advantage over wood which can be attached by termits; and glass which can easily be broken.

Though corrosion as a result of reaction of air (oxygen), moisture and chemicals do attack the surface of metals, painting of the steel was done in order to reduce or eliminate this problems of corrosion. Considering the availability durability, quality and affordability of this steels, research or the engineering properties of the material was carried out. Steel as a material of construction is the cheapest, the most common and the most versatile metal used in industries all over the world. It can be cast; drawn, hot or cold; rolled; pressed, welded etc.

There are many grades of carbon steel which includes: low. Carbon steel (mild steel) that contains. (0.1 – 0.3)% of carbon. It is of two types Black-mild steel and Bright-mild steel. Another is medium carbon steel which contain (0.3 – 0.7)% of carbon and High Carbon steel that contain (0.7 – 1.5)% of carbon.

In our project, low carbon steel or wild steel was used because it is used for general Engineering purpose. It has limited corrosion resistance, should not be used with dilute acids like sulphuric acid of less than 90% concentration. Even for concentration above 90%, the use of steel is still imited to certain ranges of temperature defined in accordance with the chemicals in contact with the steel. It does not all with stand hydrochoric, phosphoric or nitric acids irrespective of the level of temperature and concentration.

It can be used to store organic solvents and other similar chemicals. It is non-hazardsous and resists termites. This is the area in which cost of production was made by adopting some amendments with the aim of achieving the modern steel-shelf of a standard size.

Furthermore, to produce a quality and long lasting steel-shelf, the vartous parts were arranged and shaped, connected in such a way that it affords an efficient and economical solution to the construction problems. The shelf was also fitted with rollers stands and stoppers for stability at any given point. It was solidly welded for easy movement. Infact, the steel-shelf was constructed to the teste of maintenance and durability.

Chapter Four

4.1 Cost Analysis

The comprehensive cost analysis is in the complete material

4.2 Discussion

The construction of shelves has played a vital role in our society because it makes research easy. To construct shelves, many factors has to be considered which include economy, appearance, durability and availability of the material of construction.

Considering the material of construction, steel and wood are mostly used in shelf construction but steel have a lot of advantage over wood. Though it is prone to corrosion, it cannot be attached by termits, bacterial or other living organisms that usually attack wood. It is suitable for wide range of chemical stability than wood. Wood also has narrow application.

Our steel – shelf was fabricated with mild steel which has shining characteristic and also painted to prevent corrosion. The carbon content of mild steel helps in building up the durability of the steel.

During the construction, welding of the partitions were done using gas welding method instead of electric are welding because electric are welding perforates the sheet of mild steel that is to be welded.

For the steel – shelf to last longer, there are some guide lines which the user must follow which are as follow:

The user must ensure that the shelf is not exposed to moisture to avoid corrosion which causes destruction of the parts of the steel – shelf
It must be ensured that the steel – shelf is kept in a position where it will not be pushed always to avoid scratching of the parts.
Ensure that the shelf is not over loaded to avoid sagging of the partitions
Hard knowing or heating must be avoided to prevent damage or corrosion.

4.3 Recommendation

We are recommending that further designs and modifications of this fabrication should be carried out so as to meet the technological standard and challenges facing the world at large. We also suggest that for the improvement of technology in our country other types of our model should be invented with different designs as far as possible. We are recommending that for any fabrication like this, that mild steel should be used instead of galonized steel due to its relative low cost. The shelf must be coated with point to prevent corrosion attack and deterioration of the work. Since electric are welding do perforate the sheet of mild steel, so we suggest that gas welding method should be used when welding to avoid perforation of the sheet.

Considering all the effort made during the construction of this shelf we therefore recommend it as being suitable for exhibition purposes and for office uses.

4.4 Conclusion

The steel shelf which is made of mild steel was fabricated using 1219.2mm height, 939.8mm width and 457.2mm breadth. It can be used to store books in the librates, chemicals and apparatus in the labour atories and other m=non-book materials at home and offices.

Though wood could be used instead of steel for the construction but wood can be attached by insects and other living organisms and this will lead to the destruction of the material stored in the shelf.

Infact, this steel-shelf was constructed to ensure that records that are updated are kept and that other valuable materials are security stored.