Black steel is a term used to describe hot-rolled mild steel, this is in contrast to cold-rolled steel. Black steel comes in multiple forms, including flat bar, box section and sheet. In this post, we’ll be discussing black steel sheet and its many uses.

What is a Black Steel Sheet?

Towards the end of the manufacturing process, steel is rolled to its final product dimensions with large, high-powered rollers. There are two types of steel rolling; cold and hot. Black steel sheet is made with a hot rolling process.

A consequence of the hot rolling process is that the steel acquires an oxidized outer layer, resulting in a black finish, hence the name. Cold rolled steel is generally referred to as ‘bright steel’ thanks to its shiny surface finish.

How is Black Steel Sheet Made?

Like all steel products, the process starts with Iron ore, after it is mined and refined the iron is mixed with an exact amount of alloying elements, mainly carbon, with small amounts of Nickel, Molybdenum, and others.

Once formed into a billet, the steel will be gradually transformed into a usable product, for steel sheets, this will be strip. In a strip mill, the billet is passed through many stages of rollers, each one reducing the thickness further.

The rolling process affects the resultant product; Cold rolled steel tends to take more power and force, but produces a highly accurate and stronger product. Hot rolling is a cheaper process but results in a less precise product.

Black Steel vs Cold Rolled Steel

Black hot rolled steel is not the only type of sheet steel available, cold rolled steel is commonly used and sold, with many industrial uses, as is sheet aluminium and stainless steel.

The predominant benefit of black steel is cost, there are a few process efficiencies that hot rolling rewards, with the main ones being that the equipment does not need to be as accurate, thanks to the wider tolerances on black steel dimensions.

Other improvements are made in process timings, as the steel billet does not need to be allowed to cool between passes.

In terms of physical properties, cold-rolled steel is generally considered to be superior to black steel, in dimensional accuracy, strength, and durability, but black steel has its uses. Other sheet steels such as aluminium and stainless steel are usually used when either lightness or corrosion resistance is required.

Uses of Black Steel Sheet

Because of how cost-effective black steel sheet is, it is used across most industries in some way or another. Here are some of the common uses:

• Guarding and covers: Items such as machinery cases, electrical cabinets and guarding are often made from black steel sheets, thanks to its ease of working and cost.
• Bracketry: Whilst black steel sheet isn’t the strongest sheet steel available, when used in the right fashion it can be more than adequate to suspend cables, components and anything else that needs to be mounted.
• Vehicle Chassis: Due to surface conditions not needing to be exact, parts such as truck and vehicle chassis can be made from black sheet metal.

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