Hyundai Steel Develops Nation’s First Super-Strong Quake-Resistant Reinforcing Bars
South Korea’s steelmaker Hyundai Steel Co. announced on September 28 that it has completed developing Steel Deformed (SD) 500 and SD 600 earthquake-proof reinforcing bars for the first time in Korea and is ready for mass-production. It also said that it is planning to acquire a KS certification on these products by the end of this year. SD 500 and SD 600 reinforcing bars could withstand weights of 50 kilograms and 60 kilograms, each, per one cubic meter.
Many fear that South Korea is no longer in an earthquake “safe zone” after a 5.1 and 5.8-magnitude quake hit Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province on the 12th. Accordingly, there is a growing interest on earthquake-resistant reinforcing bars that delay the collapse of building structures and minimize damages when an earthquake hits.
Moreover, the demand of earthquake-proof reinforcing bars is highly likely to be on a rapid increase as all new buildings in South Korea that are higher than one story will be required to be earthquake-resistant from next year.
Hyundai Steel expects that it can actively respond to such a market situation and improve the safety of buildings in the nation through its new high-performance earthquake-resistant SD 500 and SD 600 rebars.
The steelmaker developed earthquake-resistant H-Section for architectural structure (SHN, or Steel H-Section New) for the first time in the nation in 2005. The company started developing earthquake-resistant rebars in 2011 and has carried on research and development since then.
Hyundai Steel released earthquake-proof SD 400S rebars in 2013 for the first time in the nation. It supplied the tremor-withstanding bars for the construction of the new office building of Korea Electric Power Corporation Engineering and Construction. The company also supplied the reinforcing bars to a gas-fueled combined-cycle thermal power plant in Takoradi, Ghana, in 2014, proving its advanced technology in the global market.
Source: Seaisi