What is Ferrous Wire?

Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Alloy Steel Wire and Wire Products are found everywhere you look.

These metals are called Ferrous Wire.

Did You Know:

  • Wire is ‘drawn’ from the raw material wire rod.
  • Wire can be processed – made to be very bendable; coated with other metals such as zinc (galvanized), aluminum, or plastic; and oil tempered.
  • Wire is made into hundreds of products: Nails, that rope found in elevators and on cranes for lifting, all kinds of fencing, mesh products, garment hangers and mattress springs!

Ferrous Wire and Wire Products are Everywhere

Ferrous adjective fer·rous \ˈfer-əs, ˈfe-rəs\ Ferrous is an adjective used to indicate the presence of iron. The word is derived from the Latin word ferrum (“iron”). Ferrous metals include carbon steel, stainless steel and alloy steel.

Learn more about Ferrous Wire


Welding Wire

This photo is arc welding wire being deposited in an automated pipe welding application.  For this project, the first pass through the weld joint is Lincoln Electric’s proprietary STT process using a solid gas metal arc welding wire.  The picture shows a multiple welding head set-up for the additional fill passes using a gas shielded flux cored wire.

 

 


Threaded Rod

On the left, Alloy wire rod is used to make high strength steel bolting that is used in the oil and gas industry.  Alloy wire rod is drawn to size and heat treated at over 1700 degrees and then thread rolled to make these bolts, from Vulcan Steel Products, that hold together pipe joints in installations such as oil wells, pipelines and refineries.

On the right, L-Shaped or bent steel anchor bolts are embedded in concrete and used to anchor structural steel columns, light poles, highway signs, bridge rails, floor plates, equipment and many other applications. In this photo, heavy duty steel anchor bolts from All American Threaded Rod are used to secure a cantilever highway sign structure to a concrete base.


Wire is Everywhere

The Sidney Lanier Bridge spans nearly 7,800 feet across the Brunswick River connecting St. Simons Island to Jekyll Island and the Georgia mainland. The cable stayed structure rises 486 feet above the river creating clearance for the largest freighters to access the Brunswick GA port without interrupting automotive traffic. The bridge replaced a 1956 vertical lift structure which was twice hit by ships resulting in 10 deaths. The stay cables are fabricated from prestressed concrete strand from Insteel Industries, Inc. and the structural bridge beams, deck and approach components are reinforced with thousands of tons of engineered structural mesh and prestressed concrete strand produced by members of AWPA. Altogether, more than 95,000 cubic yards of concrete reinforced with over 7,500 tons of steel were used in construction of the bridge.


Wire is All Around Us

Stadium projects are substantial consumers of steel wire reinforcing products manufactured by AWPA members. Our members’ products have been integral in the construction of the Atlanta Braves, Falcons, Citrus Bowl, San Francisco 49ers and Florida Marlin stadiums in addition to numerous college facilities. Products include engineered structural mesh and prestressed concrete strand – called PC Strand.