From the moment that man learned how to mine, smelt, and forge metal, building and construction have looked very different. With the advent of metallurgy, we could design infinite methods of metal fabrication. These designs fuel the demand for metals in manufacturing and engineering today. Let’s discuss the importance of metal fabrication.
Wood As the Predecessor
Before the discovery of mining and working with metal ore, humans engineered much of the world with wood. This was a very easy material to craft, but it lost the competition after metal fabrication began. Metal is a very robust material that can outlast most other materials. Some metals rust, but with proper forging, other metals can be added to most steels and irons to make them rust-resistant.
Plastic Later Leads the Way
In the 1950s, plastics led the way in the industrial sector for production and fabrication. Much of the world was starting to see the benefits of plastic fabrication. That includes the industrial level, with large gears and shafts that could be used in mechanized instruments for manufacturing.
This rivalry led to metal fabrication reinventing itself to compete with all the attributes plastic had to offer. Recycling is now popularized by using fewer metals and reusing other types of metals to construct high-strength materials. With a lower metal volume and efforts to reduce metal waste during fabrication, this still proves to be a success.
Machinery Demands Metal
Even now, the industrial sector still uses metal for most of its higher-level fabrication, like stamping, folding, cutting, and shaping other metals. This is due to its durability, high density, and ability to work with other metals by forming through high pressure. Other materials like plastic and glass can’t hold up to the strength that metal has.
Metal Fuels Automation
Fabrication has come a long way since its early days. Engineers oversee most metal fabrication, but the work is mainly automated. Engineers use programs like CAD software to develop 3D imagery that the machines can execute and create automatically. Laser cutting, plasma cutting, and waterjet cutting have all become a part of this process. Engineers can automate these processes by programming them with a design.
Metal fabrication has allowed people to build things like high-rise buildings, automobiles, and all the smaller technologies that we work with at home and in the workplace. Metal fabrication is a way of life for humanity. It is important because metal is one of the strongest and most durable materials available.
