a. Aside from iron, what is the most important factor in the manufacture of steel?

Why
do you say so?

The other most important factor for steel manufacturing is carbon. Carbon is the most
essential ingredient in most steels, influencing hardness and strength through heat
treatment. With increased carbon concentration, ductility and weldability decline.
Carbon is the best alloying element in a steel alloy and may be found in practically all
types of steel. The carbon content increases the tensile strength, hardness, and
hardenability of the final alloy.

b. What causes corrosion in metal construction structures? What are its effects on the
building?

Steel corrosion can impair flexural capacity (loss of rebar cross section), bond strength,
and ductility. The causes of corrosion in metal construction structures are when metals
are exposed to the environment, they are attacked by liquids or gases, causing chemical
reactions. The method can be chemical or electrochemical. The effects of corrosion on
the building structures are loss of strength as steel corrosion affects structural
components' effective cross section. The capacity of concrete elements such as slabs,
columns, and beams will be lowered due to the reduced cross section. Section strength
loss can be critical in bridge decks and parking garage slabs. It cause fatigue strength of
steel elements and connections and RC elements, it accelerate the fatigue crack
propagation in steel structures.

c. Why are there different materials and processes in producing steel products? What
are the differences in the products?

The reason why there are different materials and processes in producing steel products
is because Iron ore was first mined in Central Asia and Europe, and humans used iron to
make tools and weapons in a process known as ferrous metallurgy at the time. During
this time, iron products evolved, beginning with blacksmiths producing wrought iron
goods. These craftspeople learned how to heat iron ore and then use a hammer and
anvil process to remove impurities from the metal and produce a durable and malleable
final iron product. Following the discovery of iron-carbon alloys, various civilizations
began to scale up their steel-production practices, allowing them to make better
weapons, tools, and structures. Since the Iron Age, humans have sought to perfect the
steel manufacturing process, not only to produce it in greater quantities but also to
produce it more effectively, which is why steel has become such a critical global
commodity today.

The methods used today are Blast Furnace also known as the Basic Oxygen Progress (BOP) and Electric
Arc Furnaces (EAF).
In the blast furnace process, raw iron ore is combined with small amounts of steel scrap metal. The
furnace is then filled with pure oxygen, which raises its temperature. At this temperature, not only does
the scrap metal melt into a liquid, but the iron's impurities are also oxidized and evaporate completely.
Furthermore, the high temperature reduces the carbon content to its ideal ratio, yielding liquid steel.

The process in electric arc furnaces uses high-current electric arcs generated by electrodes to melt large
amounts of steel scrap into liquid. While the steel scrap metal is melting, the technicians add other
ferroalloys until the metal liquid has the desired steel-to-other alloy ratio, such as chromium and nickel,
which form stainless steel. The furnace then blasts in oxygen, and lime and fluorspar are added to purify
the steel. These substances react with the impurities in steel to form slag. The slag then floats to the top
of the molten steel and is removed, leaving only pure steel behind.