91-692: Mailbox Birmingham (also known as The Mailbox ) is a mixed-use development located within the city centre of Birmingham , England . It houses British luxury department store chain Harvey Nichols , and the BBC Birmingham studios. The scheme comprises 689,000 sq. ft. of primarily office space, with ancillary retail and leisure offering, located on a 4.8-acre waterside site. It is home to occupiers including BBC Birmingham , WSP , Associated Architects , Harvey Nichols , Malmaison Birmingham and other leading stores and restaurants. The Mailbox
182-412: A BOS process is manufactured in one-twelfth the time. Today, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel, but they use a lot of electrical energy (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap electricity. The steel industry
273-531: A brittle alloy commonly called pig iron . Alloy steel is steel to which other alloying elements have been intentionally added to modify the characteristics of steel. Common alloying elements include: manganese , nickel , chromium , molybdenum , boron , titanium , vanadium , tungsten , cobalt , and niobium . Additional elements, most frequently considered undesirable, are also important in steel: phosphorus , sulphur , silicon , and traces of oxygen , nitrogen , and copper . Plain carbon-iron alloys with
364-713: A carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD. There is evidence that carbon steel was made in Western Tanzania by the ancestors of the Haya people as early as 2,000 years ago by a complex process of "pre-heating" allowing temperatures inside a furnace to reach 1300 to 1400 °C. Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in South Asia is found in Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu ,
455-444: A change of volume. In this case, expansion occurs. Internal stresses from this expansion generally take the form of compression on the crystals of martensite and tension on the remaining ferrite, with a fair amount of shear on both constituents. If quenching is done improperly, the internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools. At the very least, they cause internal work hardening and other microscopic imperfections. It
546-640: A dedicated property stock exchange. Shares in Mailbox REIT commenced trading on 14 May 2021. In April 2022, M7 completed the conversion of level one of the Mailbox from retail into 50,000 sq. ft. of flexible office space, which is now operated by IWG plc under its Spaces co-working brand under a new 10 year management agreement. The accommodation has been well received with occupancy in excess of 60% by October 2022. Birmingham City Centre Birmingham city centre , also known as Central Birmingham ,
637-428: A ferrite BCC crystal form, but at higher carbon content it takes a body-centred tetragonal (BCT) structure. There is no thermal activation energy for the transformation from austenite to martensite. There is no compositional change so the atoms generally retain their same neighbours. Martensite has a lower density (it expands during the cooling) than does austenite, so that the transformation between them results in
728-583: A hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel . Tungsten slows the formation of cementite , keeping carbon in the iron matrix and allowing martensite to preferentially form at slower quench rates, resulting in high-speed steel . The addition of lead and sulphur decrease grain size, thereby making the steel easier to turn , but also more brittle and prone to corrosion. Such alloys are nevertheless frequently used for components such as nuts, bolts, and washers in applications where toughness and corrosion resistance are not paramount. For
819-445: A hard but brittle martensitic structure. The steel is then tempered, which is just a specialized type of annealing, to reduce brittleness. In this application the annealing (tempering) process transforms some of the martensite into cementite, or spheroidite and hence it reduces the internal stresses and defects. The result is a more ductile and fracture-resistant steel. When iron is smelted from its ore, it contains more carbon than
910-434: A higher than 2.1% carbon content are known as cast iron . With modern steelmaking techniques such as powder metal forming, it is possible to make very high-carbon (and other alloy material) steels, but such are not common. Cast iron is not malleable even when hot, but it can be formed by casting as it has a lower melting point than steel and good castability properties. Certain compositions of cast iron, while retaining
1001-412: A narrow range of concentrations of mixtures of carbon and iron that make steel, several different metallurgical structures, with very different properties can form. Understanding such properties is essential to making quality steel. At room temperature , the most stable form of pure iron is the body-centred cubic (BCC) structure called alpha iron or α-iron. It is a fairly soft metal that can dissolve only
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#17327872474881092-526: A regeneration scheme by Argent Group PLC , regenerated an area of derelict warehouses alongside canals near Broad Street . Brindleyplace consists of three public squares, offices, retail units and the Sea Life Centre . Oozells Street Board School was refurbished to become the Ikon Gallery . On the opposite side of Broad Street Tunnel on the canal network is Gas Street Basin . Nearby is also
1183-408: A roof installed over the shopping complex's atrium. The anchor store, Harvey Nichols , would double in size to over 45,000 sq. ft. It was also announced that Brockton Capital and Milligan would work in co-ordination with Birmingham City Council to improve the public area reaching from the underpass beneath Suffolk Street Queensway to the front of Mailbox. These changes would be implemented to complement
1274-534: A small concentration of carbon, no more than 0.005% at 0 °C (32 °F) and 0.021 wt% at 723 °C (1,333 °F). The inclusion of carbon in alpha iron is called ferrite . At 910 °C, pure iron transforms into a face-centred cubic (FCC) structure, called gamma iron or γ-iron. The inclusion of carbon in gamma iron is called austenite. The more open FCC structure of austenite can dissolve considerably more carbon, as much as 2.1%, (38 times that of ferrite) carbon at 1,148 °C (2,098 °F), which reflects
1365-453: A steel's final rolling, it is heat treated for strength; however, this is relatively rare. Steel was known in antiquity and was produced in bloomeries and crucibles . The earliest known production of steel is seen in pieces of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia ( Kaman-Kalehöyük ) which are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BC. Wootz steel
1456-477: A subsequent step. Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with the desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make the austenite form of the iron-carbon solution more stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature, and vanadium also increases hardness while making it less prone to metal fatigue . To inhibit corrosion, at least 11% chromium can be added to steel so that
1547-672: Is continuously cast into long slabs, cut and shaped into bars and extrusions and heat treated to produce a final product. Today, approximately 96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is produced as ingots. The ingots are then heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled into slabs, billets , or blooms . Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rods, and wire. Blooms are hot or cold rolled into structural steel , such as I-beams and rails . In modern steel mills these processes often occur in one assembly line , with ore coming in and finished steel products coming out. Sometimes after
1638-480: Is about 300 metres (980 ft) long from front to back including The Cube . Above the front shops it has an additional 6 floors which includes a hotel and residential apartments. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal passes along the back with a number of restaurants overlooking. Previously the location of a railway goods yard with canal wharves off the Worcester and Birmingham Canal leading to Gas Street Basin,
1729-421: Is also the hub for the national coach network. Birmingham Coach Station , which is currently in the process of being prepared for redevelopment, is owned and operated by National Express who are to move their headquarters to the city. It was built by Midland Red in 1929, and until 1997 was also used by Midland Red West as a depot. The shed to the rear of the coach station has been demolished and Spencer House,
1820-636: Is also very reusable: it is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally . The noun steel originates from the Proto-Germanic adjective * * stahliją or * * stakhlijan 'made of steel', which is related to * * stahlaz or * * stahliją 'standing firm'. The carbon content of steel is between 0.02% and 2.14% by weight for plain carbon steel ( iron - carbon alloys ). Too little carbon content leaves (pure) iron quite soft, ductile, and weak. Carbon contents higher than those of steel make
1911-416: Is always the main element in steel, but many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels , which are resistant to corrosion and oxidation , typically need an additional 11% chromium . Iron is the base metal of steel. Depending on the temperature, it can take two crystalline forms (allotropic forms): body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic . The interaction of the allotropes of iron with
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#17327872474882002-432: Is an alloy of iron and carbon with improved strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Because of its high tensile strength and low cost, steel is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world. Steel is used in buildings, as concrete reinforcing rods, in bridges, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, bicycles, machines, electrical appliances, furniture, and weapons. Iron
2093-552: Is based in the city centre whilst Birmingham City University has educational facilities there. In the Eastside area are Birmingham Metropolitan College's Matthew Boulton College campus and BMC's New Technology Institute . Birmingham Ormiston Academy is also located on the edge of the centre. The area is sometimes called Aston Triangle . Round this area are many high rise buildings providing student accommodation as well as high rise educational buildings. New Street station
2184-403: Is common for quench cracks to form when steel is water quenched, although they may not always be visible. There are many types of heat treating processes available to steel. The most common are annealing , quenching , and tempering . Annealing is the process of heating the steel to a sufficiently high temperature to relieve local internal stresses. It does not create a general softening of
2275-403: Is desirable. To become steel, it must be reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added. In the past, steel facilities would cast the raw steel product into ingots which would be stored until use in further refinement processes that resulted in the finished product. In modern facilities, the initial product is close to the final composition and
2366-405: Is extracted from iron ore by removing the oxygen through its combination with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon which is then lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This process, known as smelting , was first applied to metals with lower melting points, such as tin , which melts at about 250 °C (482 °F), and copper , which melts at about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F), and
2457-408: Is heat treated to contain both a ferritic and martensitic microstructure to produce a formable, high strength steel. Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel involves special alloying and heat treatments to stabilize amounts of austenite at room temperature in normally austenite-free low-alloy ferritic steels. By applying strain, the austenite undergoes a phase transition to martensite without
2548-691: Is often considered an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development . In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers had fallen to 224,000. The economic boom in China and India caused a massive increase in the demand for steel. Between 2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several Indian and Chinese steel firms have expanded to meet demand, such as Tata Steel (which bought Corus Group in 2007), Baosteel Group and Shagang Group . As of 2017 , though, ArcelorMittal
2639-587: Is one of several arcades in the city centre. Digbeth is the focus for many independent retailers. Broad Street is the main centre for Birmingham's nightlife . There are further nightclubs in Digbeth . Cultural attractions include Birmingham Central Library in Chamberlain Square and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Council House , Birmingham in the same building together with
2730-551: Is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally; in the United States alone, over 82,000,000 metric tons (81,000,000 long tons; 90,000,000 short tons) were recycled in the year 2008, for an overall recycling rate of 83%. As more steel is produced than is scrapped, the amount of recycled raw materials is about 40% of the total of steel produced - in 2016, 1,628,000,000 tonnes (1.602 × 10 long tons; 1.795 × 10 short tons) of crude steel
2821-682: Is the central business district of Birmingham , England. The area was historically in Warwickshire . Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road , the city centre is now defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road . The city centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan , which means there are now nine emerging districts and the city centre is approximately five times bigger. Following
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2912-542: Is the main railway station in the city centre with local and national railway connections. The station was first built in 1854 and rebuilt in 1967. The redevelopment of the station in a project named Gateway Plus was finished in 2016. The project cost £600m and included a new John Lewis department store and many other shops. The project took five years to build and is one of the most expensive and controversial regenerations in all of Europe . Moor Street , Snow Hill , Bordersley and Jewellery station are also located within
3003-547: Is the world's largest steel producer . In 2005, the British Geological Survey stated China was the top steel producer with about one-third of the world share; Japan , Russia , and the United States were second, third, and fourth, respectively, according to the survey. The large production capacity of steel results also in a significant amount of carbon dioxide emissions inherent related to
3094-655: The Golconda area in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka , regions of India , as well as in Samanalawewa and Dehigaha Alakanda, regions of Sri Lanka . This came to be known as wootz steel , produced in South India by about the sixth century BC and exported globally. The steel technology existed prior to 326 BC in the region as they are mentioned in literature of Sangam Tamil , Arabic, and Latin as
3185-694: The International Convention Centre and Birmingham Symphony Hall , which is considered one of the best performance venues in the world. This overlooks Centenary Square and is adjacent to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre . Centenary Square was redeveloped in 1989 and given its current name in that year. Within Centenary Square is the Hall of Memory and Baskerville House . Other public squares in
3276-566: The National Trust . The Birmingham Back to Backs are the last surviving court of back to back houses in the city. Colmore Row is the centre of the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area which consists of St. Philip's Cathedral . The Jewellery Quarter is also covered by a conservation area . Other quarters in the city centre are Birmingham Chinatown , Irish Quarter and Learning and Technology Quarter. Aston University
3367-599: The cementation process was described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574 and was in use in Nuremberg from 1601. A similar process for case hardening armour and files was described in a book published in Naples in 1589. The process was introduced to England in about 1614 and used to produce such steel by Sir Basil Brooke at Coalbrookdale during the 1610s. The raw material for this process were bars of iron. During
3458-696: The clock tower , Big Brum . Thinktank opened in the Millennium Point complex in Eastside in 2002, replacing the Museum of Science and Industry on Newhall Street . The history of the Jewellery Quarter is documented in the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter . Also in the Jewellery Quarter is the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and St. Paul's Gallery . A group of back-to-back houses on Hurst Street were restored by
3549-419: The hardness , quenching behaviour , need for annealing , tempering behaviour , yield strength , and tensile strength of the resulting steel. The increase in steel's strength compared to pure iron is possible only by reducing iron's ductility. Steel was produced in bloomery furnaces for thousands of years, but its large-scale, industrial use began only after more efficient production methods were devised in
3640-445: The 17th century, it was realized that the best steel came from oregrounds iron of a region north of Stockholm , Sweden. This was still the usual raw material source in the 19th century, almost as long as the process was used. Crucible steel is steel that has been melted in a crucible rather than having been forged , with the result that it is more homogeneous. Most previous furnaces could not reach high enough temperatures to melt
3731-475: The 17th century, the first step in European steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace . Originally employing charcoal, modern methods use coke , which has proven more economical. In these processes, pig iron made from raw iron ore was refined (fined) in a finery forge to produce bar iron , which was then used in steel-making. The production of steel by
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3822-626: The 17th century, with the introduction of the blast furnace and production of crucible steel . This was followed by the Bessemer process in England in the mid-19th century, and then by the open-hearth furnace . With the invention of the Bessemer process, a new era of mass-produced steel began. Mild steel replaced wrought iron . The German states were the major steel producers in Europe in
3913-481: The 19th century. American steel production was centred in Pittsburgh , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , and Cleveland until the late 20th century. Currently, world steel production is centered in China, which produced 54% of the world's steel in 2023. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), largely replaced earlier methods by further lowering the cost of production and increasing
4004-608: The Arabs from Persia, who took it from India. It was originally created from several different materials including various trace elements , apparently ultimately from the writings of Zosimos of Panopolis . In 327 BC, Alexander the Great was rewarded by the defeated King Porus , not with gold or silver but with 30 pounds of steel. A recent study has speculated that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though, given
4095-470: The Linz-Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in 1952, and other oxygen steel making methods. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limited impurities, primarily nitrogen, that previously had entered from the air used, and because, with respect to the open hearth process, the same quantity of steel from
4186-439: The Mailbox studios shortly after a recording session for The Archers . On 16 February 2008, a shooting incident took place at Cafe Lazeez at the Mailbox. In April 2011 the Mailbox was sold for £127.1 million to a joint venture between Brockton Capital and Milligan. On 30 May 2013, Milligan Retail announced that the Mailbox would undergo a major renovation, designed by Stirling Prize winners Stanton Williams , which would see
4277-563: The Mailbox. In August 2022 it was announced that the BBC intends to leave The Mailbox when its current lease comes to an end in 2026. In December 2019, Brockton Capital and Milligan sold the Mailbox to M7 Real Estate ("M7"). In October 2020, M7 announced its intention to float the Mailbox on the International Property Securities Exchange ("IPSX"), making it the first single property REIT to be listed on
4368-401: The alloying elements, primarily carbon, gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile , or soft and easily formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other elements, and inclusions within the iron act as hardening agents that prevent
4459-436: The austenite grain boundaries until the percentage of carbon in the grains has decreased to the eutectoid composition (0.8% carbon), at which point the pearlite structure forms. For steels that have less than 0.8% carbon (hypoeutectoid), ferrite will first form within the grains until the remaining composition rises to 0.8% of carbon, at which point the pearlite structure will form. No large inclusions of cementite will form at
4550-471: The austenite is for it to precipitate out of solution as cementite , leaving behind a surrounding phase of BCC iron called ferrite with a small percentage of carbon in solution. The two, cementite and ferrite, precipitate simultaneously producing a layered structure called pearlite , named for its resemblance to mother of pearl . In a hypereutectoid composition (greater than 0.8% carbon), the carbon will first precipitate out as large inclusions of cementite at
4641-494: The boundaries in hypoeutectoid steel. The above assumes that the cooling process is very slow, allowing enough time for the carbon to migrate. As the rate of cooling is increased the carbon will have less time to migrate to form carbide at the grain boundaries but will have increasingly large amounts of pearlite of a finer and finer structure within the grains; hence the carbide is more widely dispersed and acts to prevent slip of defects within those grains, resulting in hardening of
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#17327872474884732-451: The building offered if it were to be converted into a mixed-use building. Argent was unconvinced and so Chatham decided to establish his own development company, Birmingham Development Company , and purchased the building in 1998 for £3 million. He also paid a further £1 million for the surrounding waterfront buildings. Soon after purchasing the building, he sold the air-rights to Crosby Homes , providing him with further money for redeveloping
4823-548: The building. The building was converted by the Birmingham Development Company and designed by the RIBA award winning, Birmingham practice, Associated Architects . It was to include two hotels with a total of 300 rooms, 15,850 sq. m (170,000 sg. ft.) of office space, 9,290 sq. m (100,000 sq ft.) of retail space and a similar area for restaurants and a health club. Crosby Homes constructed apartments above
4914-705: The city centre include Victoria Square , Chamberlain Square and Old Square . There are two public squares within the Bull Ring complex and another in the Custard Factory . Retail is mainly focused on the Bullring Shopping Centre , Corporation Street , New Street and High Street . Other retail centres in the city centre are The Mailbox on Suffolk Street and Grand Central Shopping Centre above New Street station . Great Western Arcade
5005-670: The city centre, however. There are numerous multi-storey car parks located within the city centre, most owned by private companies. A new multi-storey car park is proposed at the rear of Millennium Point whilst the demolition of the multi-storey car park on Dale End has been granted permission by the city council as part of the Martineau Galleries redevelopment by the Birmingham Alliance. 52°28′47″N 1°54′11″W / 52.4796°N 1.9030°W / 52.4796; -1.9030 Steel Steel
5096-547: The city centre. Ten suburban and Inter-City heavy rail routes service the city centre. The first railway station to be built in the city centre was Curzon Street railway station , which acted as the terminus for both the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway, with lines connecting Birmingham to London and to Manchester and Liverpool respectively. The building, designed by Philip Hardwick ,
5187-455: The combination, bronze, which has a melting point lower than 1,083 °C (1,981 °F). In comparison, cast iron melts at about 1,375 °C (2,507 °F). Small quantities of iron were smelted in ancient times, in the solid-state, by heating the ore in a charcoal fire and then welding the clumps together with a hammer and in the process squeezing out the impurities. With care, the carbon content could be controlled by moving it around in
5278-596: The construction of highrise buildings on the ridge. The city centre core is the historic heart of the city, where old and new features are juxtaposed, roughly bounded by the former Birmingham Inner Ring Road . Its pre-eminent features include Chamberlain Square , Old Square , Victoria Square , Birmingham Town Hall , Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery , Birmingham Central Library , St Philip's Cathedral , Methodist Central Hall , Victoria Law Courts and other Birmingham Law Courts . The city centre contains many tourist destinations as well as landmarks. Brindleyplace ,
5369-452: The economies of melting and casting, can be heat treated after casting to make malleable iron or ductile iron objects. Steel is distinguishable from wrought iron (now largely obsolete), which may contain a small amount of carbon but large amounts of slag . Iron is commonly found in the Earth's crust in the form of an ore , usually an iron oxide, such as magnetite or hematite . Iron
5460-601: The final phase of the Mailbox development and houses a rooftop restaurant, boutique hotel and residential flats. In 2004, BBC Birmingham moved into a new complex of studios at the Mailbox that replaced the previous Pebble Mill site in Edgbaston . The general public is able to watch radio and television broadcasts being made at an all-access public foyer, as well as surf the BBC website and purchase BBC merchandise. On 31 October 2005, 81-year-old actress Mary Wimbush died at
5551-648: The finest steel in the world exported to the Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Arab worlds at that time – what they called Seric Iron . A 200 BC Tamil trade guild in Tissamaharama , in the South East of Sri Lanka, brought with them some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from the classical period . The Chinese and locals in Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka had also adopted
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#17327872474885642-579: The fire. Unlike copper and tin, liquid or solid iron dissolves carbon quite readily. All of these temperatures could be reached with ancient methods used since the Bronze Age . Since the oxidation rate of iron increases rapidly beyond 800 °C (1,470 °F), it is important that smelting take place in a low-oxygen environment. Smelting, using carbon to reduce iron oxides, results in an alloy ( pig iron ) that retains too much carbon to be called steel. The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in
5733-513: The form of charcoal) in a crucible, was produced in Merv by the 9th to 10th century AD. In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel, and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that used partial decarburization via repeated forging under a cold blast . Since
5824-599: The hardenability of thick sections. High strength low alloy steel has small additions (usually < 2% by weight) of other elements, typically 1.5% manganese, to provide additional strength for a modest price increase. Recent corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations have given rise to a new variety of steel known as Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS). This material is both strong and ductile so that vehicle structures can maintain their current safety levels while using less material. There are several commercially available grades of AHSS, such as dual-phase steel , which
5915-444: The letters sorting office on the right. The structure consisted of a steel frame on a 40-foot (12 m) square grid with lightweight pre-cast concrete floor slabs and reinforced concrete retaining walls and sub floors. The exterior was clad with cast glass troughs and exposed aggregate panels. Ventilation was provided through air-handling units which provided the building with the temperature it required. Extract fans were also placed on
6006-439: The main production route. At the end of 2008, the steel industry faced a sharp downturn that led to many cut-backs. In 2021, it was estimated that around 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions resulted from the steel industry. Reduction of these emissions are expected to come from a shift in the main production route using cokes, more recycling of steel and the application of carbon capture and storage technology. Steel
6097-450: The most part, however, p-block elements such as sulphur, nitrogen , phosphorus , and lead are considered contaminants that make steel more brittle and are therefore removed from steel during the melting processing. The density of steel varies based on the alloying constituents but usually ranges between 7,750 and 8,050 kg/m (484 and 503 lb/cu ft), or 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm (4.48 and 4.65 oz/cu in). Even in
6188-446: The movement of dislocations . The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.14% of its weight. Varying the amount of carbon and many other alloying elements, as well as controlling their chemical and physical makeup in the final steel (either as solute elements, or as precipitated phases), impedes the movement of the dislocations that make pure iron ductile, and thus controls and enhances its qualities. These qualities include
6279-673: The office building above the main waiting room, has been boarded up. A planning application for the refurbishment of the building has been submitted and is awaiting planning permission. A temporary coach station on the opposite side of the road is currently being used. Cars are not officially encouraged in the city centre. Some areas have been pedestrianised to prevent cars interfering with pedestrian traffic, and some roundabouts with pedestrian subway systems have been replaced with signal-controlled junctions, e.g. on Smallbrook Queensway, Moor St Queensway, James Watt Queensway and St Chad's Circus near St Chad's Cathedral . However, there are still
6370-462: The office. The structure housed the largest electronic sorting equipment in the West Midlands to handle the post. It also housed the administrative teams moved from Victoria Square, including those for other Post Office functions, such as counter services. The main entrance was located at Blucher Street beneath a tower set between a square block for parcels on the left and a lower block for
6461-449: The product but only locally relieves strains and stresses locked up within the material. Annealing goes through three phases: recovery , recrystallization , and grain growth . The temperature required to anneal a particular steel depends on the type of annealing to be achieved and the alloying constituents. Quenching involves heating the steel to create the austenite phase then quenching it in water or oil . This rapid cooling results in
6552-759: The production methods of creating wootz steel from the Chera Dynasty Tamils of South India by the 5th century AD. In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace, driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Since the technology was acquired from the Tamilians from South India, the origin of steel technology in India can be conservatively estimated at 400–500 BC. The manufacture of wootz steel and Damascus steel , famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge, may have been taken by
6643-426: The quality of the final product. Today more than 1.6 billion tons of steel is produced annually. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations . The modern steel industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world, but also one of the most energy and greenhouse gas emission intense industries, contributing 8% of global emissions. However, steel
6734-554: The redevelopment of New Street station which will house a full-line John Lewis department store. On 29 November 2013, it was announced that Everyman Cinemas would take space at the Mailbox, opening a 12,000 sq. ft 3-screen cinema in the latter part of 2014, ahead of the completion of the whole scheme in 2015. L.K.Bennett , Jaeger and Gieves and Hawkes will also open in the redeveloped centre in 2015 whilst an improved way-finding system will be introduced to improve shoppers' experience. On 13 March 2015, Gas Street Social opened at
6825-521: The remnants of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road (Queensway) in existence despite much demolition and downgrading, with a de facto heavily trafficked "half-ring" with vehicular underpasses for through traffic on St Chads Queensway, Great Charles St Queensway and Suffolk St Queensway. Some at-grade pedestrian crossings go over these roads, but most remain subways or bridges. This "half-ring" does arguably reduce traffic in other parts of
6916-537: The removal of the Inner Ring Road , which acted as a "concrete collar" "under which pedestrians would be forced to walk through intimidating, dark and stinking underpasses" and prevented the expansion of the city centre, a massive urban regeneration project known as the Big City Plan has begun. Running through the city centre is the Birmingham Fault, a sandstone ridge. The "High Places" document produced and published by Birmingham City Council encouraged
7007-410: The roof. The exterior consisted mainly of the glass slabs and projecting air handling units with recessed windows. The Royal Mail sorting office was recognised by Alan Chatham in 1997. Chatham had been an important figure in the regeneration of Birmingham, working with Argent to develop Brindleyplace . He found out that the sorting office was to be sold and tried to convince Argent about the potential
7098-734: The site was the location of the Royal Mail 's main sorting office building for Birmingham (hence its current name) which was completed in 1970, replacing the Victorian head post office (now Victoria Square House ), in Victoria Square . The new building was designed by R. H. Ousman of the Ministry of Public Building and Works , who collaborated with project architect H. A. E. Giddings and with Hubbard Ford & Partners, who supplied E. Winters and R. Lee as architects. When completed, it
7189-463: The space. The redevelopment of the sorting office involved demolition of all but the steel sub-structure. It cost £150 million overall and opened in December 2000. Following the purchase of two retail units by Harvey Nichols , the development was valued at over £125 million. A public square the size of Chamberlain Square was created to the front of the Mailbox beneath Suffolk Street Queensway. It
7280-401: The steel. At the very high cooling rates produced by quenching, the carbon has no time to migrate but is locked within the face-centred austenite and forms martensite . Martensite is a highly strained and stressed, supersaturated form of carbon and iron and is exceedingly hard but brittle. Depending on the carbon content, the martensitic phase takes different forms. Below 0.2% carbon, it takes on
7371-561: The steel. The early modern crucible steel industry resulted from the invention of Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Blister steel (made as above) was melted in a crucible or in a furnace, and cast (usually) into ingots. The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer 's process in 1855, the raw material for which was pig iron. His method let him produce steel in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel came to be used for most purposes for which wrought iron
7462-561: The technology of that time, such qualities were produced by chance rather than by design. Natural wind was used where the soil containing iron was heated by the use of wood. The ancient Sinhalese managed to extract a ton of steel for every 2 tons of soil, a remarkable feat at the time. One such furnace was found in Samanalawewa and archaeologists were able to produce steel as the ancients did. Crucible steel , formed by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon (typically in
7553-525: The upper carbon content of steel, beyond which is cast iron. When carbon moves out of solution with iron, it forms a very hard, but brittle material called cementite (Fe 3 C). When steels with exactly 0.8% carbon (known as a eutectoid steel), are cooled, the austenitic phase (FCC) of the mixture attempts to revert to the ferrite phase (BCC). The carbon no longer fits within the FCC austenite structure, resulting in an excess of carbon. One way for carbon to leave
7644-513: Was built by the developers of Snowhill , adjacent to Snow Hill station. Birmingham city centre used to have a trolleybus system in the 19th century and early-20th century which extended towards the suburbs. The trolleybus system was replaced by motor buses and the city centre is now the hub for the bus system in the city. The buses mainly terminate at Bull Street, Corporation Street and Moor Street, Queensway. The majority of these buses are operated by National Express West Midlands . The city centre
7735-476: Was built in 1838 and is Grade I listed . The West Midlands Metro system, opened in 1999, terminates at Grand Central and has stops at Bull Street , St Chads , St Paul's and Jewellery Quarter . Line One is currently being extended to Centenary Square, and on to Five Ways in the future. In 2007, construction of a new viaduct to carry the Metro line over Great Charles Street Queensway commenced. The viaduct
7826-718: Was developed in Southern India and Sri Lanka in the 1st millennium BCE. Metal production sites in Sri Lanka employed wind furnaces driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Large-scale wootz steel production in India using crucibles occurred by the sixth century BC, the pioneering precursor to modern steel production and metallurgy. High-carbon steel was produced in Britain at Broxmouth Hillfort from 490–375 BC, and ultrahigh-carbon steel
7917-509: Was formerly used. The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process ) was an improvement to the Bessemer process, made by lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus. Another 19th-century steelmaking process was the Siemens-Martin process , which complemented the Bessemer process. It consisted of co-melting bar iron (or steel scrap) with pig iron. These methods of steel production were rendered obsolete by
8008-549: Was paved with natural stone and as well as being a social area, it was also designed to allow the easy movement of visitors to, from and around the building. The area to the rear of the building is used frequently by the public. At the back of the Mailbox a walkway leads over a bridge and to the canal towpaths near Gas Street Basin . A mixed-use building called the Cube , designed by Birmingham born architect Ken Shuttleworth 's practice Make Architects with Buro Happold engineers forms
8099-438: Was produced globally, with 630,000,000 tonnes (620,000,000 long tons; 690,000,000 short tons) recycled. Modern steels are made with varying combinations of alloy metals to fulfil many purposes. Carbon steel , composed simply of iron and carbon, accounts for 90% of steel production. Low alloy steel is alloyed with other elements, usually molybdenum , manganese, chromium, or nickel, in amounts of up to 10% by weight to improve
8190-757: Was produced in the Netherlands from the 2nd-4th centuries AD. The Roman author Horace identifies steel weapons such as the falcata in the Iberian Peninsula , while Noric steel was used by the Roman military . The Chinese of the Warring States period (403–221 BC) had quench-hardened steel, while Chinese of the Han dynasty (202 BC—AD 220) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, thus producing
8281-528: Was the largest mechanised letters and parcels sorting office in the country with a floor area of 20 acres (81,000 m) and the largest building in Birmingham. A tunnel was authorised by the Post Office (Subway) Act 1966 (c. 25) and constructed under Severn Street between the site and New Street railway station , allowing electric tractors hauling carts carrying sacks of mail to be driven directly to
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