Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) has received the world’s first order for its innovative ultra-high tensile strength steel, H-SA700. The order comes from Obayashi Corporation (Obayashi) for construction of a Techno Station main building at its Technical Research Institute. H-SA 700 is an ultra-high tensile strength steel material with yield strength that is about twice as high as conventional steel. It was developed to improve the seismic performance of buildings; Sumitomo Metals has also independently developed a process innovation for this material where the preheating for the welding work can be omitted. A steel stand column composed of H-SA700 becomes an ultra-high strength CFT column, when filled with ultra-high strength concrete developed by Obayashi. This column ensures the buildings safety against as much as a major earthquake and allows the creation of a large space with a wide span between the columns.
