Conclusions
When Frank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater, he must not have specified a steel grade or condition that varied from common production available. Yet, it is notable that the Bessemer steel reinforcing bar had not deteriorated during service in the concrete terrace. Also, the open-hearth hatch steel performed well, as severe corrosion occurred only at the concrete-bar interface while the remainder of the flat bar, also exposed above the Bear Run stream for 68 years, showed only pitting corrosion. Fallingwater has timeless interest as an architectural achievement, and some of the steel used to produce this landmark was made using techniques whose time has passed.
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References
Metals Handbook (Metals Park, OH: ASM, 1948), p. 307.
Metals Handbook (Metals Park, OH: ASM, 1939), pp. 778–781.
Metals Handbook (Metals Park, OH: ASM, 1948), pp. 320–322.
Making, Shaping and Treating, 8th edition (Pittsburgh, PA: United States Steel Corp., 1964), p. 439.
J.E. Beck, “Cold Forming Processes-Drawing Rods and Bar,” The Working of Metals, (Metals Park, OH: ASM, 1937).
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Editor’s Note: A hypertext-enhanced version of this article can be found at www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0303/Dean0303.html.
Author’s note: The units are both metric and U.S. customary, as the publications and the steel sections referred to used U.S. customary units.
For more information, contact Louise Dean, Westmoreland Mechanical Testing & Research, PO Box 388, Youngstown, PA. 15696-0388; (724) 537-3131; e-mail louise@stargate.net.
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Dean, L. Analyzing and characterizing the steel used at frank lloyd wright’s fallingwater. JOM 55, 11–13 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-003-0152-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-003-0152-5