According to steel fabricator Macsteel Special Steels Bright Bar in Meyerton, Gauteng, a division of Macsteel South Africa, its Bright Bar range has been created for safety critical applications.

“A hot-rolled black bar, obtained from a producer mill, is converted with a drawing or peeling process, into a bright steel bar, used for a variety of specialist applications that require a strong, reliable steel solution,” says Macsteel Special Steels Bright Bar senior sales manager Yolandi Botha.

She explains that the Macsteel Bright Bar business unit serves as a value-adding intermediary between the steel producer and engineering and manufacturing companies.

The raw material is supplied from the mill, covered in mill scale with a shape that is more oval than round, and a straightness of around 4 mm in every 100 cm.

The conversion process removes the mill scale on the outer layer and sizes the bar to almost perfectly round, thereby improving the straightness to a total run of 1 mm in every 100 cm and enhances the mechanical properties of the material.

“Bright Bar is supplied to our customers according to specific tolerances and requires minimal customer machining,” says Botha.

Further, Bright Bar is mostly used in applications where the size tolerance is critical, “for example conveyor roller shafts have a very tight tolerance of only 0.02 mm, which is finer than a strand of human hair”.

The four major industries that the company operates in include mining, automotive, bolt and nut and general engineering.

There are numerous applications for Bright Bar, including mining roof support systems, hydraulic shafts, hydraulic couplings, vehicle headrest frames, shock absorbers and pulleys.

Further applications include alternator shafts, torsion bars, axles, conveyor rollers, conveyor pulleys, threaded rod, foundation bolts, fastener systems, locking systems and heavy-duty drills, with more available as well.

“The business unit is optimistic about the future,” she enthuses, attributing this to the fact that government is spearheading a transition to drive the use of locally produced products, which offers a lot of “room for growth”.

Bright Bar also serves local niche industries, where growth is inevitable, such as the alternative energy sector.

“Macsteel’s footprint in South Africa, also enables us to sell Bright Bar through the “matrix” branches as we call them,” says Botha explaining that the Bright Bar offering is also actively being promoted through Macsteel Express stores.

Quality Strong as Steel

Many of the industries serviced require adherence to specific quality and safety requirements.

Bright Bar is ready to supply that demand: “We installed the magnetic particle inspection and ultrasonic testing line, to increase our testing capabilities, with the localisation of some wind turbine projects in mind,” explains Botha.

The magnetic particle inspection and ultrasonic testing line is now one of only two such lines in South Africa.

Another such market is the automotive market in which stringent safety requirements must be met, with Bright Bar already supplying components used in the manufacture of shock absorbers.

The Bright Bar crack-detection size limit was 32 mm diameter maximum for automotive customers, but with this new inspection line, it can now conduct testing on sizes up to 70 mm.

This positions them as the provider of a full turnkey solution as they can perform non-destructive testing, in the supply of products, in sectors that are governed by international standards.

“We are expecting consistent demand in this market, for the next five to ten years, with the expected increase in alternative energy sources such as wind turbines. So we expect new installations, as well as maintenance, going forward.”

Botha says she believes that Bright Bar is the leader in the Bright Bar industry, when it comes to innovation and specialisation.

“We position ourselves as the specialist consultant that provides sound technical and expert advice, when customers are seeking solutions for complex applications,” she says.

She concludes that Bright Bar has a great team of highly skilled people and professionals that are all committed to partner with its customers to find the best possible solutions for various applications in any industry.