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Information about Corrugated Iron

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Corrugated galvanised iron roofing in Mount Lawley, Western Australia.
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Tin roof to the crushing plant of an abandoned tin mine Northern Territory, Australia.
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A corrugated iron Church (or tin tabernacle) in Kilburn, London.
Corrugated galvanised iron, commonly abbreviated CGI, is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel cold-rolled to have a linear corrugated pattern in them. The corrugations increase the bending strength of the sheet in the direction parallel to the corrugations, but not across them. Normally each sheet is manufactured longest in its strong direction.

CGI is lightweight and easily transported. It was and still is widely used especially in rural and military buildings such as sheds and water tanks. Its unique properties were used in the development of countries like Australia from the 1840's, and it is still helping developing countries today.

Pitch and depth

The corrugations are described in terms of pitch (the distance between two crests) and depth (the height from the top of a crest to the bottom of a trough). It is important for the pitch and depth to be quite uniform, in order for the sheets to be easily stackable for transport, and to overlap neatly when making a join. Pitches have ranged from 25 mm (1 inch) to 125 mm (5 inches). It was once common for CGI used for vertical walls to have a shorter pitch and depth than roofing CGI. This shorter pitched material was sometimes called "rippled" instead of "corrugated". However nowadays, nearly all CGI produced has the same pitch of 3 inches (76 mm).

History

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Early manual corrugated iron roller. On display at Kapunda museum, South Australia
CGI was invented in the 1840s, and was originally made (as the name suggests) from wrought iron. It proved to be light, strong, corrosion-resistant, and easily transported, and particularly lent itself to prefabricated structures and improvisation by semi-skilled workers. It soon became a common construction material in rural areas in the United States and Australia and later India, and in Australia also became (and remains) the most common roofing material and is even used in urban areas (in which application it is usually painted) but not as commonly as in rural areas. For roofing purposes, the sheets are laid somewhat like tiles, with a lateral overlap of two or three corrugations, and a vertical overlap of about 150 mm, to provide for waterproofing. CGI is also a common construction material for industrial buildings throughout the world.

Wrought iron CGI was gradually replaced by mild steel from around the 1890s, and iron CGI is no longer obtainable - however, the common name has not been changed. Galvanised sheets with simple corrugations are also being gradually displaced by 55%Al-Zn coated steel (GALVALUME® steel) or coil-painted sheets with complex profiles. However CGI remains common.

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See also

abbreviation (from Latin brevis "short") is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word "abbreviation" can itself be represented by the abbreviation "abbr.
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Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Just about every type of available material has been used at one time or another for creating various human and animal homes, structures, and technologies.
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Hot-dip galvanizing is a form of galvanization. It is the process of coating iron or steel with a thin zinc layer, by passing the steel through a molten bath of zinc at a temperature of around 860 °F (460 °C).
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Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.02% and 1.7 or 2.04% by weight (C:1000–10,8.67Fe), depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese and
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Work hardening, or strain hardening, is an increase in the strength of a material due to plastic deformation. In metallic solids permanent change of shape is usually carried out on a microscopic scale by defects called dislocations which are created by stress and rearrange
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1 millimetre =
SI units
010−3 m 0 cm
US customary / Imperial units
010−3 ft 010−3 in
The millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm
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1 inch =
SI units
010−3 m 0 mm
US customary / Imperial units
010−3 ft 010−3 yd


An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes,  
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

1810s 1820s 1830s - 1840s - 1850s 1860s 1870s
1840 1841 1842 1843 1844
1845 1846 1847 1848 1849

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Events and trends

Technology


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Wrought iron is commercially pure iron, having a very small carbon content (not more than 0.15 percent), but usually containing some slag. It is tough, malleable and ductile and is easily welded. However, it is too soft for blades.
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Corrosion is breaking down of essential properties in a material due to reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of an electron of metals reacting with water and oxygen.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved.
Protection is not an endorsement of the current [ version] ([ protection log]).
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roof is the uppermost, covering, part of a building. The purpose of the roof is to protect both the building itself and its living or material contents from the effects of weather.
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Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.

Paint is used to protect, decorate (such as adding color), or add functionality to an object or surface by covering it
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894
1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

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- The 1890s
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Nissen hut is a shelter made from a semi-circle of corrugated steel that was used extensively during the Second World War by the Commonwealth and U.S. military to build army camps and airbases.
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Tin tabernacle" is common name for church and related buildings made of corrugated iron, formerly built in Great Britain and elsewhere. Many designs were available in kit form, and could be highly decorated.
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