Same strength, lower weight, lower cost: the new lightweight profiles from ThyssenKrupp DAVEX GmbH. The Gelsenkirchen-based company has developed double-T profiles of thin steel sheet for use in drywall construction, storage systems and lightweight load-bearing steel structures. The DAVEX® lightweight profiles offer the same strength as conventional beams but weigh up to 50 percent less. As they use less material, ThyssenKrupp DAVEX GmbH can offer its products at lower cost.

DAVEX® lightweight profiles are double-T profiles with flanges of between two and four millimeters and webs of one to two millimeters in thickness. ThyssenKrupp DAVEX is the only company on the market offering beams of this kind in such light gauges. Made from galvanized and ungalvanized steel strip, the profiles are available in heights of 25 to 200 millimeters and widths of 25 to 180 millimeters. In addition to the galvanized double-T profiles used to launch the range, further geometries and finishes are possible in the future.

Conventional profiles for use in plasterboard walls, partitions, ceiling elements or shelves are generally made from two bolted-together C-profiles or are shaped by roll forming. In the first of these variants, the beam is particularly thick in the very area which contributes least to the load bearing properties: the web, in which the two C-profiles are bolted together. In the roll-formed version, the flanges are twice as thick as the web but are not rigidly connected, which means that more material has to be used to provide the required stability.

As true double-T profiles, DAVEX® lightweight profiles offer the required load-bearing capacity without unnecessarily increasing material thickness. This is made possible by ThyssenKrupp DAVEX's patented innovative roll joining technology, a continuous process in which steel strips are connected by a firm friction/positive joint to form high-strength profiles without the need for welding. Flanges and web have exactly the thickness needed to meet the specified structural requirements - no less and no more.

Using this technology, ThyssenKrupp DAVEX has already launched DAVEX® carbon steel facade beams and DAVEX® stainless steel beams with great success in the construction and engineering sectors. The company operates the only production line in the world based on roll joining technology - the only process capable of manufacturing true double-T profiles in light gauges.

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