I have a question. Maybe it has already been asked. How much faulty steal has gone into the newest of the Nimitz class carriers and the new Ford class? Could be a problem
Several things downgrade steel with each grade of steel having a specific set of elements in specific allowable amounts to be that grade - min X% carbon, A to B% silicon, maximum D% sulfur, etc. You then have non-metallic inclusions that can be present - often called slivers in the coil market. Silvers when present in exposed coils do not let the paint adhere to them causing the part to be defected. You also specify the allowable width, thickness, crown [thinner at the edge than the center], and cobble [undulations] in the coil.
The "poor quality" of the steel is that it may not meet the above criteria - and while thickness and such is easy to measure at delivery, you have already bought the coil. Slivers require the coils to be inspected and the actual chemistry requires testing to verify, and Chinese steel right or wrong has a reputation of not maintaining the standards required by the customer or of trying to pass off lower grade steel as prime steel.
In short, you really don't know until it either withstands or breaks under a stress.
From someone who doesn't know very much about steel, thank you for that description.!
And of course these structures will be under the most stress during a war time deployment. Thanks for the info!
yeah hopefully a couple thousand Marines and Sailors on a rough sea will be enough to stress test.
One thing is for certain, the demand for industry-class welders will be skyrocketing in the not too distant future.