Steel grades

Steel grades to classify various steels by their compo- 1.1 Category 1

sition and physical properties have been developed by a
number of standards organizations.
Basic steel grade designations for category 1 steels consist
of a single letter (designating application) then a number
signifying the mechanical property (often yield strength)
SAE steel grades
dictated in the standard for that application designation.
British Standards
For some application designations another letter is in International Organization for Standardization cluded before the property value, this number is used to
indicate any special requirements or conditions. These
ISO/TS 4949:2003
additional letters and values depend entirely on the appli European standards - EN 10027
cation of the steel and are specied in the standard and
far too numerous to mention here.
For alloys in general (including steel), unied numbering system (UNS) of ASTM International and The next set of 3 digits gives the steels minimum yield
strength. So S355 has a minimum yield strength of 355
the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
MPa.[2]
Japanese steel grades : Japanese Industrial StanBelow is a table indicating the most common application
dards (JIS) standard
codes.
Germany steel grades : DIN standard
China steel grades : GB standard

1.2 Additional symbols

In addition to the above category codes there are symbols
that can be added to the grade code to identify any additional compositional requirements, delivery conditions,
mechanical properties, &c. These values depend solely
on the type/application code given in the rst part of the
code and are so numerous as to be impossible to indicate
here. Additional symbols are separated from the main
code by the plus sign (+).

European standard steel grades

CATEGORY 1
STEEL SPECIFIED BY PURPOSE AND PROPERTY

STEEL
CASTING

APPLICATION
CODE

MECHANICAL
PROPERTY

ADDITIONAL TYPE
SPECIFIC SYMBOLS

PROPERTY
CODE

CATEGORY 2
STEEL SPECIFIED BY COMPOSITION

STEEL
CASTING

TYPE CODE

ALLOYING
ELEMENT(S)

CARBON
% * 100

MANDATORY COMPONENTS
OPTIONAL COMPONENTS

X
ADDITIONAL
PRODUCT SYMBOLS

ADJUSTMENT VALUE
or if type code = X
ACTUAL ELEMENT %

THESE ADDITIONAL CODES DEFINING ADDITIONAL

PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS OR MORE SPECIFIC
APPLICATION INFORMATION. THEY VARY DEPENDING
ON TYPE/APPLICATION CODE.
FOR A FULL LIST SEE EN 10027-1.

The most common additional symbols are the impact and

temperature codes for structural steels, category 1 - Sxxx.

NO TYPE CODE SIGNIFIES NON-ALLOY STEEL WITH Mn >1%

OR ALLOY STEEL WITH ALL ALLOYING ELEMENTS COMPOSING
<5% BY WEIGHT.

Delivery condition codes are also relatively common, the

most common being:

THE ORDER OF ALLOYING ELEMENTS IS THAT OF DECREASING

CONCENTRATION. THE ORDER OF THE ADJUSTMENT VALUES
IS THE SAME. IF NO ADJUSTMENT VALUE IS PRESENT THEN
THAT MATERIAL'S PERCENTAGE IS UNKNOWN.
THE ADJUSTMENT VALUE IS DIVIDED BY THE ADJUSTMENT
FACTOR TO FIND THE PERCENTAGE OF ALLOYING ELEMENT.
ELEMENT ADJUSTMENT FACTORS:
4: Cr, Co, Mn, Ni, Si, W
10: Al, Be, Cu, Mo, Nb, Pb, Ta, Ti, V, Zr
100: Ce, N, P, S
1000: B.

1.3 European standard steel number

EN 10027-1 steel grade designation system.

In addition to the descriptive steel grade naming system

indicated above, within EN 10027-2 is dened a system
[1]
European standard steel grade names fall into two catfor creating unique steel grade numbers. While less deegories:
scriptive and intuitive than the grand names they are easier to tabulate and use in data processing applications.
1. Steel specied by purpose of use and mechanical
The number is in the following format: x.yyzz(zz)
properties.
Where x is the material type (only 1 is specied so far), yy
2. Steel specied by chemical composition.
is the steel group number (specied in EN10027-2) and
zz(zz) is a sequential number designated by the certifying
The inclusion of a letter 'G' before the code indicates the body, the number in brackets being unused but reserved
steel is specied in the form of a casting.
for later use.
1

The steel groups are indicated below:

The current certication body is the VDEh in Dsseldorf,
Germany.

Comparison

Below is a table comparing steel grades from dierent

grading systems.

References

3.1

Notes

[1] EN 10027, European committee for standardisation

[2] http://www.oakleysteel.co.uk/thick-steel-plates/
steel-information/guide-en-10027-steel-names
[3] Standards comparison. Retrieved 2008-12-31..
[4] Oberg, pp. 411-412.
[5] AISI A2, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[6] AISI A3, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[7] AISI A4, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[8] AISI A6, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[9] AISI A7, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[10] AISI A8, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.
[11] AISI A9, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-1225, retrieved 2010-12-25.

3.2

Bibliography

Oberg, E.; et al. (1996), Machinerys Handbook

(25th ed.), Industrial Press Inc

External links
Comparison of various steel standards
Comparison of various tool steel standards
Stainless Steel: Tables of Technical Properties (EN
steel grades)
General guide to the EN 10027 steel name and numbering systems.

EXTERNAL LINKS

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