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Steel Information

Spec Search Instructions

With Spec Search you can convert a proprietary specification into steel maker terminology. As you begin to enter a spec an alphabetical list will appear. Continue to enter your spec and the list will shrink. There are four possible outcomes:
  1. You find an exact match.
  2. You will get a partial match and you will be asked to enter the missing data starting at the upper left and going across and then down. The pull downs will give you options to select.
  3. No match is available. You can send us an email for help or …
  4. You can manually enter the information in the spec form starting with product and moving across and then down. The pull-downs will help you. You will need to enter an SI Grade Name. SI Grade Names
A successful spec search result will show 3 different families of grades.
  • The chemistry grades like 1006, 1008, etc. They don’t specify mechanical properties only chemistry. These grades can be based in US standards (ex. ASTM), European (ex. DIN) or Asian (ex. JIS).
  • The forming grades such as CS, DS, DDS, EDDS, etc. These specs seek to describe the ability fo form a part. The details can be as simple as “bends flat on itself at room temperature” to full description of minimum properties.
  • The mechanical property grades are based on the global specs (ASTM, DIN, JIS) but are defined as specific mechanical properties of yield, tensile and elongation. The units of measure can be in Imperial Units (Pounds, inches) or Metric (Kilograms, Millimeters). The Steel Insights Grades are designed to identify these properties as well as the basic chemistry and processing. We use the following concatenation (Number + Yield (Yld ) or Tensile (Ten)+ a steel mill process. Generally, numbers below 100 are KSI in pounds per square inch and number above 200 are megapascals (Kilograms of force per Millimeter squared).
So, “350YldXK” is 350Mpa minimum yield made with a low carbon aluminum killed material.

The alpha suffix describes the mill process as follows:
  • BH – Bake Hardenable
  • CM – Carbon Manganese
  • CM – Complex Phase
  • DP – Dual Phase
  • DR – Dent Resistant
  • FB – Ferrite-Bainite
  • HE – Hole Expansion
  • IF – Interstitial Free (Vacuum Degassed)
  • ISO – Isotropic
  • LCE – Low Carbon Equivalent
  • MS – Martensitic
  • PH – Press Hardenable
  • QP – Quench & Partition
  • RA – Recovery Annealed
  • SF – Stretch Flangable
  • SS – Structural Steel
  • TR – Transformation Induced Plasticity
  • TW – Twinning Induced Plasticity
  • VD - Vacuum Degassed (Interstitial Free)
  • XF – HSLA Improved Formability
  • XK – HSLA
  • YF – HSLA with Y/T Ratio Improved Formability
  • YK – HSLA with Y/T Ratio
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