This SAE Standard describes a new alphanumeric designation system for wrought steel used to designate wrought ferrous materials, identify chemical composition, and any other requirements listed in SAE Standards and Recommended Practices.
The previous SAE steel designation coding system consisted of four or five numbers used to designate standard carbon and alloy steels specified to chemical composition ranges. Using SAE 1035 as an example, the 35 represents the nominal weight % carbon content for the grade. Using SAE 52100 as an example, the 100 represents the nominal weight % carbon content. The first two numbers of this four or five number series are used to designate the steel grade carbon or alloy system with variations in elements other than carbon. These are described in Table 1. In addition to the standard four or five number steel designation above, a letter was sometimes added to the grade code to denote a non-standard specific element being added to the standard grade. For example, with SAE 10B21, B designates a boron addition; with SAE 12L14, L designates a lead addition; and with SAE 10V45, V designates a vanadium addition.
For many years, the SAE four or five character steel designation system has provided a simple way to identify and label steel grades. However, it is not comprehensive enough to allow for the accurate coding of popular new or non-standard chemistry grades, different chemistries for the same grade that traditionally have been associated with a specific product form, eg. SAE 1006 and SAE 1008, steel grades with dual chemistry and mechanical property requirements, microalloyed grades, and grades with both chemistry and hardenability requirements. As a result, these grades could not be properly recorded within the constraints of the previous steel designation system and were not included in the SAE steel grade Tables in SAE J403/J404 and other SAE documents. The new steel designation system is meant to ensure that the original or old SAE steel grades are still usable and both old and new SAE grades can be referenced uniformly between Standards organizations. Since the UNS numbering system for metals provides the basis for the recording of steel grades between North American and International Standards organizations, UNS was used as the framework of the new coding system. However, in order for the traditional five number UNS code to be used, it had to be expanded and modified to allow for an increase in the number of grades that would need to be classified in the future and to provide proper coding of new or non-standard element modifications, corresponding element ranges and dual hardenability, mechanical property or special processing requirements.
These new steel designations are the same in both the UNS and SAE systems, as described in this standard (J402) and the joint SAE J1086/ASTM E527 UNS Publication. An alphanumeric code has been developed to identify the composition of SAE steel grades.
Rationale
The name of J402 has been changed to reflect the “New SAE Steel Designation System for Wrought or Rolled Steel”. SAE J402 has been completely rewritten to describe a new SAE/UNS steel designation system which will be used to identify current and new steel grades. This system will replace the old UNS designations used to identify modified SAE steel grades.
The Metals Technical Committee (MTC) controls specifications for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous: Metallic Wrought Products, Cast & Sintered Products, Metal Properties & Processes, and Metal Test Procedures. The MTC oversees standards to establish uniform procedures that: 1) establish a common language for the industry to review materials and processes through standards, 2) are reviewed and updated on a regular 5-year basis with coordination to other industry specifications, and 3) creates a common industry interface for technical discussions. The MTC ensures that all standards are developed with qualified personnel to perform respective tasks, meets at least once a year to provide relevant updates to current specifications, and assesses whether new standards are needed by industry. The committee also maintains the public web pages by reviewing and updating the information necessary. The MTC shall report to the Materials Processes and Parts Council (MPPC) on a biannual basis. Participants in the SAE Metals Technical Committee include representatives from OEMs, suppliers, consulting firms, government, and other interested parties.
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New Steel Designation System for Wrought or Rolled Steel
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New Steel Designation System for Wrought or Rolled Steel
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