The Complete Guide to Buying Metal Products - Mead Metals

AISI

Stands for American Iron and Steel Institute. The institute serves as the voice of the North American steel industry. AISI numbers are used to categorize metals by alloy type and carbon content, and they do it with four digits. The first two digits of an AISI number refer to the alloy type, and the second two digits refer to carbon content.

For more information, please visit our website.

ALLOY

A metal made by combining two or more metallic elements. An alloy typically possesses qualities different from those of the components used to create it.

ASM

Stands for American Society for Metals. ASM International is the world’s largest association of metal material engineers and scientists. The association engages and connects materials professionals and their organizations to the resources necessary to solve problems, improve outcomes, and advance society.

ASTM

Stands for American Society for Testing and Materials. ASTM International is a not-for-profit organization that develops standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Metal with an ASTM designation meets the international standards for quality and regulations.

CUT-TO-LENGTH

This process levels coil into a flat sheet or blank. The service provides better length and width tolerances than sheared product, and it can improve diagonal tolerances as well.

DEBURRING

Cutting metals can leave behind burrs, which are unwanted raised edges or protrusions. Deburring is the process of removing these burrs with a tool.

DRAWING

Drawing is a metalworking process that uses tensile forces to stretch metal. As the metal is drawn, it stretches thinner, into a desired shape and thickness.

DRAWING TEMPERATURE

Drawing is usually done at room temperature, classifying it as a cold working process. However, it may be performed at elevated temperatures during special applications like on large wires, rods, or hollow sections in order to reduce forces.

ELONGATION

A metal fabricating term that refers to the degree to which a material can be bent, stretched, or compressed before rupturing. A metal’s elongation is a point between tensile strength and yield strength, and it is typically expressed as a percentage of the original length.

GAUGE

The thickness of sheet metal in the USA is commonly specified by a traditional, non-linear measure known as its gauge. The larger the gauge number, the thinner the metal.

HEAT LOTS OR HEAT NUMBER

A heat number is an identification number that is stamped on a material plate to prove it meets industry quality standards which require materials to be tested by the manufacturer. The heat lot or heat number is used to identify production runs for quality control purposes.

EDGE ROLLING

Edge rolling is the process of adding finishing edges to metal. It forms the edge of a strip to the desired shape beyond that of a standard slit edge.

MIL STD

Stands for Military Standard. This classification establishes uniform engineering and technical requirements for military-unique or substantially modified commercial processes, procedures, practices, and methods. In order to qualify, materials have undergone rugged, exact testing, equal to the exigencies of combat use.

NORMALIZING TEMPERATURE

Normalization is a heat treatment that relieves stress on steel to improve ductility and toughness in steel that may harden after the cold working process. During normalization, steel is warmed to a temperature just above its upper critical point. Normalized heat treatment facilitates a more uniform final product.

ROCKWELL SCALE

The Rockwell Scale indicates the hardness of materials. Rockwell hardness numbers are most often used to describe the hardness of metals, although they are also used for some plastics. The Rockwell scale is based on measuring the depth of the indentation made by pressing a diamond point into a material.

SAE

Stands for Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE International is a global association of engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive, and commercial-vehicle industries. Materials meeting SAE standards are internationally recognized for safety, quality, and effectiveness.

SLITTING

Slitting is a precise shearing process, but instead of making cuts at the end of a workpiece like shearing, slitting cuts a wide coil of metal into a number of narrower coils as the main coil is moved through the slitter. During the slitting process, the metal coil passes lengthwise through the slitter’s circular blades.

TEMPER

Temper refers to reheating hardened, normalized, or mechanically worked steel to a temperature below the critical range to soften it and improve impact strength. Tempering results in greater toughness by decreasing an alloy’s hardness.

Goto Xin Jiyuan to know more.

TENSILE STRENGTH

The maximum stress a material will withstand before fracturing or breaking. The ultimate tensile strength is calculated from the maximum load applied during the test, divided by the original cross-sectional area.

UNS DESIGNATION/NUMBER

Stands for the Unified Numbering System for Metals and Alloys. UNS designation provides a means of correlating internationally used metal and alloy numbering systems currently administered by societies, trade associations, and those individual users and producers of metals and alloys. This system is meant to avoid the confusion caused by using more than one identification number for the same metal or alloy, and the opposite situation of having the same number assigned to two or more different metals or alloys.

YIELD STRENGTH

The amount of stress a material can withstand before causing permanent deformity.

The steel plate has many variations, like mild steel, low carbon steel, alloy steel, etc. Each type will have various applications in the industrial sector. Therefore, importers must determine their needs to choose the most accurate and suitable products.  In this section, MRS Steel will guide you with 5 tips to choose the best steel plate.

The secret to choosing the best steel plate

MRS Steel will help you choose the best steel plate through 5 criteria to evaluate the quality and suitability:

1. Durability

The product's durability is one of the most critical considerations for importers when selecting steel plates. Steel has a significant bearing capacity and is less affected by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity... representing the safety and sustainability of the works. 

Therefore, when choosing to buy steel in general and steel plates in particular, customers are especially interested in product quality and specific product characteristics. Each type variant, such as galvanized steel, stainless steel, or color-coated steel sheet... will have different specifications, properties, and durability. 

Before you place an order, you'll need to understand your project requirements to select the correct steel. If you need to know that your project is suitable for this type of steel plate, you can contact MRS Steel via Hotline at +84 28 36 22 33 58 for the most detailed advice from a team of experts.

2. Tensile 

When choosing to buy steel plates, you must pay attention to tensile strength because this is the core property of steel. Tensile strongly influences the power of a building or other manufacturing fields; it will determine the strength and bearing capacity of the final product. The selection of steel plate grades based on the correct standards and tensile will ensure the plate can withstand heavy loads without breaking.

3. Weldability

The ability to weld will help the sheet steel bond together to create a final material suitable for the properties of each different construction. If your project requires welding of steel plates, choose product variants with weldability properties with the appropriate carbon content. Although welding can reduce the strength and hardness of steel plates, it is easy to machine into cost-effective, custom sizes and shapes.

4. Ductility

Sheet ductility is the limit to which a material can be stretched or bent before breaking completely. Customers need to choose high-ductility steel plates to ensure that they can withstand heavy loads or pressures without breaking. 

Depending on the variant of the steel plate, the internal carbon composition is different, leading to the difference in flexibility in each type. The best way to test the product's flexibility is to contact the supplier or steel industry experts for detailed advice before choosing to buy.

5. Dimensions and weight

Besides the 4 mechanical properties of steel, you need to determine the size and weight of your steel plate to order the most correct and cost-optimized order. It is usually purchased in Thickness x Width x Length units with a minimum thickness of 0.” - 0.24". Charges vary in width and length, but the most common steel plate sizes are usually 8ft wide, 12ft long, or 20ft long.

Manufacturers can cut plates into various custom sizes but cannot vary the thickness. The formula for the estimated weight for a plate order is to multiply the quantity by the volume and density:

Weight = {Thickness (mm) x Width (mm) x Length (mm) x 0. kg/mm3 } x Number of sheets

Or in pounds and inches

Weight = {[Thickness (in) x Width (in) x Length (in))] x 0. in/lb3 } x Number of sheets

*Note: Steel density 0. in/lb3 ranges from 0.28-0.291 in/lb3. The above is a good weight estimation formula, but the final material weight may vary based on the situation.