A
Aging : A process in which steel increases hardness and strength and decreases ductility over time.
AISI: American Iron & Steel Institute.
Aluminized: A cold-rolled sheet with aluminum applied to the top and bottom sides. Provides excellent heat resistance and very good corrosion resistance.
Annealing: A process involving the controlled high-temperature heating and subsequent cooling of as-rolled (usually Full-Hard) Cold Rolled to induce softness and greater formability.
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials. Organization which sets technical standards and specifications for steel and other materials, systems, services, etc.
B
Bake Hardenable Steel: A grade of Cold Rolled sheet with good dent resistance, especially common in automobile doors and panels.
Band: A basic form of Hot Rolled coil, without undergoing temper-leveling (skin passing). Bands are especially susceptible to wave, center buckle, cross-breaks and minor surface defects. Recently often referred to as Unprocessed Coil.
Bend Test: Tests used to determine steel ductility in which material is bent (with or against the grain).
Blank: A generally-small steel sheet, typically with restrictive width, length and diagonal tolerances.
Bonderized: Hot-dipped galvanized that has been phosphate-treated for improved paint-ability. Same corrosion resistance and formality as regular galvanized. A medium-dark grey surface with some spangle appearance.
Burr: A thin ridge of roughness left by a cutting operation such as slitting, trimming, shearing, blanking or sawing.
C
Camber: The deviation of a coil or sheet's side edge from a straight line, the measurement taken on the concave side with a straight edge.
Carbon: Main hardening element in steel. Usually, as carbon increases: tensile increases; ductility and weldability decline.
Chromium Hardens steel and prevents rust. Is prominent in Stainless steel. Chemical symbol Cr.
Cold Rolling: Passing of Hot Rolled coils through work rolls to reduce and tighten thickness range, improve shape and surface quality.
Commercial Steel: Material with mechanical properties intended for simple bending (i.e., 180° flat) or moderate forming.
Corrosion: Degradation of metal caused by atmospheric conditions, i.e., moisture and/or oxygen.
Crown: The contour on a sheet where the thickness increases from the edges to the center.
Cut Edge: More defined than mill edge, usually associated with tighter width tolerances.
D
Dead Soft: Material that has not been rolled or tempered following annealing. Characterized by very low hardness, yield strength, tensile strength with comparatively-high elongation.
Debur To remove sharp edges from a slit or cut edge.
Density The mass per unit volume of a substance. The density of carbon steel is .2833 pounds per cubic inch.
Ductility: The ability a sheet to allow change in shape without fracturing.
E
Edging: The process of applying a particular shape (i.e., round, square) to a slit edge.
Elasticity: The ability of steel to return to its native shape and dimensions.
Electrogalvanized: A thin coating of zinc applied by electrolytic deposition to a Cold Rolled substrate. Electrogalvanized usually has less corrosion resistance than hot-dipped galvanized, but with very good paintability.
Elongation: A measurement of ductility/drawability. Expressed as the increase (%) of a given distance (usually 2") prior to fracture during tensile test.
F
Flatness: Measurement of a sheet's conformance to a flat horizontal surface. Maximum variance from the surface (wave) is the extent to which the sheet is out-of-flat.
Forming Steel: Softer than Commercial Steel, this category was previously known as Drawing Quality (DQ). It applies to coated sheet products, i.e., Galvanized, Galvannealed, Aluminized.
Fracture: A break in steel, first observed at the surface.
G
Galvalume: Cold Rolled sheet with a coating of aluminum (55%) and zinc (43%). The coating is applied in a continuous hot-dip process (similar to galvanized). It offers outstanding rust resistance (typically, 3x that of Galvanized). Galvalume can be ordered to various coating weights.
Galvanized: A cold rolled or hot rolled pickled substrate upon which zinc is applied to promote corrosion resistance. There is a direct correlation between the amount of zinc applied and the steel's rust protection. Zinc can be applied by either a hot-dipped or electrolytic deposit process.
Galvannealed: A type of hot-dipped galvanized with an iron-alloy layer to enhance paintability. Has a medium-light gray, smooth appearance. Offers corrosion protection similar to regular hot-dipped Galvanized.
Gauge: A number representing steel's nominal thickness (within minimum and maximum tolerances).
H
Hardness: Resistance of steel to surface penetration. Usually referenced by a Rockwell hardness number, i.e., B60.
Heat : The amount of steel produced from a production lot.
High Carbon: steel with carbon content exceeding 0.50%.
High Strength: Product intended for uses calling for higher strength levels, usually starting at 35,000# minimum yield strength.
I
I.D.: The inside diameter of a coil.
Impact Testing: Procedure to determine the resistance of steel to fracturing under extreme conditions.
Iron: A raw material of and the most prevalent element in carbon steel, representing about 99% of the chemical composition.
K
Killed Steel: In conjunction with Drawing Steel, material is deoxidized (using Aluminum) to allow for uniform chemical composition and freedom from age hardening.
L
Lead: Improves machinability of steel. Chemical symbol Pb.
Leveling: Flattening of coil through series of rollers to reduce or eliminate distortions in thickness, shape and/or surface quality.
Low Carbon: Steel with carbon content below 0.25%.
M
Manganese: Contributes to hardness and strength, but less than carbon. Tends to minimize segregation. Usually beneficial to surface quality.
Matte Finish a specified Cold Rolled surface roughness (or brightness), measured with a profilometer.
Mild Steel: A carbon steel with a Carbon of 0.15% maximum.
Mill Edge: Standard edge used in Hot Rolled. Does not have a definite shape; has liberal width tolerances.
N
Nitrogen: Tends to increase hardness, yield and tensile strengths. Contributes to age hardening effects. Chemical symbol N.
O
OD: The outside diameter of a coil.
Oiled: Application of oil to surfaces to inhibit rust and reduce friction scratches possibly occurring during transit.
Oxidation The exposure of steel to air (oxygen). Over time, it may result in stain, pitting and reduction in strength.
P
Phosphorous: Reduces ductility and toughness; tends to segregate. Chemical symbol P.
Physical Qualities: Refers to values of tensile, yield, elongation, Rockwell, Erickson, Olson and/or other similar tests.
Profilometer: Instrument measuring surface-roughness as an indicator of material brightness.
PSI: Pounds per square inch.
R
Regular Matte Finish: The most common Cold Rolled surface with a uniform dull finish. Usually suitable for painting. Profilometer range usually about 35-65 microinches.
Resquaring Process of blanking or shearing sheets to improve width, length and diagonal measurements.
Rimmed Steel: An older type of steel manufacture in which there were significant differences in chemical composition. Rimmed product generally exhibited good surface quality. Rimmed steel is no longer produced in the North American market.
Rockwell: A test measurement to determine hardness. In low carbon steels, Rockwell can indicate approximate yield strength. To get yield strength, multiply Rockwell by 1000 and subtract total by 20000. For example, a B53 Rockwell will approximate a 33000 yield (53 x 1000 - 20000).
Rollforming Fabrication: Method in which steel (usually coil) is linearly, progressively deformed by passing through a consecutive series of rolls to produce a predetermined profile.
S
SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers. Helps develops standards for auto-related steel products.
Salt Spray: Test A procedure to determine the coating longevity of steel when exposed to corrosive effects of saltwater.
Sheet: Flat-rolled steel generally less than .250" in thickness and wider than 12". The formula to calculate steel sheet weight is: thickness (in.) x width (in.) x length (in.) x density (.2833 lb./cubic inch).
Slab: The primary steel shape from which coils are then rolled.
Slit Edge: An edge produced from slitting; typically tighter width tolerances than mill edge or cut edge.
Slitting: The continuous cutting if a steel coil into narrower strip widths.
Special Killed Steel with improve grain structure and prolong ductility through the addition of aluminum and/or silicon and the removal of oxygen and nitrogen.
Stainless Steel: Strip steels with high chrome content to impede corrosion.
Stamping Metalworking: Operation involving the cutting and forming of steel using tooling and dies.
S
Strip Steel: Flat-rolled steel produced to precise thickness and/or narrow width tolerances.
Structural Stee: A steel quality specified when the minimum finished part strength (usually in load-bearing applications) is required. Commonly specified in minimum yield strength (i.e., 33000 psi, 40000 psi, 50000 psi, or 80000 psi).
T
T-Bend: A mechanical procedure in which a steel sheet is bent 180° with the inside bend diameter expressed in terms of the material thickness. A bend of 1-T is equivalent to the material thickness; a 2-T bend equals twice the material thickness.
Tandem Mill: A progressive series of rolling mill stations in which coils are cold-worked, primarily to reduce thickness and improve flatness.
Temper: Refers to steel hardness resulting from mechanical, chemical and/or thermal properties. Generally produced by cold-reduction, typical classifications are soft, quarter-hard, half-hard, three-quarter hard, and full hard.
Temper-Passed/Rolled: A cold reduction of a sheet, passing through a series of rolls, to improve flatness and surface finish. Usually reduces or eliminates crossbreaks, center buckle.
Tensile Strength: The maximum strength that steel can withstand prior to fracture. Tensile testing measures maximum load ratio in relation to original cross-section area.
Tension Leveled: Flatrolled product that has been passed through rollers which stretch the material beyond its yield point, producing improved flatness.
Tin-Plate Very light gauge Cold Rolled with electrolytically-deposited tin on both sides. Used for the manufacture of cans.
Titanium: Often used in high-strength low-alloy steels for increased yield and tensile strengths. Also used in EDDS steels to increase ductility. Chemical symbol Ti.
Tolerance: A permissible variation in dimensions (thickness, width, length, diagonal).
Ton: A unit of weight measurement. A net ton is 2,000 pounds. A metric ton is 2,204.6 pounds. A gross (or long) ton is 2,240 pounds.
Transverse: Perpendicular to the direction of rolling.
Traverse Winding: Coils that are wound like a fishing reel (in contrast to ribbon winding).
Triple Spot Test: A process for measuring the coating weights, representing the average weight from three samples taken across a coil/sheet width.
U
Ultimate Strength See tensile strength.
V
Vacuum Degassing: An advanced steelmaking process that removes oxygen and nitrogen. It is used to produce very pure ultra-low carbon steels with high drawing and formability features, especially for automotive body applications.
W
Weld: A joining or union of steel, created by the application of very high temperatures.
Weldability: The adaptability of steel to welding, typically influenced by chemical composition, surface finish, coating type and weight.
Work Hardening: The increase in resistance to deformation as a result of cold-working, i.e., rolling, rollforming.
Y
Yield: The amount of net finished product generated in relation to the initial gross amount.
Yield Point: The load or stress at which a marked increase in deformation (i.e., elongation or discontinuous thickness reduction) occurs without increasing the applied load.
Yield Strength: The stress at which steel exhibits a specified deviation from a linear proportionality between load and elongation. For steel (and many other metals) an offset of 0.2% is the reference point. If steel is sufficiently stretched, the length is increased. The measurement point at which the length permanently increases by 0.2% represents the yield strength. For example, if a load is applied upon a steel sample, any 1.000" of its length becomes 1.002" after loading to the yield strength. Yield strength is lower than tensile strength, since the steel will "give" before it fractures.
Z
Zinc: A chemical element applied (either hot-dipped or electrolytically) to steel to improve corrosion resistance. There is a direct correlation between the zinc coating weight and rate of atmospheric corrosion; the more the zinc, the slower the corrosion. Chemical symbol Zn.
Halsey's Welding and Iron Works L.L.C. * Phone: 201 638 7858 *
Aging : A process in which steel increases hardness and strength and decreases ductility over time.
AISI: American Iron & Steel Institute.
Aluminized: A cold-rolled sheet with aluminum applied to the top and bottom sides. Provides excellent heat resistance and very good corrosion resistance.
Annealing: A process involving the controlled high-temperature heating and subsequent cooling of as-rolled (usually Full-Hard) Cold Rolled to induce softness and greater formability.
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials. Organization which sets technical standards and specifications for steel and other materials, systems, services, etc.
B
Bake Hardenable Steel: A grade of Cold Rolled sheet with good dent resistance, especially common in automobile doors and panels.
Band: A basic form of Hot Rolled coil, without undergoing temper-leveling (skin passing). Bands are especially susceptible to wave, center buckle, cross-breaks and minor surface defects. Recently often referred to as Unprocessed Coil.
Bend Test: Tests used to determine steel ductility in which material is bent (with or against the grain).
Blank: A generally-small steel sheet, typically with restrictive width, length and diagonal tolerances.
Bonderized: Hot-dipped galvanized that has been phosphate-treated for improved paint-ability. Same corrosion resistance and formality as regular galvanized. A medium-dark grey surface with some spangle appearance.
Burr: A thin ridge of roughness left by a cutting operation such as slitting, trimming, shearing, blanking or sawing.
C
Camber: The deviation of a coil or sheet's side edge from a straight line, the measurement taken on the concave side with a straight edge.
Carbon: Main hardening element in steel. Usually, as carbon increases: tensile increases; ductility and weldability decline.
Chromium Hardens steel and prevents rust. Is prominent in Stainless steel. Chemical symbol Cr.
Cold Rolling: Passing of Hot Rolled coils through work rolls to reduce and tighten thickness range, improve shape and surface quality.
Commercial Steel: Material with mechanical properties intended for simple bending (i.e., 180° flat) or moderate forming.
Corrosion: Degradation of metal caused by atmospheric conditions, i.e., moisture and/or oxygen.
Crown: The contour on a sheet where the thickness increases from the edges to the center.
Cut Edge: More defined than mill edge, usually associated with tighter width tolerances.
D
Dead Soft: Material that has not been rolled or tempered following annealing. Characterized by very low hardness, yield strength, tensile strength with comparatively-high elongation.
Debur To remove sharp edges from a slit or cut edge.
Density The mass per unit volume of a substance. The density of carbon steel is .2833 pounds per cubic inch.
Ductility: The ability a sheet to allow change in shape without fracturing.
E
Edging: The process of applying a particular shape (i.e., round, square) to a slit edge.
Elasticity: The ability of steel to return to its native shape and dimensions.
Electrogalvanized: A thin coating of zinc applied by electrolytic deposition to a Cold Rolled substrate. Electrogalvanized usually has less corrosion resistance than hot-dipped galvanized, but with very good paintability.
Elongation: A measurement of ductility/drawability. Expressed as the increase (%) of a given distance (usually 2") prior to fracture during tensile test.
F
Flatness: Measurement of a sheet's conformance to a flat horizontal surface. Maximum variance from the surface (wave) is the extent to which the sheet is out-of-flat.
Forming Steel: Softer than Commercial Steel, this category was previously known as Drawing Quality (DQ). It applies to coated sheet products, i.e., Galvanized, Galvannealed, Aluminized.
Fracture: A break in steel, first observed at the surface.
G
Galvalume: Cold Rolled sheet with a coating of aluminum (55%) and zinc (43%). The coating is applied in a continuous hot-dip process (similar to galvanized). It offers outstanding rust resistance (typically, 3x that of Galvanized). Galvalume can be ordered to various coating weights.
Galvanized: A cold rolled or hot rolled pickled substrate upon which zinc is applied to promote corrosion resistance. There is a direct correlation between the amount of zinc applied and the steel's rust protection. Zinc can be applied by either a hot-dipped or electrolytic deposit process.
Galvannealed: A type of hot-dipped galvanized with an iron-alloy layer to enhance paintability. Has a medium-light gray, smooth appearance. Offers corrosion protection similar to regular hot-dipped Galvanized.
Gauge: A number representing steel's nominal thickness (within minimum and maximum tolerances).
H
Hardness: Resistance of steel to surface penetration. Usually referenced by a Rockwell hardness number, i.e., B60.
Heat : The amount of steel produced from a production lot.
High Carbon: steel with carbon content exceeding 0.50%.
High Strength: Product intended for uses calling for higher strength levels, usually starting at 35,000# minimum yield strength.
I
I.D.: The inside diameter of a coil.
Impact Testing: Procedure to determine the resistance of steel to fracturing under extreme conditions.
Iron: A raw material of and the most prevalent element in carbon steel, representing about 99% of the chemical composition.
K
Killed Steel: In conjunction with Drawing Steel, material is deoxidized (using Aluminum) to allow for uniform chemical composition and freedom from age hardening.
L
Lead: Improves machinability of steel. Chemical symbol Pb.
Leveling: Flattening of coil through series of rollers to reduce or eliminate distortions in thickness, shape and/or surface quality.
Low Carbon: Steel with carbon content below 0.25%.
M
Manganese: Contributes to hardness and strength, but less than carbon. Tends to minimize segregation. Usually beneficial to surface quality.
Matte Finish a specified Cold Rolled surface roughness (or brightness), measured with a profilometer.
Mild Steel: A carbon steel with a Carbon of 0.15% maximum.
Mill Edge: Standard edge used in Hot Rolled. Does not have a definite shape; has liberal width tolerances.
N
Nitrogen: Tends to increase hardness, yield and tensile strengths. Contributes to age hardening effects. Chemical symbol N.
O
OD: The outside diameter of a coil.
Oiled: Application of oil to surfaces to inhibit rust and reduce friction scratches possibly occurring during transit.
Oxidation The exposure of steel to air (oxygen). Over time, it may result in stain, pitting and reduction in strength.
P
Phosphorous: Reduces ductility and toughness; tends to segregate. Chemical symbol P.
Physical Qualities: Refers to values of tensile, yield, elongation, Rockwell, Erickson, Olson and/or other similar tests.
Profilometer: Instrument measuring surface-roughness as an indicator of material brightness.
PSI: Pounds per square inch.
R
Regular Matte Finish: The most common Cold Rolled surface with a uniform dull finish. Usually suitable for painting. Profilometer range usually about 35-65 microinches.
Resquaring Process of blanking or shearing sheets to improve width, length and diagonal measurements.
Rimmed Steel: An older type of steel manufacture in which there were significant differences in chemical composition. Rimmed product generally exhibited good surface quality. Rimmed steel is no longer produced in the North American market.
Rockwell: A test measurement to determine hardness. In low carbon steels, Rockwell can indicate approximate yield strength. To get yield strength, multiply Rockwell by 1000 and subtract total by 20000. For example, a B53 Rockwell will approximate a 33000 yield (53 x 1000 - 20000).
Rollforming Fabrication: Method in which steel (usually coil) is linearly, progressively deformed by passing through a consecutive series of rolls to produce a predetermined profile.
S
SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers. Helps develops standards for auto-related steel products.
Salt Spray: Test A procedure to determine the coating longevity of steel when exposed to corrosive effects of saltwater.
Sheet: Flat-rolled steel generally less than .250" in thickness and wider than 12". The formula to calculate steel sheet weight is: thickness (in.) x width (in.) x length (in.) x density (.2833 lb./cubic inch).
Slab: The primary steel shape from which coils are then rolled.
Slit Edge: An edge produced from slitting; typically tighter width tolerances than mill edge or cut edge.
Slitting: The continuous cutting if a steel coil into narrower strip widths.
Special Killed Steel with improve grain structure and prolong ductility through the addition of aluminum and/or silicon and the removal of oxygen and nitrogen.
Stainless Steel: Strip steels with high chrome content to impede corrosion.
Stamping Metalworking: Operation involving the cutting and forming of steel using tooling and dies.
S
Strip Steel: Flat-rolled steel produced to precise thickness and/or narrow width tolerances.
Structural Stee: A steel quality specified when the minimum finished part strength (usually in load-bearing applications) is required. Commonly specified in minimum yield strength (i.e., 33000 psi, 40000 psi, 50000 psi, or 80000 psi).
T
T-Bend: A mechanical procedure in which a steel sheet is bent 180° with the inside bend diameter expressed in terms of the material thickness. A bend of 1-T is equivalent to the material thickness; a 2-T bend equals twice the material thickness.
Tandem Mill: A progressive series of rolling mill stations in which coils are cold-worked, primarily to reduce thickness and improve flatness.
Temper: Refers to steel hardness resulting from mechanical, chemical and/or thermal properties. Generally produced by cold-reduction, typical classifications are soft, quarter-hard, half-hard, three-quarter hard, and full hard.
Temper-Passed/Rolled: A cold reduction of a sheet, passing through a series of rolls, to improve flatness and surface finish. Usually reduces or eliminates crossbreaks, center buckle.
Tensile Strength: The maximum strength that steel can withstand prior to fracture. Tensile testing measures maximum load ratio in relation to original cross-section area.
Tension Leveled: Flatrolled product that has been passed through rollers which stretch the material beyond its yield point, producing improved flatness.
Tin-Plate Very light gauge Cold Rolled with electrolytically-deposited tin on both sides. Used for the manufacture of cans.
Titanium: Often used in high-strength low-alloy steels for increased yield and tensile strengths. Also used in EDDS steels to increase ductility. Chemical symbol Ti.
Tolerance: A permissible variation in dimensions (thickness, width, length, diagonal).
Ton: A unit of weight measurement. A net ton is 2,000 pounds. A metric ton is 2,204.6 pounds. A gross (or long) ton is 2,240 pounds.
Transverse: Perpendicular to the direction of rolling.
Traverse Winding: Coils that are wound like a fishing reel (in contrast to ribbon winding).
Triple Spot Test: A process for measuring the coating weights, representing the average weight from three samples taken across a coil/sheet width.
U
Ultimate Strength See tensile strength.
V
Vacuum Degassing: An advanced steelmaking process that removes oxygen and nitrogen. It is used to produce very pure ultra-low carbon steels with high drawing and formability features, especially for automotive body applications.
W
Weld: A joining or union of steel, created by the application of very high temperatures.
Weldability: The adaptability of steel to welding, typically influenced by chemical composition, surface finish, coating type and weight.
Work Hardening: The increase in resistance to deformation as a result of cold-working, i.e., rolling, rollforming.
Y
Yield: The amount of net finished product generated in relation to the initial gross amount.
Yield Point: The load or stress at which a marked increase in deformation (i.e., elongation or discontinuous thickness reduction) occurs without increasing the applied load.
Yield Strength: The stress at which steel exhibits a specified deviation from a linear proportionality between load and elongation. For steel (and many other metals) an offset of 0.2% is the reference point. If steel is sufficiently stretched, the length is increased. The measurement point at which the length permanently increases by 0.2% represents the yield strength. For example, if a load is applied upon a steel sample, any 1.000" of its length becomes 1.002" after loading to the yield strength. Yield strength is lower than tensile strength, since the steel will "give" before it fractures.
Z
Zinc: A chemical element applied (either hot-dipped or electrolytically) to steel to improve corrosion resistance. There is a direct correlation between the zinc coating weight and rate of atmospheric corrosion; the more the zinc, the slower the corrosion. Chemical symbol Zn.
Halsey's Welding and Iron Works L.L.C. * Phone: 201 638 7858 *