Steel, Stainless and Aluminium Material Lookup Tables
A four-page lookup sheet for engineers selecting materials and releasing drawings for Japanese customers. It opens with a table for picking the material family (aluminium, steel, engineering plastic, guarding material) alongside the wrong inferences people commonly make, then covers the eight JIS steel grades seen most often and where each belongs. There is a comparison of hot-rolled SS400 against cold-finished SS400-D — the difference that decides whether a part bows after machining; a tool steel table where SKD11 and SKH51 are separated by one question, does the part heat up in service; a stainless table covering SUS303, SUS304, SUS316, SUS430 and SUS410 by machinability, corrosion resistance and weldability; an aluminium table covering A5052, A6061 and A7075 by welding, forming, strength and stock availability; and the O, H, T4, T6 temper designations. The last three tables give thermal expansion coefficients and Young's modulus for steels, cast irons, stainless, aluminium, copper alloys and engineering plastics — what you need when a part runs at changing temperature or when two different materials are joined. It closes with seven decision questions and a ten-point checklist. Values are reference figures for preliminary design; critical parts still need the supplier datasheet. Distilled from seven articles in MINATA's Materials and Component Selection series.
What is inside
- Pick the material family before the grade
- Common JIS steel grades and where they belong
- Hot-rolled SS400 vs cold-finished SS400-D
- Tool steels — SKD11 vs SKH51
- Stainless — by machining, welding and environment
- Aluminium — A5052, A6061 and A7075
- Temper designations
- Thermal expansion — steels, stainless, cast iron
- Thermal expansion — aluminium and copper alloys
- Thermal expansion — engineering plastics
- Seven questions that settle the choice
- Checklist before writing the material on a drawing
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