Russian GOST (ГОСТ) Material Designation Systems: Steel and Non-Ferrous Metals

Designation Methods for Various Steel Grades

1. Ordinary Carbon Steel

• Grade Structure: Starts with "Ст" (abbreviation of the Russian word "Сталь", meaning "steel") + numerical serial number + deoxidation suffix (optional).

• "кп" — Rimmed steel

• "пс" — Semi-killed steel

• "сп" — Killed steel

• If manganese content in the steel ≥ 0.80%, add the manganese code "Г" to the grade.

• Deoxidation suffix codes:

• Examples: Ст3Гпс: High-manganese semi-killed steel; Ст3Гсп: High-manganese killed steel.

• Under the old standard, ordinary carbon steel was classified into Classes A, Б, and В, considering the type of steelmaking furnace (detailed in ГОСТ 380-1971).

• To align with international standards, in the structural steel standard ГОСТ 27772, steel grades are named by the minimum yield point. For example: C235 indicates a yield point of not less than 235 MPa, corresponding to Q235 in Chinese standards.

2. High-Quality Carbon Structural Steel

• Grade Structure: Average carbon content × 100 (e.g., steel with an average carbon content of 0.50% is designated as 50) + suffix (optional).

• High manganese content: Add "Г" (e.g., 50Г).

• High-grade high-quality steel with low sulfur and phosphorus content: Add "А" at the end of the grade (e.g., 50А).

• Rimmed steel (average carbon content of 0.08%): Grade 08кп.

3. Low-Alloy High-Strength Steel

• Grade Structure:

• Some grades are represented by the minimum yield point, with strength grades including 265, 295, 315, 325, 345, 355, etc.

• Other grades are still designated by chemical composition: Average carbon content value + alloy element code + content number (only mark "2" when content ≥ 1.45%) + suffix (optional).

• Examples:

• 16Г2АФД: Low-alloy high-strength steel with a carbon content of 0.14%～0.20%, manganese content of 1.30%～1.70%, and containing N, V, and Cu.

• 17Г1C-У: Steel with a carbon content of 0.15~0.20%, manganese content of 1.15~1.55%, and "У" indicates free-cutting.

4. Cold Heading Steel

• No special naming rules. There are 10 grades such as 12XH, 15ХГНМ, 16ХСН, and 12Г1РА specified in the standard ГОСТ 10702-2016.

5. Alloy Structural Steel and Spring Steel

• Grade Structure: Average carbon content value (× 100) + alloy element code + alloy element content number (marked for high content; e.g., 2, 3, 4 indicate different grades).

• Non-alloy spring steel: Follows the same designation as high-quality carbon structural steel.

6. Free-Cutting Structural Steel

• Prefix letters:

• "A" — Sulfur-containing free-cutting steel

• "AC" — Lead-containing free-cutting steel

• Followed by average carbon content value (× 100).

• Grades with high manganese content: Add "Г" at the end (e.g., A40Г, AC45Г).

• Alloy free-cutting steel: Also mark alloy element codes and content values (e.g., AC12XH).

7. Stainless Steel and Heat-Resistant Steel

• The designation method is basically consistent with alloy steel. Carbon content is expressed as the average value (× 100). For ultra-low carbon stainless steel, add "0" before the number.

• Old grades usually do not mark carbon content; if required, it is expressed as w(C)% × 10. For ultra-low carbon stainless steel, add "00" before the letter.

8. Carbon Tool Steel

• Grade Structure: Prefix "У" (meaning "tool" in Russian) + average carbon content value (× 100).

• Grades with high manganese content: Add "Г" at the end.

• High-grade high-quality carbon tool steel: Add "А" at the end.

9. Alloy Tool Steel

• The designation method is similar to alloy structural steel, but the carbon content expression differs:

• Do not mark carbon content if the average carbon content ≥ 1.00%.

• Mark carbon content if the average carbon content ＜ 1.00%.

• No distinction between high-quality steel and high-grade high-quality steel; do not add "А" at the end of the grade.

10. High-Speed Tool Steel

• Except for 11РЗАМЗФ2, other grades in the standard do not mark carbon content.

• Prefix letter "P" — Indicates high-speed steel.

• Followed by the average tungsten content (tungsten’s chemical element code is not marked).

• High-speed tool steel with high Mo, Co, or V content: Represented by letters M, K, or Ф respectively, with the number after the letter indicating the content (rounded to an integer).

11. High-Carbon Chromium Bearing Steel

• Prefix "Ш".

• Followed by the chromium code "X" + number representing average content w(C)% × 10.

• If containing elements such as Si or Mn, mark their codes "С" and "Г" respectively.

12. Cast Steel Designation Method

13. Cast Iron Designation Method

• Gray cast iron: Prefix "СЧ" + minimum tensile strength (e.g., СЧ20).

• Ductile iron: Prefix "ВЧ" + minimum tensile strength (e.g., ВЧ50).

• Malleable cast iron: Prefix "КЧ" + minimum tensile strength-elongation (e.g., КЧ30-6).

• Alloy cast iron: Prefix "Ч" + alloy element code and average content (e.g., ЧХ16М2), following the same designation as alloy steel.

• Shock-resistant cast iron: Designated as AЧC-x, AЧB-x, AЧK-x, where:

• C — Gray flake graphite

• B — Spheroidal graphite

• K — Malleable nodular graphite

• x — Serial number (e.g., AЧC-1, AЧB-1, AЧK-2).

Designation Methods for Non-Ferrous Metal Materials

Appendices

Table 1: Correspondence Between Chemical Element Names and Russian Letter Codes

Table 2: Common Prefixes or Suffixes in Russian Steel Grades

• Я — Nickel-chromium stainless steel

• Ж — Chromium stainless steel and heat-resistant steel

• Э — Electrical steel

• ЭИ — Experimental research steel grade

• ЭП — Industrial test steel grade

Table 3: Common Casting Codes and Heat Treatment Codes (GOST 1583-1993 for Aluminum Alloys)

Other Abbreviated Codes