The American Society for Testing and Materials, more commonly known as ASTM, provides manufacturing and trade standards for use in global research, development, product testing and quality systems. The organization's annually published standards cover everything from metals, paints and plastics to consumer products, medical services and homeland security. The society's A569 is an approved steel used in the manufacturing and construction industries.

Basic Specifications

The American Society for Testing and Material's A569 type steel is a ferrous metal low-carbon steel. Known as a low-cost sheet metal, ASTM A569 has soft and ductile properties, allowing it to resist cracking while it bends flat on itself in any direction. The metal comes in hot-rolled carbon sheets and commercial strips, as well as in coils and cut lengths. ASTM A569 features a normal mill oxide and comes in 7-to-16 gauge sizes. This type of steel accommodates bending, moderate forming and welding. Like most types of steel, ASTM's A569 is an alloy that lends itself to direct shape casting, ingot casting, hot working and reheating. It can be wrought by processes including but not limited to forging, extrusion and rolling.

Component Element Specifications

The maximum carbon content found in ASTM A569 is 0.15 percent. As a low-carbon steel, ASTM A569 relies mostly on iron—the steel's base metal—for its composition, featuring an iron content that makes up about 99 percent of its total component elements. This form of steel also contains 0.035 percent maximum phosphorus and 0.040 percent maximum sulfur elements. Its maximum manganese content is 0.60 percent while the steel features a 0.20 percent minimal copper content. ASTM A569 has a density of 0.284 pounds per inch, which is typical of low-carbon ASTM steels.

Similar Types

Acid-pickled ASTM A569 removes the steel's mill oxide, making for an improved surface appearance that lends itself to paint adhesion. ASTM's A366 steel shares identical specifications with the organization's A569 steel, although ASTM A366 is cold-rolled while A569 is hot-rolled. The society's A569M-98 steel also features similar specifications; as outlined in ASTM's annual standards, both types of steel have a 0.15 percent maximum carbon element content. As of 2010, ASTM has withdrawn A569 type steel, replacing it with ASTM A1011 and ASTM A1011M varieties.