Cross-Reference Tables

 

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU PROPERLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF MATERIAL CROSS-REFERENCING IN GENERAL, WHICH IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SIMPLE, AND TO BE FULLY AWARE OF ITS LIMITATIONS.

Metal equivalents from around the world are usually grouped on the basis of chemical composition and to some extent on mechanical properties, and recommendations for cross-reference tables often come from Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). Recommendations from SDOs are the major source for cross-reference tables in Total Materia as well, but in many cases there are no recommendations for a particular group of alloys or a country.

Therefore, beyond recommendations of SDOs Total Materia comprise other sources, implicit similarities and special algorithms, which yield distinctive groups of results as described below.

 

All

This tab displays all materials from all cross-reference tables and sources together.

 

Identical

The tab Identical includes materials which are defined as identical by Standard Development Organizations (SDOs).

In essence, the term “identical” here means different designations for the same material. Some examples are:

  • Two designations, alphanumeric and numeric, for the same material within Euronorm and DIN standard; for example Euronorm stainless steel X 39 Cr 13 is identical to its numerical designation 1.4031.
  • Materials taken over by one SDO from the other without any changes. For example, X 39 Cr 13 defined by German DIN and Italian UNI is identical to X 39 Cr 13 defined by Euronorm, because German and Italian SDOs took over the common European standard; the same applies for US ASME material SA-180 F10 defined, which has been taken over from ASTM, alloy A-182 F10.
  • When one material designation merely replaces the other without any changes in composition; for example US UNS N06017 has been replaced by N06985.

 

Official

Official are equivalents originally recommended by SDOs, in standards and official reference books published by SDOs. For example, Indian standard IS 9175 says that Indian grade 30C8 is equivalent to SAE 1030, and 35C8 is equivalent to DIN c35 and AISI 1035. Chinese GB 4239 declares that Chinese 1Cr17Mn6Ni5N is equivalent to Japanese SUS 201, US AISI 201, and UNS S20100.

These sources are usually reliable, however there is always a possibility of some imprecise data; more importantly, relying on Official recommendations doesn’t eliminate general limitations of cross-referencing.

Materials displayed within the tab Identical are not displayed with the tab Official.

 

Composition 100%

The tab Composition 100% comprise alloys which have 100% identical chemical composition, but have not been declared as official equivalent by SDOs, hence they cannot be found neither within the tag Identical, nor within the tag Official.

Due to their identical composition, these materials are good candidates to be interchangeable. However, a special attention needs to be paid to their mechanical properties, delivery forms and heat treatment, which may differ significantly. General rules and limitations for cross-referencing apply to this group as well.

 

Other Sources

Cross-references that originate from all other sources, such as producers’ catalogs, books, brochures, analysis published on the Internet etc, are displayed in the tab Other Sources. Nearly all proprietary metals are in this category, with few exceptions catalogued by the UNS.

Although information from these sources is usually correct, the level of its reliability is lower than recommendations given by SDOs. Consequently, a careful analysis of the compositions and properties of the candidates for equivalents needs to be done.

Materials already displayed within the tabs Identical, Official, and Composition 100% are not displayed in this tab.

 

Implicit

Implicit are equivalents not directly and explicitly defined by SDOs, but in a transitional form, i.e. if B is a recommended equivalent by an SDO to A, and C is recommended by that or another SDO as an equivalent to B, then A becomes an equivalent to C.

For example, if a source says that SAE steel 5115 is equivalent to Euronorm 1.8963, and another source says that SAE 5115 is equivalent to Chinese GB 15Cr, implicit equivalency will be that 15Cr is equivalent to 1.8963.

By their nature, implicit equivalents are less precise and require more careful analysis of the compositions and properties of the alloys compared. Besides that, general rules and limitations for cross-referencing are also to be considered.

Materials displayed within the previous four tabs (Identical, Official, Composition 100% and Other Sources) are not displayed in this tab.

 

SmartCross

SmartCross is Total Materia proprietary cross-referencing tool, based on fuzzy sets, metallurgical expertise and statistical applications that generate global cross-references.

SmartCross searches similar metals from the whole Database of over 400,000 metals according to their chemical compositions and metallurgical groups, using elaborate algorithms. This goes far beyond classic cross-referencing and result list can be broader, but similarities given, ranging from 0 to 1, are indicative only. Therefore, a careful analysis of the compositions and properties of the alloys compared needs to be exercised, especially for lower similarities, e.g. 0.8 or less.

This tab is completely independent of all others within the Cross-Reference window.