Stainless Steel
Compare austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, duplex and precipitation-hardening families before moving to a grade or product specification.
Explore familyGlobal metal encyclopedia
Metal materials
Explore sixteen industrial material systems through 80 researched subcategories. Start with metallurgy, magnetic behavior, coating process or powder feedstock, then move into grades, product forms, applications, standards and procurement requirements.
01 — Materials
Sixteen material families and commercial systems
Carbon & Structural Steel
Separate general carbon grades from structural, pressure-vessel, shipbuilding and pipeline specifications before comparing strength or price.
- Low-carbon steel
- Medium/high-carbon
- Structural and HSLA
- Pressure vessel steel
- Shipbuilding steel
- Pipeline steel
Alloy & Engineering Steel
Choose the metallurgy around the component's controlling failure mode, section size and available heat-treatment route, then order the product form and verification that can prove that choice.
Explore familyAluminum & Aluminum Alloys
Navigate 1xxx through 8xxx wrought series, then verify the exact registered alloy, temper and product specification.
- 1xxx Commercially Pure
- 2xxx-Copper
- 3xxx-Manganese
- 5xxx-Magnesium
- 6xxx-Magnesium-Silicon
- 7xxx-Zinc
- 8xxx Special-Purpose
Copper & Copper Alloys
Use UNS families to separate conductivity, machinability, spring, wear, marine and high-strength systems.
- Pure & High-Copper Alloys
- Brass
- Phosphor & Tin Bronze
- Aluminum & Silicon Bronze
- Copper-Nickel
- High-Strength & High-Conductivity Copper
Galvanized & Coated Steel
Choose the coating process first, then specify substrate, coating designation, surface treatment, fabrication and exposure.
- Batch Hot-Dip Galvanized Steel
- Continuous Galvanized Steel
- 55% Al-Zn / Aluzinc Coated Steel
- Electrogalvanized Steel
- PPGI — Prepainted Galvanized Steel
- PPGL — Prepainted Al-Zn Coated Steel
Tool Steel
A failure-mode-led guide to cold-work, hot-work, high-speed, shock-resisting and mold steels, with separate ordering evidence for each system.
Explore familyElectrical Steel
Selection separates directional transformer-core performance from rotating-machine isotropy and from semi-processed material that requires customer finishing treatment.
Explore familyCast Iron
Five procurement categories distinguish flake, spheroidal, compacted and temper-carbon graphite from carbide-rich white and alloyed irons.
Explore familyNickel Alloys
Five selection families separate pure-nickel alkali service, nickel-copper marine behavior, chromium-led oxidation resistance, chromium-molybdenum corrosion resistance and precipitation-strengthened superalloys.
Explore familyTitanium Alloys
Four families separate commercially pure corrosion-led grades from alpha/near-alpha temperature service, alpha-beta general engineering alloys and metastable-beta high-strength systems.
Explore familyMagnesium Alloys
The taxonomy separates product route from AZ, ZK and rare-earth chemistry systems so buyers can specify both alloy identity and manufacturing acceptance.
Explore familyCobalt Alloys
Four procurement groups separate Co-Cr bulk alloys, wear-resistant deposits and castings, cobalt-base superalloys and cobalt-bonded cemented carbides.
Explore familyZinc Alloys
The directory separates Zamak, higher-aluminum ZA, wrought zinc and sheet/strip procurement while excluding galvanized steel from the base-alloy taxonomy.
Explore familyRefractory Metals
Four element-led procurement pages separate very different density, corrosion, ductility and high-temperature design constraints.
Explore familyMetal Powders
Six chemistry-specific guides connect base-alloy behavior to powder production, handling and consolidation without claiming wrought-equivalent properties.
Explore family02 — 80
Browse the complete classification
Every published child page explains its boundary, representative grades, performance trade-offs, processing risks and the information a buyer should place in an RFQ.