Temper Information
F (as Fabricated) - no particular control over thermal conditions or strain-hardening has been exercised.
Q (as Annealed) - Has been processed to obtain the lowest tensile strength. For wire, this temper is achieved by fully annealing the product after the last strain-hardening process. For Continuous cast rod, this temper is achieved by controlling the process parameters during the continuous casting and rolling operations.
H (Strain Hardened) - Tensile strength has been increased by strain-hardening, possibly followed by a thermal treatment to reduce the tensile strength to a desired level.
The first digit following the H indicates whether the material received a thermal treatment:
- H1 indicates no thermal treatment
- H2 indicates a partial-anneal
- H3 indicates a stabilizing thermal treatment for alloysthat age-soften
The second digit indicates the hardening of the material measured in 1/8s. For example:
- H14 indicates the material is for 1/8s or 1/2 hard
- H18 is eight 1/8s or full-hard
- H19 is nine 1/8s or extra-hard
T (Thermally Treated) - Has been thermally treated to produce a stable temper other than F, O or H.
Numbers following the T indicate specific sequence of operations:
- T4 indicates solution heat-treated and naturally aged
- T6 indicates solution heat-treated and artificially aged
- T8 indicates solution heat-treated, cold worked and artifically aged
A second digit indicates a variation in treatment that significaantly affects the material properties that otherwise would be obtained using the basic treatment.
