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To aid industry in knowing the content of a given alloy, the SAE developed a numerical code for the available steels with certain standards for each alloy.  This code is usually a four digit number with the first two digits identifying the basic elemental content of the alloy, and the last two digits expressing the carbon content.

     SERIES CODE                          STEEL TYPE

                1XXX                                 Plain carbon (non alloy) steel
                13XX                                  Manganese steel
                2XXX                                 Nickel alloy steels
                23XX                                  3.5% Nickel
                25XX                                  5.0% Nickel
                3XXX                                  Nickel/Chrome steels
                4XXX                                  Molybdenum steels
                40XX                                   Carbon/Moly
                41XX                                   Chrome/Moly
                43XX                                   Chrome/Moly/Nickel
                46XX or 48XX                    Moly/Nickel
                5XXX                                   Chromium alloy steels
                51XX                                    Low Chromium content
                52XX                                    Medium Chromium content
                53XX                                    High Chromium content
                6XXX                                   Chromium/Vanadium alloy steels
                86XX or 87XX                     Nickel/Chromium/Moly alloy steels
                92XX                                    Manganese/Silicon alloy steels

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) also developed a letter/number code, based upon the alloy's hardening medium, content, or use.

 LETTER CODE                  STEEL TYPE

A******************Air-hardening steels
D******************Die steel alloys
F******************Carbon/Tungsten alloys
H******************Hot work alloys
L******************Low alloy
M*****************Molybdenum alloys
O*****************Oil hardening steels
P******************Mold steel alloys
S******************Shock resistant alloys
T******************Tungsten alloys
W*****************Water hardening steel

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