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ASTM A516 Grade 70 — written A516-70 on drawings and enquiries, and Grade 485 where the order is placed in SI units — is a killed, fine-grain carbon steel plate made for welded pressure vessels in moderate and lower temperature service. It is the most widely specified pressure vessel plate in the world, and Grade 70 is the default within the family because its higher allowable stress lets a shell course be thinner, lighter and cheaper to weld than the lower grades.
Two things about the name are worth getting straight before anything else, because both are routinely misread. First, the 70 is a tensile figure, not a yield figure: Grade 70 means 70–90 ksi of tensile strength, about 485–620 MPa, while the minimum yield is only 38 ksi [260 MPa] at every thickness. Second, it is the top rung of a four-grade family — 55, 60, 65 and 70, where every number is a tensile figure in ksi rather than a yield figure. Section 05 gives the values this page certifies for this rung.
260 MPaMinimum yield38 ksi · the same at every thickness
485–620Tensile strength, MPa70–90 ksi · a floor and a ceiling
8–120 mmSupply thickness range1500–3800 × 3000–15000 mm
NNormalized above 40 mmas-rolled at 40 mm and under
The most expensive misreading on this page is treating the 70 as a yield value. In the A516 family the grade number is the minimum tensile strength in ksi — Grade 70 means 70 ksi of tensile, about 485 MPa — and the yield sits at 38 ksi [260 MPa], well under half the tensile floor. A buyer who sizes a wall off “70” is designing to roughly two and a half times the yield the plate actually guarantees.
02Thickness, Size & Commercial Terms
What we hold and roll for this grade, followed by the ordering terms published with it.
1–10 t: 5 days · 10–50 t: 10 days · >50 t: negotiable
Delivery Time
3–7 days for stock items · 15–30 days for custom processing
Payment Terms
L/C, T/T, D/P, Western Union, Paypal, Money Gram
Certification
MTC to EN 10204 3.1 / 3.2 · certificate can be issued to ASTM A516/A516M — name the writing on the order
Two things to check before you fix the bill of quantities. Not every thickness is available in every width and length combination, and heavy gauge at maximum width is the pairing most often unavailable. And the three lead-time lines measure different things: the 5 / 10 day schedule is what can be drawn from stock, 3–7 days is a stock plate released and shipped, and 15–30 days is a made-to-order plate going through normalizing and testing. Tell us the gauge and quantity and we will say which one your order falls under.
03Equivalent Grades
Nearest counterparts quoted against A516 Grade 70 in the other major pressure vessel systems.
The specification limits from ASTM A516/A516M Table 1 for Grade 70, with the thickness bands that apply to carbon.
Element
Heat Analysis Limit, %
Product Analysis, %
C, max
0.27 — t ≤ 12.5 mm
Product analysis tolerances are wider than the heat figures
0.28 — 12.5 < t ≤ 50 mm
0.30 — 50 < t ≤ 100 mm
0.31 — 100 < t ≤ 200 mm
0.31 — t > 200 mm
Mn
0.85–1.20
0.79–1.30
P, max
0.035
0.035
S, max
0.035
0.035
Si
0.15–0.40
0.13–0.45
Steelmaking
Killed steel, fine austenitic grain size — a requirement carried through ASTM A20/A20M, which also governs product analysis tolerances, test sampling and the residual element ceilings below
Residual / Reported Element
Figure on This Page
A20/A20M Residual Ceiling
Cu
0.30
0.40
Ni
0.30
0.40
Cr
0.30
0.30
Mo
0.08
0.12
Nb
0.01
0.02
V
0.02
0.03
Ti
0.03
not listed separately
Al
0.02
—
Two earlier figures on this page do not match the specification and we have not carried them over. The manganese was published as 1.00–1.70 %; the specification band is 0.85–1.20 % heat / 0.79–1.30 % product, and even with the full carbon-trade allowance the ceiling is 1.50 % heat / 1.60 % product — so 1.70 % sits outside it. Silicon was published as 0.60 % against a specified 0.15–0.40 % heat range. Both old figures look like mill envelope values rather than specification limits. They are recorded here so nobody has to guess why the numbers moved; what governs your order is the heat analysis on the MTC, read against the edition cited on your purchase order.
05Mechanical Properties
The specification requirements from ASTM A516/A516M Table 2 for Grade 70, in both unit systems.
Property
SI [MPa / %]
Inch-pound [ksi / %]
Tensile strength
485–620
70–90
Yield strength, min
260
38
Elongation in 200 mm [8 in], min
17
17
Elongation in 50 mm [2 in], min
21
21
Maximum thickness
200 mm
8 in
Charpy V-notch
Not a default requirement
Why this table no longer reads 510–650 MPa and 335 MPa. Those two figures appeared on an earlier version of this page and they are not A516 Grade 70 values: 510–650 MPa is the EN 10028-2 P355GH tensile band and 335 MPa is P355GH’s yield at 40–60 mm, taken from the equivalent-grade row directly above. A516 Grade 70 is 485–620 MPa tensile and 260 MPa minimum yield at every thickness. We publish the specification values and leave the discrepancy on the record rather than choosing between them. Two cautions that belong here: tensile is a band with a floor and a ceiling, not a minimum, so plate testing above 620 MPa is as far off specification as plate below 485 MPa; and impact testing is not automatic on this grade — fine-grain practice and normalizing are what make the plate capable of low-temperature toughness, but the Charpy guarantee only exists once a temperature and an energy value are named on the purchase order.
06Heat Treatment & Delivery Condition
On this grade the condition is largely set by thickness, not chosen freely.
Item
Requirement
t ≤ 40 mm
As RolledNormalized on request
t > 40 mm
Normalized
Other conditions
Stress RelievedNormalized + Tempered
Steelmaking
KilledFine austenitic grain size
Sour service variant
HIC resistant
The 40 mm line decides more than any other number on this page. Below it the plate is normally as-rolled and cheaper; above it normalizing is mandatory, which changes price, lead time and what the certificate has to show. Plate at 40 mm and under is normally as-rolled, but shall be normalized where notch toughness testing is required at that thickness. If your design calls for impact testing on plate at or under 40 mm, say so at enquiry — it pulls that plate into the normalized route as well, and discovering it after the order is placed is the expensive way to find out.
Do not assume the as-delivered properties survive fabrication. Hot forming, stress relieving or post-weld heat treatment all take the plate back through a temperature range that can move its properties, particularly in the normalized condition. Where the vessel will be hot formed or PWHT-treated after welding, test coupons go through a simulated PWHT cycle and are tested afterwards, so the certificate reflects the condition the vessel will actually be in. State it at enquiry stage — it changes what has to be certified.
07Where Grade 70 Gets Used
The default pressure vessel plate. Five duties account for most of the tonnage.
Boiler & Steam Drum Shells
Industrial boiler shells, steam drums and the internal structural parts that have to hold strength under pressure at moderate temperature. The fine-grain practice is what lets the plate stay tough through the thermal cycling a boiler sees.
Pressure Vessels & Separators
Refinery and gas-plant separators, scrubbers, knockout drums and process columns. Grade 70 is picked here for the allowable stress it allows, which turns directly into wall thickness and weight saved.
Heat Exchanger Shells & Channels
Shell-and-tube exchanger shells, channels, tubesheets and flanges machined from plate. The grade machines cleanly and welds predictably, which is why fabricators keep coming back to it.
Storage Tanks & LPG Bullets
Atmospheric and low-pressure storage tanks, LPG bullets and spheres built to API 620 and API 650 where the tank standard permits the material. Impact testing at the site’s lowest design metal temperature is the item to settle first.
Cold-Climate & General Process Plant
Air receivers, ammonia and cryogenic separator shells, and general process equipment for sites with a low design metal temperature. Normalized Grade 70 is what makes the −29 °C and −46 °C Charpy requirements achievable.
Two limits worth knowing before you specify it. A516 is a moderate-temperature material: prolonged service much above about 425 °C moves into creep territory, where the Cr-Mo grades such as A387 Grade 11 Class 2 or 16Mo3 take over. And it is a carbon steel with no corrosion allowance of its own — corrosive or sour contents are handled by lining, cladding, corrosion allowance or an HIC-resistant order, not by the base grade.
08Processing Services & Supply
Supplied as plate and prepared for a vessel fabrication shop rather than a structural steel yard.
1
Cutting & Edge Preparation
Flame, plasma or laser cutting to drawing, square or to a nesting layout, with weld-edge preparation bevelled to the joint detail you are fabricating. Shell developments are cut so that rolling direction sits correctly in the finished course.
2
Forming: Rolling & Pressing
Rolling to shell course radius and press forming of head blanks, cold where the thickness allows and hot where it does not. Hot forming is followed by the heat treatment that restores the properties the specification requires.
3
Normalizing & Heat Treatment
Normalizing for plate above 40 mm and wherever impact testing requires it, plus stress relieving and post-weld heat treatment, with test coupons put through a simulated PWHT cycle where the order calls for it.
4
Inspection & Certified Delivery
Ultrasonic examination, Charpy impact testing at the specified temperature, through-thickness testing where required, and surface inspection. Mill test certificate to EN 10204 3.1 with heat-number traceability to the plate marking; 3.2 or third-party witness — SGS, BV, Lloyd’s, DNV — arranged on request.
What to put in the enquiry. The standard with its edition, the thickness, width and length, the quantity, the delivery condition if you have a preference, which tests apply and at what acceptance level, the impact test temperature where one applies, whether the plate will be hot formed or post-weld heat treated, any HIC or through-thickness requirement, the certification type, and the destination port.
09Frequently Asked Questions
Q1Is A516 Grade 70 the same thing as Grade 485?
Yes — the same rung of the same specification, written in the other unit system. A516 is the inch-pound version, where strength is given in ksi and this rung is called Grade 70; A516M is the SI version, where the same limits are given in MPa and the same rung is called Grade 485, because 485 MPa is the rounded equivalent of 70 ksi. Nothing about the steel changes, only the units on the paperwork. Write whichever one your design code and inspection documents use, and cite the edition.
Q2Why do some pages show 510–650 MPa tensile and 335 MPa yield for this grade?
Because those are EN 10028-2 P355GH figures, not A516 Grade 70 figures. 510–650 MPa is P355GH’s tensile band and 335 MPa is its yield at 40–60 mm, and P355GH sits in the equivalent-grade row right above the mechanical table on most supplier pages — so the values get read across instead of down. ASTM A516/A516M Table 2 gives Grade 70 485–620 MPa tensile and 260 MPa minimum yield. An earlier version of this very page carried the P355GH numbers; we replaced them and left the discrepancy on the record in section 05 rather than quietly picking one.
Q3Does A516 Grade 70 come with Charpy impact testing as standard?
No. Impact testing is a supplementary requirement — S5 under ASTM A20/A20M — and it does not apply unless it is stated on the order, together with the test temperature and the minimum absorbed energy. The plate is capable of low-temperature service because it is killed and made to fine grain size and, above 40 mm, normalized; that capability is not the same as a certified value. If your vessel has a design metal temperature, name it with the enquiry. Common values on this grade are −29 °C and −46 °C.
Q4Will my plate be normalized or as-rolled?
It depends on thickness. Plate above 40 mm is normalized as a requirement. Plate at 40 mm and under is normally as-rolled, but shall be normalized where notch toughness testing is required at that thickness unless you specify otherwise. So the two things that pull a thin plate into the normalized route are a thickness over 40 mm and an impact requirement — and both affect price and lead time, which is why they belong on the first enquiry rather than the final one. See section 06.
Q5Can I substitute P355GH or Q345R for A516 Grade 70?
Not on the strength of a comparison table. P355GH and Q345R are named by yield, while A516-70 is named by tensile, so their numbers are not comparable at a glance — P355GH yields 355 MPa against A516-70’s 260 MPa, which makes it look stronger in a way that does not translate. Heat treatment, impact requirements and the permitted stress in your design code all differ. Substituting a material on a pressure-retaining part is a code appraisal that the responsible engineer has to sign off; what we can do is supply either grade and certify it to the specification you actually name. See section 03.
Q6Grade 60 or Grade 70 — which should I buy?
Grade 70 when wall thickness and weight matter: its higher allowable stress lets the shell be thinner, with less weld metal and less weight to lift. Grade 60 when welding matters more: it carries less carbon and manganese, needs less preheat and is more forgiving in thick, restrained or site-welded joints. They are both normal stock grades and neither is a better material in the abstract — it is a trade between material volume and fabrication difficulty. See ASTM A516 Grade 60 for the lower grade.
Q7Can I get it for sour service?
Yes, but it has to be ordered that way. HIC-resistant A516 Grade 70 is made with sulphur reduced to around 0.002–0.005 % and calcium-treated inclusion shape control, then tested to NACE TM0284 for hydrogen-induced cracking and qualified against NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156 for sulphide stress cracking. That is a different steelmaking route with its own lead time, not a test you can add to standard plate after it has been rolled — so raise it at enquiry, along with the acceptance criteria.
Send us your standard and edition, thickness, width and length, quantity, delivery condition and testing requirement. We will reply with what the mill can roll and certify at that thickness, whether your gauge falls under as-rolled or normalized, the impact testing available for your design metal temperature, plate or cut-length options, mill price and production lead time — and tell you plainly if a lower grade would weld more easily for the duty you are describing.
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