MATERIAL SPECIFICATION

MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

1. SCOPE
This specification covers the requirements for hot rolled rod and cold drawn spheroidized
annealed alloy steel 36CrB4 for cold, headed fasteners.

2. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS
The latest issue of the following document shall be applicable
Unbrako 85107 Procedures for Hardness Testing Fasteners
ASTM E 112 Methods for Estimating the Average Grain Size of Metals
BS EN 10263-4:2001 Steel rods, Bars, Wire for cold heading and cold extrusion
ISO898 – 1 Mechanical properties of fasteners made of carbon and alloy steel

3. REQUIREMENTS
Chemical Composition Certification required: YES

Ladle Analysis %
Element Min Max
Carbon (C) 0.34 0.38
Manganese (Mn) 0.70 0.90
Phosphorus (P) - 0.025
Sulphur (S) - 0.025
Silicon (Si) - 0.15
Chromium (Cr) 0.9 1.200
Boron (B)* 0.0008 0.0050
Copper (Cu) - 0.250
Nickel (Ni) - 0.20

*Ref ISO 898-1: Boron content can reach 0,005%, provided that non-effective boron
is controlled by addition of titanium and/or aluminium.

3.1.1 The Material shall be Mercury free. Certification required: YES

Condition
3.2. 1 The material shall be melted by the open hearth, electric or basic oxygen furnace
process.
The material shall be clean, sound, and free from such detrimental defects as laps,
slivers, pipe or other defects detrimental to the fabrication or performance of the
parts.

HOT ROLLED ROD

3.2.2. 1 The rods shall be spheroidize annealed to meet the applicable metallurgical
requirements of 3.3.

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 MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

3.2.2. 2 The rod to have a polymer surface lubricating coating to assist in the
forgeability of the material
3.2.2. 3 The rod shall be coated with Phosphate Coating suitable for double extrusion
processing. Phosphate Coating levels are as follows;
Minimum: 6.00 g/m2 Maximum: 12.92 g/m2

3.2.2. 4 Unless otherwise specified on the purchase order, diameter tolerances shall be
as follows:

Rod Size Inches Tolerances Rod Size Metric Tolerances

Inches mm
Up to 0.312 incl. ± 0.005 Up to 8.0 incl. ± 0.12
Over 0.312 to 0.437 incl. ± 0.006 Over 8.0 to 11.0 incl. ± 0.15
Over 0.437 to 0.625 incl. ± 0.007 Over 11.0 to 15.8 incl. ± 0.18
Over 0.625 to 0.875 incl. ± 0.008 Over 15.8 to 22.0 incl. ± 0.20
Over 0.875 to 1.000 incl. ± 0.009 Over 22.0 to 25.5 incl. ± 0.23
Over 1.000 to 1.125 incl. ± 0.010 Over 25.5 to 28.5 incl. ± 0.25

3.2.2. 5 The rod coils shall be supplied to the weight limits below

Rod Coil Dia. inch Coil I.D. Coil O.D. Rod Coil Dia. mm Coil I.D. mm Coil O.D. mm Weight Kgs

Up to .531 27.5”-31.5” n/a Up to 13.5mm 700-800 n/a 750-1000

Over .531 37.5”-40.0” n/a Over 13.5 950-1020 n/a 1500-2000

COLD DRAWN WIRE

3.2.3. 1 The material shall be cold drawn from pickled or abrasive cleaned spheroidize
annealed rods that have been rolled from fully ground and inspected billets.
(Special cold heading quality) The wire to have a polymer surface lubricating
coating to assist in the forgeability of the material.

3.2.3. 2 The wire shall be supplied in coil form to the size and weight limits specified
below:

Wire Diameter inch Coil I.D. Coil O.D. Wire Diameter mm Coil I.D. mm Coil O.D. mm Weight Kgs

Up to 0.300 27”-30” 42” max Up to 7.5 686-762 1000 200-300

0.301 to 0.400 27”-30” 42” max 7.6 to10.0 686-762 1000 200-300
0.401 to 0.500 28”-32” 42” max 10.1 to 12.7 710-810 1000 400-500
0.501 to 0.700 28”-32” 42” max 12.8 to 17.8 710-810 1000 700-750
0.701 to 0.860 38”-40” 53” max 17.9 to 22.0 965-1000 1350 1500-2000
0.869 to 1.000 38”-40” 53” max 22.1 to 25.5 965-1000 1350 1500-2000

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 MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

3.2.3. 3 Unless otherwise specified on the purchase order, diameter tolerances shall be +
.000 - .003 inches. (+ 0.0 -0.076mm)

3.2.3. 4 The wire shall be coated with Phosphate Coating suitable for double extrusion
processing. Phosphate Coating levels are as follows;

Minimum: 6.00 g/m2 Maximum: 12.92 g/m2

Metallurgical Requirements Certification required: YES

3.3. 1Hardness

3.3.1. 1 Hot Rolled Rod - Hot rolled and final anneal. Final annealed hardness of 85Rb or
equivalent in tensile strength maximum is a criterion for forge-ability and therefore
shall be controlled below the maximum.

3.3.1. 2 Cold drawn Wire - Cold drawn hardness of 93Rb or equivalent in tensile strength
maximum is an indicator, but final judgement of steel is to be made by a forging trial.

3.3. 2 The microstructure of the spheroidize annealed material shall consist of a minimum
of 90 % spheroidal carbides reasonably diffused in the ferrite matrix.

3.3. 3 Grain size shall be number 5 or finer as determined by ASTM E 112 comparison or
fracture method.

3.3. 4 Harden-ability. The steel shall be capable of being hardened to 40-45Rc across the
finished wire diameter cross section by quenching from 1600°F (870°C) in an
agitated conventional compounded quenching oil (150°F 65°C) and tempering for
not less than 1 hour at 700°F (371°C) minimum.

Hardness shall be tested in accordance with the methods of Unbrako spec. 85107.

3.3. 5 Material shall be free from carburisation and complete decarburisation. Partial
decarburisation shall not exceed the tolerance limits specified below:

Wire Diameter, Inches Max Partial Wire Diameter Metric Max. Partial
Decarb. Inches Decarb. Metric mm
Up to 0.093” 0.001” Up to 2.4 0.025
0.093” to 0.141” 0.002” 2.4 to 3.5 0.050
0.141” to 0.273” 0.003” 3.6 to 7.0 0.076
0.274” to 0.387” 0.004” 7.1 to 9.85 0.101
0.388” to 0.527” 0.005” 9.86 to 13.4 0.127
0.528” to 0.648” 0.006” 13.5 to 16.5 0.152
0.649” to 0.985” 0.007” 16.6 to 25.0 0.178

3.3. 6 Surface and sub-surface seams shall not exceed the tolerance limits specified
below:

Wire Diameter Max. Depth Wire Diameter mm Max. Depth mm

Up to 0.256” 0.002” Up to 6.5 0.050
0.257” to 0.646” 0.003” 6.6 to 16.4 0.076
0.648” to 0.985” 0.004” 16.5 to 25.0 0.101

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 MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

3.3.7 Reduction of area 60% Min

Source Approval.
3.4. 1 Material shall be purchased only from vendors who have supplied material meeting
all the requirements of this specification. The vendors’ facilities shall be surveyed
before making routine production purchases.

4. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS

4.1 The test methods shall be as specified in the applicable ASTM, ISO, DIN, BS Standards.
4.2 Receiving inspection shall inspect and test the samples (submitted per paragraph 5.2) to
establish if they conform to this specification. If samples do not conform, the lot will be
rejected.
4.3 If submitted samples conform to this specification, the lot will be released for further
processing and production.
4.4 If, during production and processing, defective coils representing 10% of the lot are
accumulated, and the trouble is related back to the condition of the “as received”
material, the entire lot may be rejected.
Rejection of the coil shall be based on the following:
No more than 1.5% split or upset fractures will be accepted on standard headed cap
screws.
4.5 Purchasing shall notify the vendor of rejected lots and arrange for negotiation with the
supplier for physical disposition of the material.
4.5. 1 Samples that represent rejected material shall be preserved for two weeks from the
date of the test report. In case of dissatisfaction with the results of the test, the
manufacturer may make claim for a rehearing within that time.
4.6 Any deviations from the Specification must be covered by a Concession agreed with the
Company. Concession to be recorded and approved by Engineering and Quality
departments.
4.7 Any costs incurred by the company as a result of poor quality of product or service
supplied by the vendor shall be debited to the vendor.

5. PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

5.1 A durable tag, shall be securely wired to each coil, bearing the following information;
• Description
• Material Grade
• Diameter
• Applicable specification number
• Concession number if applicable
• Coil weight
• Steel Date

5.2 Samples approximately 18 inches long shall be cut from 10% of the cold drawn coils in a
lot, tagged with the purchase order number, grade of steel and heat number, and
shipped with the lot of material and steel date.

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 MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

5.3 The vendor shall furnish, with each shipment, one copy of a certified report (i.e.
Certificate of Conformance), for each lot. At minimum, the report shall indicate the
following information:
• Description
• Size
• Applicable Specification
• Heat Number (Cast Number)
• Mill Origin
• Chemical Composition
• Hardness
• Reduction of Area
• Purchase Order Number
• Quantity of each Lot
• Tensile strength
• State that the Raw Material is Mercury Free
• Steel Date
A lot constitutes all coils of one size of one heat shipped at one time.

5.4 Each item on a purchase order shall preferably be filled using one Heat Number. When
the size of the item requirement is such that it cannot be filled using only one Heat
Number, another Heat Number may be used. Every effort shall be exerted to supply each
item ordered in one Heat Number only.

5.5 Delivery docket to accompany each shipment for each individual size and grade of
material stating the following:
• Despatch reference number
• Customer order number
• Customer part number
• Steel date
• Batch number
• Material size
• No. of coils
• Total weight
• Despatch date

5.6 Bundles of material shall not contain more than one heat and size per bundle.

5.7 Excessively mixed shipments (partials of several lots) shall be avoided.

5.8 Vendor to take all necessary precautions to ensure that the material arrives at final
destination in a condition fit for production.

6. NOTES
6.1 Sampling plan and analytical procedures for check analysis testing agree with the
requirements specified in the Steel Products Manual, Wire and Rods, Carbon Steel,
published by the American Iron and Steel Institute.

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 MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
MATERIAL GRADE SPECIFICATION NO.

Sae4140ALLOY
36CrB4 STEEL FOR COLD FORGING 85295

7. REVISION HISTORY

Revision Section ECR Change Initial Date

04 various - redrawn RA 06.02.14

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