Materials Library
Manufacturing-focused guides to 87 engineering metals and plastics — properties, how they machine, what processes fit, and what to use them for.
Aluminum
6061-T6
6061-T6 is the default workhorse aluminum: a heat-treatable Mg-Si (6000-ser…
7075-T6
7075-T6 is a high-strength Zn-based (7000-series) aerospace aluminum, heat-…
2024-T3
2024-T3 is a copper-bearing (2000-series) aluminum prized for fatigue resis…
5052-H32
5052-H32 is a non-heat-treatable Mg-based (5000-series) aluminum, strain-ha…
6063-T5
6063-T5 is the architectural extrusion aluminum: a Mg-Si (6000-series) allo…
A380
A380 is the workhorse aluminum die-casting alloy, an Al-Si-Cu composition d…
5083-H116
5083-H116 is a high-magnesium marine aluminum alloy with exceptional saltwa…
6082-T6
6082-T6 is a medium-strength structural aluminum, effectively Europe's coun…
6005A-T6
6005A-T6 is an extrusion-optimized structural aluminum offering a strong ba…
1100-H14
1100-H14 is commercially pure aluminum, soft, highly formable, and corrosio…
MIC-6 Cast Tooling Plate
MIC-6 is a cast aluminum tooling plate engineered for exceptional flatness …
Cast Iron
Gray Cast Iron (Class 30)
Gray Cast Iron Class 30 is named for its roughly 207 MPa (30 ksi) tensile s…
Ductile Iron (65-45-12)
Ductile Iron 65-45-12 is named for its properties: ~65 ksi (448 MPa) tensil…
Composite
G10 / FR4 (Glass-Epoxy)
G10/FR4 is a woven glass-fabric epoxy laminate, not a moldable thermoplasti…
Copper Alloy
C110 Copper
C110 (ETP copper) is electrolytic tough-pitch copper, essentially pure, pri…
C360 Free-Cutting Brass
C360 free-cutting brass is the machinist's benchmark, the material against …
C260 Cartridge Brass
C260 cartridge brass is the classic 70/30 copper-zinc alloy optimized for c…
C932 Bronze
C932 (SAE 660) is a leaded tin bronze and the standard bearing-and-bushing …
C145 Tellurium Copper
C145 tellurium copper adds roughly 0.5% tellurium to high-purity copper, br…
C172 Beryllium Copper
C172 beryllium copper is the strongest copper alloy available, reaching abo…
C510 Phosphor Bronze
C510 phosphor bronze is a tin bronze with a phosphorus deoxidizer that deli…
C630 Nickel-Aluminum Bronze
C630 nickel-aluminum bronze combines high strength near 620 MPa with outsta…
Engineering Plastic
Nylon (PA6)
Nylon PA6 is a tough, wear-resistant engineering thermoplastic and the stan…
POM / Delrin
POM (acetal), best known as Delrin, is a semi-crystalline engineering plast…
PEEK
PEEK is a high-performance semi-crystalline engineering plastic combining a…
PTFE (Teflon)
PTFE, known as Teflon, is a fluoropolymer with the lowest friction and broa…
Ultem (PEI)
Ultem PEI is a high-performance amorphous engineering plastic offering a 17…
Nylon 66 (PA66)
Nylon 66 (PA66) is a tough, abrasion-resistant engineering thermoplastic wi…
PET
PET is a stiff, strong semicrystalline polyester with good wear resistance,…
PETG
PETG is glycol-modified PET, an amorphous copolyester that is optically cle…
PC/ABS Blend
PC/ABS blends the impact strength and heat resistance of polycarbonate with…
SAN
SAN (styrene-acrylonitrile) is a transparent, rigid copolymer that improves…
ASA
ASA is essentially a UV-stable cousin of ABS: similar mechanical properties…
PPS (40% Glass-Filled)
PPS with 40% glass fill is a high-temperature, chemically inert thermoplast…
PSU (Polysulfone)
Polysulfone is an amorphous, transparent amber engineering thermoplastic ra…
PPSU (Radel)
PPSU, known by the Radel trade name, is an amorphous high-performance therm…
PVDF (Kynar)
PVDF, sold as Kynar, is a fluoropolymer rated to 150C combining broad chemi…
PCTFE (Kel-F)
PCTFE, known as Kel-F, is a fluoropolymer rated to 150C prized for the lowe…
Nylon 6/6 (30% Glass-Filled)
Nylon 6/6 with 30% glass fill trades the toughness of unfilled nylon for st…
UHMW-PE
UHMW-PE is an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene defined by extreme a…
LCP (30% Glass-Filled)
LCP with 30% glass fill is a liquid-crystal-polymer rated to 240C with exce…
Magnesium
AZ31B Magnesium
AZ31B is a wrought magnesium-aluminum-zinc alloy and the lightest structura…
AZ91D Magnesium (Die Cast)
AZ91D is the workhorse magnesium die-casting alloy, with higher aluminum co…
Nickel Alloy
Inconel 625
Inconel 625 is a solid-solution-strengthened nickel-chromium-molybdenum sup…
Inconel 718
Inconel 718 is an age-hardenable nickel-chromium superalloy delivering very…
Monel 400
Monel 400 is a nickel-copper alloy renowned for resistance to seawater, hyd…
Plastic
ABS
ABS is the everyday engineering thermoplastic, a tough, rigid, impact-resis…
Polycarbonate (PC)
Polycarbonate is the high-impact, optically clear engineering plastic, famo…
PMMA (Acrylic)
PMMA, or acrylic, is a rigid, optically clear plastic used where transparen…
Polypropylene (PP)
Polypropylene is a low-cost, lightweight semi-crystalline plastic with outs…
HDPE
HDPE is a tough, low-cost semi-crystalline polyethylene with a top corrosio…
PVC
PVC is a low-cost rigid plastic with a top corrosion rating and broad chemi…
LDPE
LDPE is a flexible, low-density polyethylene prized for toughness, near-tot…
Polystyrene (PS)
General-purpose polystyrene (PS) is a cheap, rigid, optically clear plastic…
TPU (Shore 85A)
TPU at Shore 85A is a flexible thermoplastic elastomer combining rubber-lik…
Stainless Steel
304 Stainless
304 is the most common austenitic stainless steel, an 18-8 Cr-Ni alloy that…
316 Stainless
316 is the molybdenum-bearing austenitic stainless that ships when 304 isn'…
303 Stainless
303 is the free-machining austenitic stainless: 304's chemistry with added …
17-4 PH Stainless
17-4 PH is a precipitation-hardening martensitic stainless that combines hi…
416 Stainless
416 is the free-machining martensitic stainless: sulfur added for chip cont…
321 Stainless
321 is an austenitic stainless steel stabilized with titanium specifically …
410 Stainless
410 is the workhorse martensitic stainless: hardenable by heat treatment, m…
430 Stainless
430 is a ferritic stainless steel: magnetic, non-hardenable by heat treatme…
2205 Duplex Stainless
2205 is a duplex stainless with a roughly 50/50 austenite-ferrite microstru…
904L Stainless
904L is a super-austenitic stainless with high nickel, chromium, and notabl…
Steel
1018 Mild Steel
1018 is the standard low-carbon mild steel, the baseline against which othe…
1045 Steel
1045 is a medium-carbon steel (around 0.45% carbon) offering higher strengt…
4140 Alloy Steel
4140 is the most widely used chromium-molybdenum alloy steel, valued for an…
12L14 Free-Machining
12L14 is a leaded, resulfurized free-machining steel engineered above all f…
A36 Structural
A36 is the standard structural carbon steel, specified by minimum yield (ar…
D2 Tool Steel
D2 is a high-carbon, high-chromium (around 12% Cr) cold-work tool steel tha…
1095 High-Carbon Steel (Annealed)
1095 is a high-carbon steel (about 0.95% carbon) supplied here in the annea…
4340 Alloy Steel (Q&T)
4340 is a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy steel supplied here quenched and…
8620 Case-Hardening Steel
8620 is a low-carbon nickel-chromium-molybdenum case-hardening steel design…
1144 Stressproof (Cold-Drawn Stress-Relieved)
1144 Stressproof is a resulfurized medium-carbon steel that is cold-drawn a…
A572 Gr50 HSLA Steel
A572 Grade 50 is a high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) structural steel with a 3…
1215 Free-Machining Steel
1215 is a resulfurized and rephosphorized free-machining carbon steel built…
Titanium
Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5)
Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5) is the workhorse titanium alloy and the benchmark for s…
Ti Grade 2 (CP)
Ti Grade 2 is commercially pure (CP) titanium, the most widely used unalloy…
Ti Grade 1 (CP)
Ti Grade 1 is the softest and most formable commercially pure titanium. Wit…
Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Grade 23)
Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Grade 23) is the extra-low-interstitial version of the workh…
Tool Steel
A2 Tool Steel
A2 is an air-hardening cold-work tool steel prized for dimensional stabilit…
O1 Tool Steel
O1 is the classic oil-hardening cold-work tool steel, valued for easy machi…
H13 Tool Steel
H13 is the dominant hot-work tool steel, engineered to resist thermal fatig…
S7 Tool Steel
S7 is a shock-resistant tool steel built for high impact toughness rather t…
Zinc Alloy
Zamak 3 (Zinc Die Cast)
Zamak 3 is the standard zinc die-casting alloy and the baseline against whi…
Zamak 5
Zamak 5 is Zamak 3 with roughly 1% copper added to boost strength and hardn…