AA

Aluminum Association

AAR

Association of American Railroads

ABS

American Bureau of Shipbuilding

ACDQ

Accelerated Cooling Direct Quench

ACI

Alloy Casting Institute

ADI

Austempered Ductile Iron

AFNOR

Association Francaise de Normalisation

AGA

American Gas Association

AISI

American Iron and Steel Institute

AMS

Aerospace Materials Specifications

AOD

Argon Oxygen Decarburization

API

American Petroleum Institute

AQ

Aircraft Quality

AREA

American Railway Engineering Association

ASCE

American Society of Civil Engineers

ASIE

American Society of Industrial Engineers

ASM

American Society for Metals (now ASM International)

ASME

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASQ

Aircraft Structural Quality

ASQ

Axle Shaft Quality

ASTM

American Society for Testing and Materials

AWWA

American Water Works Association

BH

Bake Hardenable (Steel)

BSI

British Standards Institute

BSSA

British Stainless Steel Association

CD

Cold Drawn

CDA

Copper Development Association

CERF

Civil Engineering Research Foundation

CF

Cold Formed or Cold Finished

CHQ

Cold Heading Quality

COF

Coefficient of Friction

CQ

Commercial Quality

CR

Cold Rolled

CRES

Corrosion REsistant Steel

CS

Commercial Steel

CSA

Canadian Standards Associates

CTE

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

CVD

Chemical Vapor Deposition

CW

Cold Worked

CW

Cold Worked

D Steel

Dual Phase Steel

DA

Duplex Annealed

DDQ

Deep Drawing Quality

DDS

Deep Drawing Steel

DIN

Deutches Institut für Normung

DIPRA

Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association

DIS

Ductile Iron Society

DOE

Department of Energy (US Government)

DQ

Drawing Quality

DQSK

Drawing Quality Special Killed

DR

Dent Resistant (Steel)

DS

Drawing Steel

EDDQ

Extra Deep Drawing Quality

EDDS

Extra Deep Drawing Steel

ELI

Extra Low Interstitial

EMI

Electromagnetic Interference

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (US Government)

ERW

Electrical Resistance Welding

ESCR

Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance

ESR

Electroslag Remelting

FDA

Food and Drug Administration (US Government)

FED

Federal Specification Number

FM

Factory Mutual

Frg

Forging

GMAW

Gas Metal Arc Welding

GP

General Purpose

GTAW

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding

HAZ

Heat Affected Zone (welding/joining)

HB

Brinell Hardness Number

HE

Hot Extruded

HF

Hot Finished

HIP

Hot Isostatic Pressing

HR

Hot Rolled

HRA

Rockwell A Hardness Number

HRB

Rockwell B Hardness Number

HRC

Rockwell C Hardness Number

HRPO

Hot Rolled, Pickled and Oiled

HSLA

High Strength Low Alloy (Steel)

HSS

Hollow Structural Steel

HT

Heat Treated

HV

Vickers Hardness

HW

Hot Worked or Hot Wrought

ISO

International Standards Organization

JIS

Japan Industrial Standard

ksi

1000 pounds per square inch (psi)

MASH

Mean Apparent Specific Heat

MIL SPEC

Military Specification Number

MIM

Metal Injection Molding

MMA

Manual Metal Arc Welding

MMC

Metal Matrix Composite

MSE

Materials Science and Engineering

NACE

National Association of Corrosion Engineers

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US)

NB

No Break (Applied to Impact Test Results)

NHT

Not Heat Treated

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NSF

National Sanitation Foundation (nonregulatory agency)

OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer

OSHA

Occupation Safety and Health Administration (US Government)

PH

Precipitation Hardened

PHT

Precipitation Heat Treated

PM (P/M)

Powder Metallurgy

POP

Point of Purchase (Marketing Displays)

PVQ

Pressure Vessel Quality

QA

Quenched and Aged

QT

Quenched and Tempered

RQ

Regular Quality

RT

Room Temperature

S Steel

Structural Quality Grade Steel

SA

Solution Annealed

SAE

Society of Automotive Engineers

SCHQ

Special Cold Heading Quality

SHT

Solution Heat Treated

SMA

Shape Memory Alloy

SMAW

Shielded Metal Arc Welding

Smls

Seamless

SQ

Structural Quality

SQ

Saw Quality

SQ

Solution Quenched

SQA

Solution Quenched and Annealed

SR

Stress Relieved

SS

Stainless Steel

SS

Structural Steel

STA

Solution Treated and Aged

STOA

Solution Treated and Overaged

TA

Triplex Annealed

TC

Tungsten Carbide

TCT

Tungsten Carbide Tipped

TYS

Tensile Yield Strength

UNI

Ente Nationale Italiano di Unificazione (Italian standards body)

UNS

Unified Numbering System

UTS

Ultimate Tensile Strength

VAR

Vacuum Arc Remelting

VCD

Vacuum Carbon Deoxidation

VIM

Vacuum Induction Melting

W Steel

Weathering Grade Steel

WC

Tungsten Carbide

X Steel

Low Alloy Grade Steel