Can the anchor bolts type ASTM F1554 grade 36 be replaced with ASTM A307 grade 36?
This question was submitted by a Port Authority on the East Coast. Anchor bolts were supplied by another company claiming they met or exceeded the requirements of F1554 grade 36. As it turns out, they did not.
Hi Greg,
Sorry for being late to send you a clear copy of the Mill certification. Just to refresh your memory: The question is, ASTM F1554 Gr 36 against ASTM A307 also Grade 36. As you know, the contractor submitted ASTM A307 with the attached mill certification and stated that it meets or exceeds ASTM F1554.
First: What is ASTM F1554 … is this material ?? or just testing method ??
Second: Attached is a clearer copy for the Mill Certification.
Yield is 50,736 PSI
Tensile is 70,961 PSI
% elongation is 23.6 % to 25 % per 8 inches
What do you think ?? Are we missing any information in the mill certification for the F1554 – see attached – is the provided information in the mill certification can be passed as ASTM F1554?Thank you for your help
To address your first question:
ASTM A36 is a steel grade, not a bolt specification. It covers the raw material (in this case steel round bar) that is used to manufacture the bolts. A307 and F1554 grade 36 are ASTM specifications covering bolts. Both A307 and F1554 grade 36 bolts are frequently manufactured using A36 steel. ASTM A307 is a specification that covers mild steel bolts. There are two grades within the ASTM specification. A307 grade A covers bolts for general applications, while A307 grade B covers heavy hex bolts and studs for cast iron flanges. There used to be an A307 grade C specification covering anchor bolts, but it was eliminated in 2007 and subsequently replaced by F1554 grade 36.
Both A307 grade C (when it existed) and F1554 grade 36 have chemical and mechanical (strength) requirements that must be met in order to certify the bolts to these specifications. As you can see in the table below, F1554 grade 36 requires additional testing (reduction of area) that A307 grade C did not require.
Mechanical Requirements
| Grade | Tensile, ksi | Yield, ksi min | Elongation % min | Reduction of Area % min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A307 grade C | 58 - 80 | 36 | 23 | no requirement |
| F1554 grade 36 | 58 - 80 | 36 | 23 | 40 |
As for the bolts that were supplied…
One of the requirements of F1554 grade 36 is that the Reduction of Area of the steel must exceed 40%. For the anchor bolts in question, either this test was never performed or the data was never recorded on the test report. Most likely, the test was not performed since this is only a test of F1554 and not a test required of A307. Since this value is missing, there is no way to determine whether or not the bolts that were supplied (and are already in the foundation) have enough ductility (as determined by the Reduction of Area test) to meet the requirements of F1554 grade 36. There is a very good chance that the bolts would meet this requirement if they were tested, but they never were. Therefore, based on the test reports that accompanied the bolts that were supplied, these anchor bolts do not meet all of the requirements of F1554 grade 36. Tensile, yield, and elongation are all good, but the reduction of area requirement has not been met.
Many companies attempt to substitute A307 anchor bolts for F1554 grade 36 anchor bolts as has occurred in this case. The bottom line is that these anchor bolts that were supplied are missing data that is required to certify them to F1554 grade 36.
Excellent platform for sharing and knowing the materials specifications & experiences.
my supplier said their anchors meets or exceeds the grade36 requirements, but the MTR i asked for says a36 and they had more paperwork for the reduction of area.
the engineer i am dealing with is very picky. are these grade 36? or are they just a36 with an extra test, but still a36? if i cant call them grade36 then they cant be use.
thanks
@Greg- In order to call a fastener F1554g36, it needs to have all the required testing performed. If your A36 material is missing a RA% test, then in our opinion you cannot call that material F1554g36 until that test is performed and passes.
can we consider ASTM A36 Gr B material specification with fastener material F1554gr 36 both are the same
@Shahid- There isn’t a grade B within A36, in fact there aren’t any subgrades within A36. That said, A36 is a raw material standard whereas F1554g36 is a finished fastener standard. There are many similarities both chemically and mechanically, but since one is steel and the other a fastener, there are testing and dimensional differences between the two. You’d need to consult the MTRs for the steel to see if it meets the requirements of F1554, otherwise additional testing may need to be performed.
Thank you for this feed. It was very enlightening for me. Especially as a last minute reference. I had a situation today . And this pulled me thru.
I am a fabricators inspector. And very cautious about signing off unless I have facts.
Thank you so much Dane.
Hi Eduardo
We requested that ASTM-F1554-GRADE36 be used in a project
What is the best material to replace with the same mechanical properties?
Thanks
@Vahid- There are several mild steel grades that are similar to F1554g36, but none that are exact. Any material substitutions should be run past the project engineer.
What would be the material equivalency to manufacture F1554 Grade 55 bolts form raw material?
@Dan- the ASTM F1554 grade 55 chemical requirements are fairly loose, so most any low carbon steel that meets the mechanical requirements will likely meet F1554. That said, most manufacturers like ourselves have the steel rolled at the mill to specifically to meet F1554.
PARA FABRICAR PERNOS DE ANCLAJE BAJO F1554 GR 36
ES UTILIZADO ACERO SAE 1026
ASTM F1554 cubre los pernos de anclaje que están diseñados para ser empotrados en concreto para sujetar soportes estructurales a la base de concreto. Estos pernos de anclaje están disponibles en los siguientes
Grado 36,
Grado 55
Grado 105;
El número después del grado designa el límite elástico mínimo del sujetador (medido en ksi).
@Jose- Thank you for your comment. 1026 steel can be used to make grade 36 bolts, but it is only one of many steels that can be used.
I have an anchor consisting of 4 bars (7/8 ″) A307 welded to the base plate (1 ″) of a column (these bars in turn have a 70x70x19 plate welded at its lower end.
1. Can these A307 bars be welded to the plates, or must they be threaded?
2. Can I directly replace the A307 bars with A36 bars? If so, should the diameter be modified?
@Joe- Assuming your base plate is also a weldable material, we see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to weld the bars to the base plates. The mechanical requirements for A307 and A36 are almost identical, so a substitution shouldn’t be an issue, although as with all substitutions, we always recommend talking to the project engineer first.
Buenos días, el Acero ASTM F1554-36 re-emplazó al ASTM A-307 Grado C en 2007.
Eso significa que el Proceso de Fabricación de esos aceros es el mismo: Horno eléctrico, corazón abierto u oxigeno básico. Partiendo de esa premisa, y de acuerdo con la ASTM A-307:
6. Mechanical Properties. 6.5 Grade C nonheaded anchor bolts shall be tested using machined specimens and shall conform to the tensile properties specified for bars in Specification A 36/A 36M. Properties are shown in Table 4 for information. In the event of conflict Specification A 36/A 36M shall control. Qué significa eso? Simple, si sus pernos de anclaje no llevan cabezas las propiedades mecánicas que deben cumplir son las que aparecen para el ASTM A-36. Entonces, Ud puede usar material ASTM A-36 para ese tipo de pernos de anclaje.
Razón: como no lleva cabezas el esfuerzo lo soportan las roscas del perno a ambos lados con sus tuercas respectivas.
Buenos días quiero pedir información del material A36 F1554
Cual seria su equivalente para fabricar pernos de anclaje
@Ricardo- El acero A36 se utiliza normalmente para fabricar pernos de anclaje F1554 grado 36.
nice information…
I want to know ASTM F1554-36 material equivalent to Indian standards .
@Deepak- Apologies, but we are not familiar enough with Indian standards to know what the equivalent would be.
Given that the main difference between A307C and F1554 Grade 36 is a test of ductility, does that mean I could safely weld A307C? Thank you for any help you can offer!
@Pearce- Yes, A307C bolts are also weldable.
Where can I buy this bolt in my hometown and how can I make sure that’s a 36 Bolt
@Dan- If your local fastener distributors are unable to provide this material, we would be happy to quote you on your needs.
De. ar Sir,
We are using an Anchor Bolt with material specs as ASTM F1554-2014 Grade 36. Can you please provide the Torque Value required to tighten this anchor bolts?
Thank you very much.
Eduardo
@Eduardo- The AISC guidelines say that snug tight is all that is required for anchor bolts, unless the project engineer says otherwise. If that is the case, then he/she should supply you with the necessary information to torque them properly.
This was an extremely helpful article for me. Im not a salty veteran but ive had an issue with the architect rejecting my anchor bolt submittal. They have an ASTM 307 non headed spec’d. I supplied an ASTM 1554 grade 55. I was able to explain that the 307 was replaced years ago with the 1554 and that ipso facto, the 1554 was in fact a subsection of the 307 non headed spec. Fantastic trump card for me. Thank you.
I’m on a once in life time job situation on the structural steel framing. I been in the business for 40 years and i can make history on this project. But this is one of the problems we have the structural engineer was pretty tough on the fabricator make sure he followed all the specifications to the Tee. Several of the structural steel column baseplate anchor bolts did not line up and additional anchor bolts had to be added to the structure. The problem was as the steel inspector i noticed a home depot sticker on the all threaded rods. This raised the question what type material is the rods. The answer was i don’t know. That’s not good enough. How can we govern the strength of the structure if we can’t identify the material.
@Charles- More than likely, the Home Depot material is made to ASTM A307A, but I doubt they maintain any sort of tracability, so you could never really prove that. The only way to be absolutely certain would be to send one piece to a test lab and have them run a mechanical and chemical analysis on it.
This is really good information for the people who wants to get quick information.