The Impact of Metric

Rebar Conversion
Earlier this year, the reinforcing-steel industry announced plans to fully convert
to soft metric rebar production. How will the change affect nonmetric reinforced-
concrete construction projects?

BY DAVID P. GUSTAFSON

ederally funded construc- and requires re-engi-

F tion projects are now re-

q u i red to be designed in
metric units and built with
metric materials. The reinforcing-
steel industry is committed to
neering of the bars.
Major changes to
the metric bar sizes in
ASTM specifications
for reinforcing bars
supporting metrication and, earli- ( Re f s. 1, 2) were adopt-
er this ye a r, a number of re b a r ed in 1996. Whereas
mills announced that they are be- hard metric bars had
ginning to phase in the pro d u c- previously been speci-
tion of soft metric bars. Du ri n g fied, soft metric conver-
this transition period, the mills sions of the 11 inch-
will reduce and eventually elimi- pound sizes are now
nate their output of inch-pound standard. A one-to-one
b a r s. But what impact will the comparison of soft met-
switch to soft metric rebar have on ric and inch-pound bar
p ri vate-sector construction pro- sizes is shown in Table 1.
jects that don’t have to be built us- Table 2 presents addi-
ing metric units? tional metric and inch-
Fo rt u n a t e l y, the re p e rc u s s i o n s pound data for the bars.
should be minimal. Since soft met- As you can see, the nominal diam- weights per unit of length for the
ric bars are physically the same size eters, cross-sectional areas and metric bars—except for being ex-
as corresponding inch-pound bars, pressed in metric units—are exact-
the use of soft metric rebar will not ly the same as those for the inch-
require design changes or changes TABLE 1. SOFT METRIC BAR SIZES pound counterparts. In addition,
VS. INCH-P OUND BAR SIZES the height and spacing of the met-
in fabrication and construction
practices. It will be important, how- ric bars’ deformations are the same
e ve r, for designers and contractors Metric Inch-Pound as those for the inch-pound bars.
to become familiar with the specifi- The metric bar sizes for rail steel
#10 #3
cations of the new metric bar sizes. (ASTM A 616/A 616M-96) and axle
#13 #4
#16 #5 steel (ASTM A 617/A 617M-96a)
What Are Soft Metric Bars? have also been soft-conve rt e d .
Soft metric conversion describes #19 #6 These specifications aren’t dis-
#22 #7 cussed here because rail-steel and
the dimensions of inch-pound rein-
#25 #8 axle-steel bars are available in only
forcing bars in terms of the Interna-
tional System of Units (SI), but it #29 #9 a few areas of the country.
does not physically change the bar #32 #10 Before the adoption of soft met-
s i ze s. This form of conversion, #36 #11 ric bar sizes in the ASTM specifica-
t h e re f o re, is much more practical #43 #14 tions, the Achilles’ heel to imple-
than hard metric conversion, which #57 #18 menting metrication was the
bases bar sizes entirely on SI units challenge of maintaining a dual in-
 TABLE 2. ASTM STANDARD METRIC REINFORCING BARS

Nominal Dimensions *
Bar size* Diameter, Cross-sectional area, Weight,
mm [in] mm2 [in2] kg/m [lbs/ft]
#10 [#3] 9.5 [0.375] 71 [0.11] 0.560 [0.376]
#13 [#4] 12.7 [0.500] 129 [0.20] 0.944 [0.668]
#16 [#5] 15.9 [0.625] 199 [0.31] 1.552 [1.043]
#19 [#6] 19.1 [0.750] 284 [0.44] 2.235 [1.502]
#22 [#7] 22.2 [0.875] 387 [0.60] 3.042 [2.044]
#25 [#8] 25.4 [1.000] 510 [0.79] 3.973 [2.670]
#29 [#9] 28.7 [1.128] 645 [1.00] 5.060 [3.400]
#32 [#10] 32.3 [1.270] 819 [1.27] 6.404 [4.303]
#36 [#11] 35.8 [1.410] 1006 [1.56] 7.907 [5.313]
#43 [#14] 43.0 [1.693] 1452 [2.25] 11.38 [7.65]
#57 [#18] 57.3 [2.257] 2581 [4.00] 20.24 [13.60]

* Equivalent inch-pound bar sizes and nominal dimensions are enclosed in brackets.

ventory to serve two markets. The ASTM specifications. inch-pound bars

mills would have needed to pro-
duce metric rebar for federally
funded metric projects and inch-
pound bars for nonmetric projects.
The estimated additional cost to
supply the two markets was $200
million to $400 million annually. In
fact, the dual-inventory issue was
the impetus that led the reinforc-
ing-steel industry to press for adop-
tion of soft metric bar sizes in the
Technical Provisions in The
ASTM Specifications
In addition to differences in bar-
size designations, the other differ-
ences in the metric provisions in the
ASTM rebar specifications include:
• Minimum yield strengths, or
grades
• Bar marking
• Substitution of metric bars for
Minimum yield strengths. Ini-
tially, the minimum yield strengths
in the ASTM rebar specifications
were established as 400 megapas-
cals and 500 MPa. These values,
which are equal to 58,000 psi and
72,500 psi re s p e c t i ve l y, were in-
tended to be equivalent to inch-
pound Grade 60 (60,000 psi) and
Grade 75 (75,000 psi).
As a result of revisions approved

Figure 1. Marking requirements for Grade 420 and Grade Figure 2. Marking requirements for Grade 60 and Grade 75
520 metric rebar. inch-pound bars.
 TABLE 3. ASTM SPECIFICATIONS FOR BAR SIZES, GRADE AND MINIMUM YIELD STRENGTH
Type of Steel and ASTM
Specification
Billet-steel
A 615/A 615M-96a
Low-alloy steel
A 706/A 706M-96b
*Bar size and grade data enclosed in brackets are for inch-pound bars.
by ASTM in 1995, the metric yield
strengths were increased to 420 MPa
and 520 MPa (see Table 3). The in-
creased values are equal to 60,900
psi and 75,400 psi in the inch-pound
system. The rationale for increasing
the minimum yield strengths was to
bring the metric values closer to the
corresponding inch-pound values.
( Re f e rence 1 and Table 3 also in-
clude a Grade 300, which is equiva-
lent to Grade 40. But the production
and use of bars with this strength
level is diminishing.)
Cu r re n t l y, the reinforcing-steel
industry is re-evaluating the mini-
mum metric yield strength of 420
MPa. There is interest in submitting
a proposed revision to ASTM to ad-
just the value to 415 MPa, which is
equivalent to 60,100 psi. (The exact
soft conversion of 60,000 psi is
413.7 MPa.) If the industry decides
to pursue this small adjustment in
yield strength, it will seek the en-
dorsement of rebar users.
Bar marking. Soft metric rebar
must be identified or marked dis-
tinctly for size and minimum yield
strength, or grade. For example,
consider the marking requirements
for a #25, Grade 420 metric bar.
ASTM specifications require the
number 25 to be rolled onto the
surface of the metric bar to indicate
its size. To identify minimum yield
strength, the ASTM specifications
provide an option. The mill can
choose to roll a 4 (the first digit in
Bar Sizes* Grade*
#10-#19
[#3-#6]
#10-#36, #43, #57
[#3-#11, #14, #18]
#19-#36, #43, #57
[#6-#11, #14, #18]
#10-#36, #43, #57
[#3-#11, #14, #18]
the grade number) onto the bar or
roll on a single longitudinal rib or
grade line to indicate Grade 420.
Marking requirements for both
Grade 420 and Grade 520 metric re-
bar are shown in Figure 1. For com-
parison, Figure 2 shows the mark-
ing requirements for Grade 60 and
Grade 75 inch-pound bars.
Substitution. The ASTM specifi-
cations contain provisions for sub-
stituting metric bars for inch-
pound bars with corresponding
sizes and strengths. For example,
the substitution provision for billet-
steel rebar (Ref. 1, section 20.3.5)
states, “It shall be permissible to
substitute a metric size bar of
Grade 300 for the corresponding
inch-pound size bar of Grade 40, a
metric size bar of Grade 420 for the
corresponding inch-pound size bar
of Grade 60, and a metric size bar of
Grade 520 for the corresponding
inch-pound size bar of Grade 75.”
The substitution clause for low-
alloy steel rebar (Ref. 2, section
16.3.5) states, “It shall be permissi-
ble to substitute a metric size bar
of Grade 420 for the corresponding
inch-pound size bar of Grade 60.”
Implementing the Use
Of Soft Metric Bars
Because mills are starting to
ship soft metric bars to rebar fab-
ri c a t o r s, contractors may soon
be faced with fabricators who
wish to furnish soft metric bars
Minimum Yield
Strength,
MPa [psi]
300 300
[40] [40,000]
420 420
[60] [60,000]
520 520
[75] [75,000]
420 420
[60] [60,000]
for construction projects de-
signed in inch-pound units. To
lessen confusion and make the
t ransition as easy as possible,
mills and rebar fabri c a t o r s
should take the following steps:
• Mills should make sure that tags
on bundles of soft metric bars
shipped to fabricators display or
c ro s s - re f e rence the equivalent
inch-pound bar sizes, and that
certified mill test reports are in
both metric and equivalent
inch-pound units.
• Fabricators supplying soft metric
bars for nonmetric projects should
serve as facilitators by helping ar-
chitects, engineers and contrac-
tors make the conversion.
David P. Gustafson is vice president
of engineering for the Concrete Re-
i n f o rcing Steel Institute, Schaum-
burg, Ill.
References
1. ASTM A 615/A 615M-96a, Standard
Specification for Deformed and Plain
Billet-Steel Bars for Concrete Rein-
forcement, ASTM, West Conshohock-
en, Pa., 1997.
2. ASTM A 706/A 706M-96b, Standard
Specification for Deformed and Plain
Low-Alloy Steel Bars for Concrete Re-
inforcement, ASTM, 1997.
PUBLICATION #C970519
Copyright © 1997, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved