ABSTRACT
A high percentage of the metal products produced in the world are made of steel. The reason is obvious: it is a low-cost, readily available, easily fabricated material that is well understood in the industrial world. If an engineering designer faces a special application that requires corrosion resistance, low-or high-temperature service applications, superior heat or electrical transfer properties, low or high density, or a nonmagnetic characteristic, the options available are more costly but the property management protocols are similar within the boundary conditions of a particular metal family. In this chapter some specialty steels and common nonferrous options are discussed. More complete details for a given material can be found in the references.
