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Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting by forming a stable external layer of rust.
U.S. Steel (USS) holds the registered trademark on the name COR-TEN.[1] The name COR-TEN refers to the two distinguishing properties of this type of steel: corrosion resistance and tensile strength.[2] Although USS sold its discrete plate business to International Steel Group (now ArcelorMittal) in 2003,[3] it still sells COR-TEN branded material in strip mill plate and sheet forms.
The original COR-TEN received the standard designation A242 (COR-TEN A) from the ASTM International standards group. Newer ASTM grades are A588 (COR-TEN B) and A606 for thin sheet. All of the alloys are in common production and use.
The surface oxidation generally takes six months to develop, but surface treatments can accelerate this to as little as one hour.[4]
The Corten+ treatment products form a rust in one hour