Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericized 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, and form a stable rust-like appearance after several years' exposure to weather.
The original COR-TEN received the standard designation A242 (COR-TEN A) from the ASTM International standards group.
Newer ASTM grades are A588 Gr.A for thin sheet. All alloys are in common production and use.
The surface oxidation of weathering steel takes six months, but surface treatments can accelerate the oxidation to as little as two hours.
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