TS EN 10079

TS EN 10079 is a terminology standard that establishes a common technical language for steel products. It defines products not by trade names alone, but first by their shape and dimensions, and then by their appearance and surface condition, helping manufacturers, suppliers, and users describe the same product family in the same way.

How steel products are identified

The standard’s approach is to describe steel products through physical characteristics that can be used consistently across the industry, rather than through end use. Shape and dimensions refer to the general geometry of the product and its dimensional character, such as whether it is a bar, sheet, plate, section, or tube. Appearance and surface condition describe the product’s external look, surface quality, and surface state. This distinction reduces ambiguity where the same steel material can be offered in different forms.

Why this terminology matters in practice

In general technical use, a terminology standard like this supports consistent ordering, cataloguing, quality documentation, and product description. In steel production, naming often depends not only on composition, but also on the product’s geometry, processing route, and surface character. Shape- and surface-based definitions therefore help distinguish differences created by rolling, cutting, drawing, welding, or other manufacturing routes. The notes in the standard state that products are generally defined independently of their end uses or manufacturing processes, although reference to those criteria is sometimes necessary; they also state that all dimensions given are nominal.

This document is about how steel products are named and distinguished, rather than how they are manufactured or tested. Used alongside more detailed product standards, it provides a shared vocabulary that helps separate one steel product type from another with greater precision.