E250 steel: properties, composition, equivalents
E250 is the base grade of IS 2062, the Indian structural steel standard: 250 MPa yield to 20 mm, 410 MPa minimum tensile, in quality sub-grades A, BR, B0 and C.
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What is E250?
E250 is the base grade of IS 2062, the Indian hot-rolled structural steel standard, and the specification written on the great majority of Indian project drawings. It is called up directly by IS 800, the Indian structural design code, so a structure designed in India is in practice designed in IS 2062 steel.
The designation is the yield stress: E for the elastic limit and 250 for its minimum value in MPa up to 20 mm. That convention arrived with the 2006 revision. Before it the same steel was Fe 410W, named after its 410 MPa tensile minimum, and those older names are still in daily use across Indian stockholding — Fe 410W A is E250A.
The letters after the grade are the impact test: A has none, BR is tested at room temperature, B0 at 0 °C and C at −20 °C, all to 27 J. BR and B0 are genuinely different requirements, and reading "B0" as "BR" on a drawing is a mistake with consequences.
Two features set IS 2062 apart from its Asian neighbours. First, the carbon equivalent is part of the grade — 0.42 for E250A down to 0.39 for E250C — where JIS G3101 sets none at all and GB/T 700 leaves it to agreement. Second, the tensile requirement is a floor with no ceiling. An E250 plate meeting 410 MPa minimum may test at 520 MPa and still conform, which matters for any procedure written against a capped European band.
E250 chemical composition
| Element | Mass % | Note |
|---|---|---|
| C | ≤ 0.23 | E250A; 0.22 % for BR and B0, 0.20 % for C |
| Mn | ≤ 1.5 | |
| S | ≤ 0.045 | 0.045 % for A, BR and B0; 0.040 % for C |
| P | ≤ 0.045 | 0.045 % for A, BR and B0; 0.040 % for C |
| Si | ≤ 0.4 | |
| CEV | ≤ 0.42 | carbon equivalent: 0.42 for A, 0.41 for BR and B0, 0.39 for C |
IS 2062:2011 ladle analysis. What distinguishes this standard from its Chinese, Russian and Japanese counterparts is that a **carbon equivalent limit is part of the grade**, not a supplementary requirement — 0.42 for E250A, tightening to 0.39 for E250C. Indian practice treats weldability as a delivered property, and the CEV appears on the mill certificate as a matter of course.
E250 mechanical properties
| Thickness / condition | Yield strength ReH / Rp0.2 MPa (ksi) | Tensile strength Rm MPa (ksi) | Elongation A % | Hardness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 20 mm | 250 (36.3) | ≥ 410 (≥ 59.5) | 23 | ≈ 120–150 HB (typical) |
| > 20 ≤ 40 mm | 240 (34.8) | ≥ 410 (≥ 59.5) | 23 | — |
| > 40 mm | 230 (33.4) | ≥ 410 (≥ 59.5) | 23 | — |
Yield stress steps at 20 mm and 40 mm, not at 16 mm as in EN 10025-2. The tensile requirement is a floor of 410 MPa with no ceiling, which is the single most important difference from the European grades: an E250 plate can be considerably stronger than its nominal class, and a weld procedure written for a capped tensile band does not automatically cover it. Elongation is 23 % on a gauge length of 5.65√S₀.
Impact toughness
E250 requires a minimum Charpy V-notch energy of 27 J at 0 °C (E250B0; BR at room temperature, C at −20 °C). The sub-grade letter is the impact test. **A** has no Charpy requirement. **BR** is tested at room temperature, **B0** at 0 °C and **C** at −20 °C, each to **27 J**. The letters are read as "B room" and "B zero", which is a common source of confusion on drawings — BR and B0 are two different requirements, not a typographical variation of one.
E250 equivalent grades
| Grade | System | Match | Why / differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| A36 | ASTM / ASME | Near | A36 is 250 MPa yield and 400–550 MPa tensile: the same yield, a slightly lower tensile floor and a ceiling that E250 does not have. |
| S235JR | EN (European) | Near | The usual counterpart on quality structure: E250BR is tested to 27 J at room temperature as S235JR is at +20 °C. E250 is 250 MPa yield against 235 and 410 MPa tensile floor against 360, so it is the stronger of the two at both limits. |
| Q235 | GB/T (China) | Near | Q235B is 235 MPa yield and 370–500 MPa tensile; E250 sits one small step above it on both counts, with a carbon equivalent limit that Q235 does not carry. |
| St3sp | GOST (Russia/CIS) | Near | St3sp is 245 MPa yield and 370–480 MPa tensile — the same tier, with mechanical values that come from a separate product standard rather than from the grade standard itself. |
| SS400 | JIS (Japan) | Near | Same commodity structural tier — SS400 is 245 MPa yield and 400–510 MPa tensile — but SS400 has no carbon equivalent limit and no impact requirement at all. |
| S275JR | EN (European) | Functional | Matches on tensile — S275JR is 410–560 MPa — but E250's yield is 250 MPa against 275. Where the design is tensile-governed the substitution works; where it is yield-governed it does not. |
Identical = same composition and mechanical limits within rounding. Near = one limit differs (e.g. carbon max or impact temperature). Functional = interchangeable for most uses after an engineering check. Full cross-reference for E250 →
Old and superseded designations
| Old name | Standard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fe 410W A / Fe 410W B / Fe 410W C | IS 2062:1999 (superseded) | The pre-2006 designation, named after the tensile minimum in N/mm² rather than the yield. Fe 410W A became E250A. Indian drawings and stock lists still carry the Fe names widely. |
| IS 226 | withdrawn | The older Indian structural standard, superseded by IS 2062. Occasionally still quoted on legacy drawings. |
| E250 Grade A / B / C per IS 2062:2006 | IS 2062:2006 (superseded) | The 2006 revision introduced the E-designation; the 2011 revision split grade B into BR and B0 by test temperature and extended the ladder to E550. |
Product forms and tolerance standards
Product forms: hot-rolled plate and sheet, sections: beams and columns (IS 808 / IS 12778 profiles), channel, angle, hot-rolled coil and strip, flats and round bar, structural hollow sections certified separately to IS 4923.
Dimensional tolerances: plate and sheet: IS 1852 / IS 8910; beams and channels: IS 808, parallel-flange IS 12778; angles: IS 808; hot-rolled coil: IS 1852.
Key property values
E250 yield strength
250 MPa minimum up to 20 mm, 240 MPa from 20 to 40 mm and 230 MPa above 40 mm. The steps fall at 20 and 40 mm, where EN 10025-2 steps at 16 and 40 — so between 16 and 20 mm E250 is nominally 15 MPa stronger than S235JR and 25 MPa weaker than S275JR.
E250 tensile strength
410 MPa minimum, with no upper limit. The floor is identical to S275JR's and 50 MPa above S235JR's. The absent ceiling is the practical difference: European structural grades cap tensile so that forming and welding behaviour stay predictable, and IS 2062 does not.
A, BR, B0 and C
The sub-grade is the Charpy requirement. A: none, C ≤ 0.23 %, CEV ≤ 0.42. BR: 27 J at room temperature, C ≤ 0.22 %, CEV ≤ 0.41. B0: 27 J at 0 °C, same chemistry as BR. C: 27 J at −20 °C, C ≤ 0.20 %, P and S ≤ 0.040 %, CEV ≤ 0.39. BR and B0 differ only in test temperature.
The carbon equivalent is part of the grade
IS 2062 sets CEV as a delivered property: 0.42 / 0.41 / 0.41 / 0.39 for A / BR / B0 / C, calculated on the usual IIW formula. It appears on the mill certificate without being asked for. This is a real advantage over SS400, which limits nothing but phosphorus and sulphur, and it makes E250 the better-defined of the two when a welding procedure has to be written.
The IS 2062 ladder
E250, E275, E300, E350, E410, E450 and E550, each named after its yield stress in MPa and each available in the A / BR / B0 / C quality pattern. E250 and E350 carry most of Indian construction; E350 is the grade to compare with S355, at 350 MPa yield and 490 MPa tensile minimum.
Accepting E250 against S235JR
The substitution is usually comfortable because E250 is stronger at both the yield and tensile floor. Three checks remain. The sub-grade letter: E250A has no impact test at all. The thickness band, since the ladders step at different points between 16 and 20 mm. And the tensile ceiling, which E250 does not have — a fabricator working to a capped procedure should confirm the actual tested value rather than the class.
Weldability
E250 is readily weldable by all arc processes, and the guaranteed carbon equivalent makes it more predictable than most commodity structural grades: at CEV ≤ 0.42 for grade A and ≤ 0.39 for grade C, preheat is normally unnecessary below about 25 mm at Indian ambient temperatures. Consumables are the ordinary mild-steel classes — E7018 and ER70S-6 equivalents, or the IS 814 electrode designations used locally. Two points deserve attention. Grade A carries no impact test, so it should not be used for welded work where toughness is part of the design; specify BR as a minimum and B0 or C where the structure sees low temperature. And because tensile is uncapped, a plate at the high end of the delivered range is harder than the class implies, which shows up in thick restrained joints.
Machining, forming and heat treatment
Machinability is good and comparable with other low-carbon structural steels, with manganese up to 1.5 % giving slightly higher cutting forces than St3sp or S235JR. Cold forming, bending and roll forming are acceptable in the usual structural thicknesses; elongation is 23 % across the thickness range. The uncapped tensile band means spring-back varies more between heats than on a European grade, so a press brake set from a previous batch will need checking on the new one. For pressing and deep drawing the Indian specification is IS 513 cold-rolled or IS 1079 hot-rolled forming grades, not IS 2062.
Typical applications
- Building and industrial steelwork across India, designed to IS 800
- Bridges, gantries and transmission towers in the higher sub-grades
- Welded frames, platforms, stairs and walkways
- Plate for tanks, hoppers, silos and chutes without pressure duty
- Railway and heavy vehicle structural components
- Sections and plate exported against an S235JR or A36 requirement
E250 compared with related grades
Frequently asked questions
What is IS 2062 E250 steel?
E250 is the base grade of IS 2062, the Indian hot-rolled structural steel standard called up by the IS 800 design code. It guarantees 250 MPa yield up to 20 mm, 410 MPa minimum tensile and 23 % elongation, with a carbon equivalent limit built into the grade.
What is the difference between E250A, E250BR, E250B0 and E250C?
The impact test and the chemistry that supports it. A has no Charpy requirement; BR is tested at room temperature, B0 at 0 °C and C at −20 °C, each to 27 J. Carbon and carbon equivalent tighten down the ladder, from 0.23 % and 0.42 for A to 0.20 % and 0.39 for C.
Is E250 the same as Fe 410?
Yes — Fe 410W is the pre-2006 name for the same steel, taken from its 410 MPa tensile minimum rather than its yield. Fe 410W A became E250A when IS 2062 was renamed to the E-series. Indian stock lists still use both.
Is IS 2062 E250 equivalent to S235JR?
It is the usual counterpart and is stronger at both limits — 250 MPa yield against 235 and a 410 MPa tensile floor against 360. The checks that matter are the sub-grade letter, because E250A has no impact test, and the missing tensile ceiling.
What is the difference between E250 and E350?
Strength class. E350 guarantees 350 MPa yield and 490 MPa minimum tensile against E250's 250 and 410, with the same A / BR / B0 / C quality pattern. E250 to E350 is the Indian equivalent of the S235 to S355 step, and E350 is the grade to compare with S355.
Does IS 2062 specify a carbon equivalent?
Yes, and that is unusual for a commodity structural standard. CEV is limited to 0.42 for grade A, 0.41 for BR and B0 and 0.39 for C, calculated on the IIW formula, and it is reported on the mill certificate as a matter of course.
Can E250 be used for structural hollow sections?
Not directly. Indian structural hollow sections are specified to IS 4923, which has its own grades and its own tolerance table. IS 2062 covers plate, sheet, strip, sections, flats and bars.
Related grades
Verified against IS 2062:2011; IS 2062:2011 — Hot rolled medium and high tensile structural steel (BIS); IS 800:2007 — General construction in steel, for the design context. Last checked: September 2026.