Difference Between A36 And A500

1. A36
ASTM A36 steel is one of the most popular hot rolled steels.
A36 is designated by ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials.
It is a low carbon steel with a typical carbon content of 0.25 to 0.29 per cent.
The "36" in A36 is very important as it represents the minimum yield tensile strength of A36 of 36,000 psi.
A36 is highly machinable, weldable and has excellent mechanical properties.
This is one of the reasons for its great popularity.
It's also part of the reason why it's so widely used in structural applications.

2. A500
ASTM A500 is another low carbon hot rolled steel.
It has a chemical composition of up to 0.26 per cent carbon and is very similar to ASTM A36.
The main difference between ASTM A500 and ASTM A36 is the shapes available for each type of hot rolled steel.
A36 is available in round bar, rectangular bar, square bar, channel, angle, plate, round pipe and shaft systems, while A500 is only used for round pipe.
Applications for ASTM A500 are similar to other low carbon hot rolled steels.
They are heavily used in structural applications.