ISO 16592:2012 gives guidance on a method for the determination of the carbon content in steels containing other alloying elements (less than 1 % to 2 % by mass) using the calibration curve method. It specifies the sample preparation, X-ray detection, establishment of the calibration curve and the procedure for the determination of the uncertainty of the measured carbon content. It is applicable to steels containing a mass fraction of carbon of less than 1,0 %. The method is not applicable to steels with higher carbon contents, which could significantly affect the accuracy of the analysis results.

ISO 16592 applies to analyses performed using normal beam incidence and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometry; it is not designed to be used for energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry.