Stainless Steel

Metal Materials

Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel is a steel alloy that contains a minimum of 10% chromium. The additional chromium provides a pristine surface finish and exceptional corrosion resistance not found in carbon steels.

Properties

  • High strength
  • Self-protective
  • Excellent heat resistance
  • Excellent corrosion resistance
  • Excellent impact resistance
  • Typically doesn’t require surface finishing

Applications

  • Cookware
  • Home appliances
  • Hand tools
  • Storage containers
  • Pressure tanks
  • Automotive parts

Popular Stainless Steel Alloys

Stainless Steel 304

304 is the most common stainless steel alloy and is known for its pristine surface finish. It has significantly higher corrosion and oxidation resistance than carbon steels. 304 is formable, weldable and ideal for use in corrosive environments. Typical applications include railroad and industrial equipment, transport containers, household appliances, cutlery, and hand tools.

Stainless Steel 305

Has the highest formability of all austenitic stainless steels making it ideal for applications such as barrels and shells. 305 is best suited for cold working processes such as drawing, spinning and blanking, although it can be hot worked by forging and heading. It’s not heat treatable, but can be welded. 305 is used in products including drawn housings, rivets, tank covers, kitchen utensils, and writing instruments.

Stainless Steel 309

Ideal for high-temperature applications up to 1900°F. It is stronger than 304 and has higher corrosion resistance. 309 can be cold worked but is not heat treatable. It is weldable and relatively easy to machine. This alloy is often used in furnaces, thermowells, power boiler tube hangers, generators, paper mills, petroleum refining, brazing fixtures, anchor bolts, refractory supports, and oven linings.

Stainless Steel 310

Maintains its strength and corrosion resistance up to 2100°F and can also be used at cryogenic temperatures reaching as low as -450°F. It has superior corrosion resistance compared to 309, can be welded and cold worked, but cannot be heat treated. Common applications include oil burners, heat exchangers, combustion tubes and chambers, radiant tubes, kilns, and conveyor belt rollers.

Stainless Steel 314

Nearly identical to 310 but contains more silicon to provide increased heat resistance. Common applications include furnaces, oil burners, heat exchangers, combustion tubes and chambers, firebox sheets, flare tips, welding rods, filler wires, annealing covers, fluidized bed coal combustors, radiant tubes, tube hangers, coal gasifier components, and kilns.

Stainless Steel 317

Often used in highly corrosive environments. This alloy is weldable, easily machined, and can be cold and hot worked, but it cannot be heat treated. 317 is ideal for making generators, absorber towers, boilers, condenser tubes, heat exchangers, pipes, pressure vessels, stack liners, fittings, and valves.

Types of Stainless Steel

Austenitic:

Non-magnetic, highly formable and can be cold worked, but not heat treated. Austenitic stainless steel is corrosion resistant but prone to stress corrosion cracking. Often used to make shafts, valves, bolts, bushings, nuts, aircraft fittings, brewing equipment, and cryogenic vessels. Austenitic stainless steels are either 200 or 300 series with common grades including 201, 202, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308, 309, 310, 314, 316, 317, 321, 347, 348, and 384.

Precipitation Hardening Grade:

These grades are heat treatable, typically have much higher strength than austenitic stainless steels, and retain much of their strength in high temperatures. Often referred to as PH Type stainless steel, and used to make military equipment and aircraft structural components. Common grades include 17-7 PH, PH 15-7 Mo, 17-4 PH, and 15-5 PH.

Ferritic:

Magnetic with lower ductility and corrosion resistance than austenitic grades. Ferritic stainless steel grades have a high resistance to stress corrosion cracking and can be cold worked, but are not heat treated. Often used to make heat exchangers, automotive fasteners, and furnace components. Ferritic stainless steels are 400 series with common grades including 405, 409, 430, 434, 436, 442, and 446.

Duplex:

A hybrid of austenitic and ferritic steels, duplex stainless steels are known for exceptionally high strength and stress corrosion cracking resistance. Duplex stainless steels are easily heat-treated but difficult to cold form. Often used to make chemical processing equipment, pressure vessels, and heat exchanger components. Common UNS grades include S32101, S32304, S32003, S31803, S32205, S32760, S32750, S32550, S32707, and S33207.

Martensitic:

Magnetic and heat treatable with higher strength but lower corrosion resistance than ferritic grades. Often used to make pump shafts, bolts and screws, valves, bushings, rivets, coal chutes, cutlery, jet engine parts, aircraft fittings, mining machinery, rifle barrels, and fire extinguisher inserts. Martensitic stainless steels are 400 and 500 series with common grades including 410, 414, 416, 420, 431, and 440.

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