What is Stainless Steel?

The combination of steel and chromium are mixed together to form a stainless steel. Stainless steel widely used because of its corrosion resistance feature. The main source of this corrosion resistive power of stainless steel is the coating of thick chromium on the surface of the steel. This corrosion resistance feature of stainless steel find its application in consumer goods, architecture, building construction, home decoration, food industry, chemical industry, transportation, gas and oil, petrochemical, power generation and much more. Different SS applications require different widths, thickness and hardness levels. There are different grades available for stainless steel and its price calculated on the basis of these grades, durability and quality. Stainless steel can divided into many different types but it is main types are austenitic, ferritic, martensitic and duplex stainless steel.

Stainless Steel Types:

There are different types of stainless steel are used in different industrial applications. Different stainless steel types are includes different combinations of Iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), Nitrogen (N), molybdenum (Mo), chromium (Cr), etc and the different combination of these fabricate different types of stainless steel. Out of these there are four main types are widely used in different application, and these types are:

Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic steel is very popular and most widely used stainless steel. In austenitic stainless steel the nickel content of at least 7% added to change the crystal structure from ferrite to austenite that make it tough, ductile, and easy to form and weld. Austenitic steel can be used in many applications including house ware and kitchen products, chemical industry, architectural façade, construction structure, food processing equipment, chemical industry, etc…

Ferritic Stainless Steel

This type of stainless steel are consists of the combination of iron and chromium. Ferritic stainless steel crystal structure is similar to mild steel but it has more corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance power compare to mild steel. Ferritic stainless steel are magnetic in nature but cannot be hardened and strengthened by heat treatment. It finds its application in decorative trim, boilers, washing machines, automotive trim, indoor architecture, dishwasher, etc...

Martensitic Stainless Steel

This type of steel consists of iron, 12% chromium and 0.15% carbon. Martensitic stainless steel is very hard but low toughness is brittle in nature. They are magnetic and can be hardended by heat treating. This type of steel used to manufacture knives, razor blades, turbine blades, etc...

Duplex Stainless Steel

It is so called because it has the combination of both 50% ferrite and 50% austenite. This duplex structure gives this family the combination of the properties of ferrite austenite stainless steel. That is why duple stainless steel is strong, flexible, corrosion resistance and stress corrosion cracking resistance. Duplex stainless steel is widely used in paper industry, pulp industries, shipbuilding industries, hot water tanks, etc.