#stainlesssteel

Stainless steel can be divided into martensitic, austenitic, ferritic, duplex stainless steel, and precipitation-hardening stainless steel.

Austenitic stainless steels are divided into 200 series, which contains chromium, nickel and manganese. It also includes 300 series stainless steel, which contains chromium and nickel. For example, the famous 304 stainless steel contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel, which also known as 18/8 stainless steel.

Ferritic stainless steel refers to 400 series stainless steel, which contains 10.5%-25% chromium and has medium strength corrosion resistance and poor workability, such as 430, 409 stainless steel.

Martensitic stainless steel also includes 400 series--its main alloying element is also chromium. But compared with ferritic stainless steels, martensitic stainless steels have higher carbon content and lower chromium content. For example, 410 and 416 contain only 12% chromium.

Duplex stainless steel has about half ferrite and half austenite phases, so it has both two stainless steel characteristics: ductility and toughness are higher, also intergranular corrosion resistance and welding performance are significantly inmproved, such as 2205, 2507.

The last precipitation-hardening stainless steel has the biggest advantage that it can provide high tensile strength in the “solution treatment” conditions. The most common is 17-4 PH, also known as 630 stainless steel.

Different grades of stainless steel can be used to maximum advantage in the industries for which they are suitable. Choosing the right stainless steel will help you to save money with half the effort in your applications.