Stainless Steel Features

The many unique values provided by stainless steel make it a powerful candidate in materials selection. Engineers, specifiers and designers often underestimate or overlook these valuable features due to the typically higher initial cost of stainless steel. However, stainless is often the most efficient option when considering the lifetime value of a project.

Stainless steel is a very versatile and useful material used in a wide variety of applications such as automotive parts, food processing, chemical processing, industrial, medical, marine, pharmaceutical, household goods, kitchenware and more.

Stainless steel is usually chosen when a product or part demands high wear, strength, duarability, and exposure to heat, certain corrosives or other elements.

Stainless Steel Benefits

Corrosion resistance
Lower alloyed grades resist corrosion in atmospheric and pure water environments, while high-alloyed grades can resist corrosion in most acids, alkaline solutions, and chlorine bearing environments, properties which are utilized in process plants.

Aesthetic appearance
The bright, easily maintained surface of stainless steel provides a modern and attractive appearance.

Hygienic properties
Its low maintenance and proven cleanability makes stainless steel the normal material in hygiene-critical applications such as in hospitals or food processing.

Strength-to-weight advantage
The work-hardening property of austenitic grades, that results in a significant strengthening of the material from cold-working alone, and the high strength duplex grades, allow reduced material thickness over conventional grades, therefore cost savings.

Ease of fabrication
Modern steel-making techniques mean that stainless can be cut, welded, formed, machined, and fabricated as readily as traditional steels.

Impact resistance
The austenitic microstructure of the 300 series provides high toughness, from elevated temperatures to far below freezing, making these steels particularly suited to cryogenic applications.