How To Choose the Right Stainless Steel Grades for your Industrial Applications?

Stainless steel is a widely used element because of certain properties like corrosive resistance and fire and heat resistance. A wide number of industries use stainless-steel like food, medical equipment, home appliances, automotive manufacturing, energy, etc. Steel comes in so many varieties that it's difficult to choose the right one amongst them for your specific purpose. There are more than 100 stainless steel varieties. Hence to make it easier for you to make the correct choice, go through this article to understand what kind of stainless-steel products you need. 

There are certain factors which one should consider while choosing stainless steel:

• Corrosive resistance – The surrounding of your establishment should be considered while choosing the grade of stainless steel. More intense atmospheric conditions require higher quality grade steel. The element chromium in steel prevents it from corrosion. 

• Mechanical strength - The way you want the steel to be put in use also plays a factor. For welding, purposes prefer lower strength steel. For solid foundations, use a high strength stainless steel like austenitic or duplex. 

The strength is steel reflects the stress the metal can withstand before it deforms or fractures. Ductility is the ability of a material to change its shape without breaking or losing its strength. The stainless-steel quality to absorb energy before getting fractured is its toughness. Nickle adds toughness and ductility to steel. 

• Heat resistance – Furnace environments increase the rates of corrosion on stainless steel, so get a better grade of stainless steel for higher temperature surroundings.

• Magnetic response – The magnetic strength of steel varies on different grades of steel. Some have a lower magnetic response and some of higher, so choose accordingly.

• Life cycle Cost – Cost is one of the most important factors for the majority of customers. Higher grades come at a higher price, so evaluate the cost of stainless steel based on its life cycle. 

These are some of the stainless-steel grades and the range is given:

WIRE RODS AND WIRES - ASTM: 201, 202 – 430, 430L; DIN/EN: 1.4301, 1.4306 - 1.4370, 1.4016.

ELECTRODE GRADES: ER304, ER304L - ER420

FASTENERS - Product Grades: 304 - 316Ti

Property Class: For Bolts & Screws: A2-70 - F593H; For Nuts: A2-70 - A4-040; For SHCS: F837B, F837C, F837E, F837; For Threaded Rods: A2-70 - B8M CL1 & CL2

BRIGHT BARS - AISI: 201, 202 - 17-4PH, F51; DIN: WNR1.4301, WNR1.4305 - WNR1.4462

WELDING WIRES: ER 304, ER 304L - ER 430, 430LNb, and many more. .

Austenitic stainless-steel displays very high toughness and resistance to extreme temperatures. Ferritic stainless-steel has an average corrosion resistance but has better engineering abilities. Duplex is a mixture of both with high tensile strength and welding capacity. Martensitic stainless steel has high hardenability, poor weldability, and lower corrosive resistance.   

Stainless steel comes in different series i.e. 200 series, 300 series, and 400 series. 

Many factors should be considered while choosing the perfect grade of stainless steel for your industrial applications. The above-mentioned is an exhaustive list of factors that you should consider making the best use of your money. 

Many stainless steel products manufacturers in India supply a range of good quality steel. One of them is Viraj. This is a 28-year-old company with a presence in more than 90 countries. Viraj is one of the largest stainless-steel manufacturers and exporter of stainless steel products like wire roads, welding wires, fasteners, flanges, profiles, and bright bars. Some of the grades produced by them are Austenitic, Martensitic, Ferritic, Duplex, and many more. Y can go to the company’s website to get more details about stainless steel products.

Stainless-steel has the added advantage of corrosion and heat resistance above the properties of steel. It plays a significant role in industrial establishments with so many types of grades available. Make the right choice while purchasing stainless steel products from manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that it turns out to be the best grade as per your requirement and cost-effective. 

Article source: https://article-realm.com/article/Finance/8901-How-To-Choose-the-Right-Stainless-Steel-Grades-for-your-Industrial-Applications.html