Stainless Steel Knowledge Guide:

What Is Stainless Steel:

Reasons For Stainless Steel Can Not Rust:

Common Three Types Of Stainless Steel:

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Stainless Steel:

Types Of Stainless Steel Parts:

Surface Treatment of Stainless Steel Parts:

Application Of Stainless Steel Parts:

What Is Stainless Steel:

Stainless steel is a steel with at least 10.5% chromium, which has excellent corrosion resistance, because of its ability to make it a popular choice in various industries such as architecture, transportation, food, and energy.

The Reason Why Stainless Steel Does Not Rust:

Chromium is a crucial element that makes stainless steel anti-corrosion. When stainless steel is exposed to the air, chromium forms a thin and transparent chromium oxide layer on the surface of the steel as a barrier to prevent further oxidation or rust. This process is called passivation.

The physical and chemical properties of chromium oxide are very stable and can even exist in harsh environments for a long time. When a layer of chromium oxide film is formed on the outer surface of the stainless steel, the inside of the stainless steel can be well protected. In addition to chromium, stainless steel may contain nickel, molybdenum, and nitrogen, further enhancing its corrosion resistance, strength, and durability.

Stainless Steel Type:

There are many types of stainless steel. They have unique performances and characteristics and play an irreplaceable role in different fields. Here I only list some typical stainless steel for your reference. If you need to know more stainless steel content, you can view Wikipedia's stainless steel:

Austenite Stainless Steel:

When steel contains about 18%, Ni 8%~ 25%, and C about 0.1%, it has a stable Austenite tissue. It is not magnetic and has high toughness and plasticity. But its intensity is low. It is impossible to strengthen it by phase change. It can only be strengthened through cold processing. It has excellent corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, and excellent plasticity and toughness. It is often used in the food and beverage industry, as well as the construction and transportation industry.

Ferritic Stainless Steel:

The chromium content is 15%~30% and has a body-centered cubic crystal structure. This type of steel generally does not contain nickel and sometimes includes a small amount of Mo, Ti, Nb, and other elements. This type of steel has the characteristics of large thermal conductivity, small expansion coefficient, good oxidation resistance, and excellent stress corrosion resistance. We often use ferritic stainless steel to make parts resistant to cavitation, water corrosion, and oxidizing acid corrosion.

Martensitic Stainless Steel:

This is a class of hardenable stainless steel. It has a chromium content between 11.5% and 18%. Its classic grade is Cr13 type. It can also be treated using quenching, tempering, and annealing. After being treated at different temperatures, it will have a variety of characteristic combinations. According to different characteristics, we can use casting, forging, and other processing methods to manufacture them into steam turbine blades (1Cr13), steam equipment shafts and tie rods (2Cr13), and Parts working in corrosive media such as valves, bolts, etc. (4Cr13). Steel grades with higher carbon content (4Cr13, 9Cr18) are suitable for the manufacture of medical equipment, table knives, measuring instruments, springs, etc. When processing the product to improve the strength and hardness of the martensitic stainless steel product, the carbon content will be increased, resulting in a decrease in the plasticity and corrosion resistance of the product. Therefore, the corrosion resistance of products processed from martensitic stainless steel is generally poor.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Stainless Steel:

Advantages of Stainless Steel:

Corrosion Resistance:

One of the most outstanding advantages of stainless steel is its resistance to corrosion and rust. Because of its characteristics, stainless steel can be used for a more extended period in harsh environments, so castings and forgings made of stainless steel are suitable for applications in various settings.

Strength and Durability:

Stainless steel can withstand high stress and pressure. It is especially suitable for the production of stainless steel fittings that require both corrosion resistance and high stress, such as pipes and valves.

Hygienic:

Stainless steel is a sanitary material that is easy to clean and disinfect. This makes it ideal for use in the food and beverage industry.

Beautiful:

Stainless steel products have a stunning appearance after surface treatment, such as polishing and wire drawing. Furniture, accessories, and buildings made of stainless steel products will have a very good modern beauty.

Disadvantages of stainless steel:

High Cost:
The cost of stainless steel is much more expensive than carbon steel, so in many cases, most of us will use carbon steel plus exceptional corrosion resistance and rust surface to replace stainless steel.

Difficult to Weld:

stainless steel products are almost impossible to repair after they break. Therefore, much stainless steel castings or forgings can only choose to buy new after damage.

Types of Stainless Steel Parts:

Hulk Metal is a professional stainless steel product manufacturer. We consider that stainless steel products can be seen everywhere in life, and it will be more troublesome to classify from the perspective of use scenes. So we categorize stainless steel products from the production process.

Stainless Steel Castings: 

which are a kind of metal parts that uses investment casting or lost foam casting process. After the castings are finished, it has the same high precision, and some accessories can even be used directly. We have already described the melting model casting and disappearing mold casting in other copywriting. If you want to understand in-depth understanding, you can click "Investment Casting" and "Lost Foam Casting" to jump.

Stainless Steel Forgings:

This is a kind of accessory to the production of forging processes. Stainless steel forging has better mechanical properties than stainless steel casting. Stainless steel billets can quickly obtain stainless steel forging with unique performance after hot forging, cold forging, free forging, or molding. For forging, we also compiled the corresponding content. If you want to learn more about forging, you can click here.

Stainless Steel Stamping Parts:

We can process the stainless steel plates into various accessories with rushing, bending, forming, and other processes.

Surface Treatment of Stainless Steel Parts:

The surface treatment methods of stainless steel products mainly include physical and chemical. If further subdivided, they can be mirror treatment, wire drawing, sandblasting, pickling, passivation, etching, galvanizing, powder coating, and so on.

If you want to know more about surface treatment, you can check the relevant content of surface treatment.

Application of Stainless Steel Parts:

We can see stainless steel products everywhere, from stainless steel statues to stainless steel teacups. We have provided OEM services for customers in dozens of industries for stainless steel parts. The following is the application of stainless steel accessories we have summarized and hope to help you with.

Daily Necessities:

stainless steel is hygienic, easy to clean, corrosion-resistant, and durable, so it has unique advantages in making daily necessities. We can use it to make all kinds of kitchen utensils, etc.

Building and Construction:

The rust and corrosion resistance of stainless steel products and the highly modern metallic luster make them an indispensable choice in many building and construction scenarios, such as stainless steel guardrail systems, building exterior wall decorations, park stainless steel sculptures, etc.

Automotive and Aerospace:

Castings and forgings of stainless steel also play a vital role in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

Medical:

The non-toxic and extremely difficult-to-react characteristics of stainless steel make its products occupy an irreplaceable seat in the medical field. Most surgical instruments, dental implants, and orthodontic braces are now stainless steel.

Energy:

Stainless steel is used in the energy industry to make boilers, pipes, and other components. Its corrosion resistance and high-temperature resistance make it ideal for these applications.

Food:

Stainless steel can still play a decisive role in the food industry. Most fermentation, storage, canning, and other production equipment are made of stainless steel.

Summarize:

Stainless steel's corrosion and rust resistance, durability, toughness, beauty, and other advantages make it play a vital role in all areas of life. HULK Metal provides professional stainless steel casting and stainless steel forging services. You can leave us a message at any time, and we will reply to you soonest.