Types of Stainless Steel – Yes! Stainless steel has indeed become a choice for in a variety of settings; including households, industrials, medicals to manufacture settings.
Its primary characteristic is rust resistance making stainless steel items more durable and last a lot longer.
Not only that, the light-weight traits that stainless offers also added more advantage to the products that use stainless steel as its primary material.
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And for that reason, it’s obvious that many manufacturers are choosing stainless steel as it’s main material for their various items.
So, what are the types of stainless steel that are commonly found on the market? Let’s take a look at the explanation that dimulti has prepared in today’s article just for you!
Table of Contents
Types of Stainless Steel
1. Austenitic Stainless Steel
The first one is the austenitic stainless steel. This type of stainless steel has also become the most frequently used types of stainless steels.
Compared to other steel alloys, the austenitic stainless steel tends to have higher chromium content, thus making them more resistant to corrosion.
The austenitic stainless steel mainly composed of several materials, including iron, chromium, nickel manganese and also carbon
Another trait of the austenitic stainless steel is that they are usually non-magnetic though they may become magnetic after cold magnetic.
The most popular grades of austenitic stainless steel are 303, 304, 316, 310 and 321 grades.
2. Ferritic Stainless Steel
The next one is also the second most common type of stainless steel which is the ferritic stainless steel.
As its name implies, the ferritic stainless steel is magnetic, with around 10%-28% of chromium content and also carbon content of less than 0.20%
The ferritic stainless steel can be hardened through cold working, and generally less expensive due to their reduced nickel content.
Automotive, household appliances such as fridge and piping systems are the products that usually use ferritic stainless steel.
Also Read: “Pros and Cons of Using Stainless Steel“
3. Martensitic Stainless Steel
The martensitic stainless steels are the least common type of stainless steel alloy that usually has a lower corrosion resistance than ferritic and austenitic alloys.
But despite the least corrosion resistance, when it comes to durability and hardness, the martensitic stainless steel outshines them both.
The martensitic stainless steel is composed of iron, 11,5-18% chromium, and around 1,2% of carbon, and these higher carbon content is what made martensitic stainless steel harder.
Martensitic stainless steel alloys are often ideal for applications requiring extraordinarily high tensile strength and impact resistance.
Martensitic stainless steel is widely used in the manufacture of kitchen knives, machine components, and some industrial applications that require high strength and durability.
These alloys also can be corrosion resistant by applying protective polymer coating.
4. Duplex (Ferritic-Austenitic) Stainless Steel
The name “duplex” comes from its main composition, which is half austenite, and half delta ferrite alloys.
The combination of these alloys makes the duplex stainless steel have a better corrosion resistance, especially against chloride pitting.
And another advantage that the duplex has is higher tensile strength than standard austenitic stainless steel.
Duplex stainless steel is widely used in the oil and gas industry for pipework systems due to their physical properties and chemical resistance.
Also Read: “The Difference Between Titanium and Stainless Steel“
5. Precipitation-Hardening (PH) Stainless Steels
Precipitation-Hardening (PH) Stainless Steel is a stainless steel type that offers a combination of strength, corrosion resistance, and excellent high temperature resistance.
One of the main advantages of PH stainless steels is its ability to have extremely high strength with up to three to four times greater than standard austenitic stainless steel.
This is achieved through precipitation hardening mechanisms that allow the material to have extraordinary strength and strength without sacrificing corrosion resistance.
This characteristic makes PH stainless steels highly in demand in a variety of industrial applications that require materials with high structural strength and reliable durability.
They are often used in the aerospace industry, nuclear industry and also oil and gas industry.
So there you have it, the 5 types of stainless steel!
