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Background
The group of alloys which today make up the family of stainless steels had their beginning in 1913 in Sheffield, England; Harry Brearley was trying a number of alloys as possible gun barrel steels, and noticed that samples cut from one of these trial heats did not rust and were in fact difficult to etch. When he investigated this curious material, it contained about 13% chromium. This lead to the development of the stainless cutlery steels for which Sheffield became famous. Coincidentally development work was also being carried out in France at about the same time which culminated in the production of the first austenitic stainless steels. The worldwide consumption of stainless steel is increasing. There is growing demand from the building and construction industry where stainless steel is used for its attractive appearance, corrosion resistance, low maintenance and strength. Many other industries are adopting stainless steel for similar reasons as well as the fact that it does not need to be treated, coated or painted when put into service, despite the fact that it is more expensive than plain carbon steels. Evidence to support this comes from the household appliances manufacturers, where there are an ever increasing number of items, traditionally known as whitegoods, being manufactured in stainless steel.
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higher carbon and generally lower chromium content (e.g. 12% in Grade 410 and 416) than the ferritic types; Grade 431 has a chromium content of about 16%, but the microstructure is still martensite despite this high chromium level because this grade also contains 2% nickel. The relationship between the various martensitic grades is shown in Figure 4.
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Generally No
1 = Attraction of steel to a magnet. Note some grades can be attracted to a magnet if cold worked. 2= Varies significantly within between grades within each group e.g. free machining grades have lower corrosion resistance, those grades higher in molybdenum have higher resistance. Table 1 (Part B). Comparative Properties of stainless steel families.
3= Measured by toughness or ductility at sub-zero temperatures. Austenitic grades retain ductility to cryogenic temperatures.
Standard Classifications
There are many different varieties of stainless steel and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) in the past designated some as standard compositions, resulting in the commonly used three digit numbering system. This
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role has now been taken over by the SAE and ASTM, who allocate 1-letter + 5-digit UNS numbers to new grades. The full range of these standard stainless steels is contained in the Iron and Steel Society (ISS) "Steel Products Manual for Stainless Steels", and in the SAE/ASTM handbook of Unified Numbering System. Certain other grades do not have standard numbers, but are instead covered by other national or international specifications, or by specifications for specialised products such as standards for welding wire. Source: Atlas Steels Australia For more information on this source please visit Atlas Steels Australia
Date Added: May 16, 2001 | Updated: Jun 2, 2011
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