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Understanding these classifications is crucial for engineers and manufacturers to select the most suitable stainless steel grade based on specific requirements such as corrosion resistance, mechanical properties, formability, weldability, and cost-effectiveness.
Stainless steel grades - A guide to the naming conventions, compositions and applications of stainless steel
This guide provides an overview of stainless steel grades, describes the properties and typical uses of each grade, and compares the different grades.
Most Common Grades of Stainless Steel. There are different grades of stainless steel, which are distinguished by their chemical and mechanical properties. The most common types of stainless steel are 304, 316, and 430. 304 stainless steel is the most versatile type and is corrosion-resistant against most chemicals.
There are a lot of different grades of stainless steel. About 150-200 in all, but only around 15 of them are common. We’ll just be focusing on the SAE grades of stainless, since this is what you’ll most commonly come across in North America.
All grades of stainless steel fall under one of five different categories: martensitic, austenitic, ferritic, duplex, or precipitation hardened. These types each have a different structure that gives them various properties and benefits (as well as letting you know what they’re not so good at).
Each grade of stainless steel has a slightly different chemical composition and consequently a distinct physical appearance. The 300 series of stainless steel is the most common with 304 stainless steel and 316 stainless steel being the most prevalent grades. Two other common grades are 409 stainless steel and 430 stainless steel.
To truly understand what separates one type of stainless steel from another, you’ll need to look at its grade. Within families, you’ll find various grades that help to describe specific properties of the alloy such as toughness, magnetism, corrosion resistance and alloy composition.
This results in hundreds of different grades of stainless steel that are covered by a range of national and international standards. Grade data, specifications and properties are inlcuded for stainless steel.
There are five types of stainless steel groups with over 100 stainless steel grades, each grade has a unique composition and properties to meet the application, and the grades adding the chemical element enhance the properties.