STAINLESS STEELS

Stainless steel is an alloy steel may be defined as one whose characteristic properties are due to some element other than carbon.

Purpose of Alloying:
Alloying elements are added to steels for many purposes. Some of the most important are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Increase Hardenability Increase strength at ordinary temperature Improve mechanical properties at either high or low temperature Increase wear resistance Increase corrosion resistance

Stainless Steels
Stainless steels are used for both corrosion and heat-resisting applications. The corrosion-resisting property is due to a thin, adherent, stable chromium oxide or nickel oxide film that effectively protects the steel against many corroding media. This property is apparent only when the chromium content exceeds about 10 percent. Since stainless steels contain relatively large amounts of chromium, the iron-chromium-carbon alloys belong to a ternary system. The response of stainless and heat-resisting steels to heat treatment depends upon their composition. They are divided into three general groups.

Martensitic Stainless Steels

These steels are primarily straight chromium steels containing between 11.5 and 18 percent chromium. Some examples of this group are 403, 410, 416, 420, etc. Type 410 and 416 are the most popular alloys in the group and are used for turbine blades and corrosion-resistant castings. Martensitic types of stainless steels are magnetic, can be cold-worked without difficulty, especially with low carbon content, can be machined satisfactorily, have good toughness, show good corrosion resistance to weather and to some chemicals, and are easily hot-worked. Maximum carbon content in this group is 1.25% in 416 alloy and 1% in other alloys mostly. Stainless steels as a group are much more difficult to machine than plain-carbon steels. The use of a small amount of sulphur in types 416 and selenium in type 416Se improves the machinability considerably.

Ferritic Stainless Steels

This group of straight-chromium stainless steels contain approximately 14 to 27 percent and include type 405, 430, and 446. Low in carbon content, but generally higher in chromium than the martensitic grades, these steels are not hardened by heat treatment and are only moderately hardened by cold working. They are magnetic and can be cold-worked or hot-worked, but they develop their maximum softness, ductility and corrosion resistance in the annealed condition. In the annealed condition, the strength of these steels is approximately 50 percent higher than that of carbon steels, and they are superior to the martensitic stainless steels in corrosion resistance and machinability. Since the Ferritic stainless steels may be cold-formed easily, and they are used extensively for deepdrawn parts such as vessels for chemical and food industries and for architectural and automotive trim. The only heat treatment applied to truly ferritc steel is annealing. This treatment serves primarily to relieve welding or cold-working stresses. An important form of brittleness peculiar to the Ferritic grades can develop from prolonged exposure to, or slow cooling within, the temperature range from about 750 to 950 degree Farad. They are not tempered, since the amount of martensite formed is negligible, and because of possible embrittlement in the 850 degree Farad range.

Austenitic Stainless Steels

These are the chromium-nickel (type 3xx) and chromium-nickel-manganese stainless steels (type 2xx). These types are essentially nonmagnetic in the annealed condition and do not harden by heat treatment. The total content of nickel and chromium is at least 23 percent. They can be hot-worked readily and can be cold-worked when proper allowance is made for their rapid work hardening. They are extremely shock-resistant and difficult to machine unless they contain sulphur and selenium (types 303 and 303Se). These steels have the best high-temperature strength and resistance to scaling of the stainless steels. The corrosion resistance of the austenitic stainless steels is usually better than that of martensitic or ferritic steels. Type 302, the basic alloy of the austenitic stainless steels, has been modified into a number of alloys. For example, lowering the carbon content to 0.08 percent maximum led to type 304 with improved weldability and decreased tendency toward carbide precipitation. To avoid carbide precipitation during welding, a lower-carbon version, type 304L was developed which contains only 0.03 percent carbon maximum. Although type 304L suppresses carbide precipitation during cooling through the range of 1500 to 800 degree Farad after welding, potentially more serious precipitation are encountered in multiple-pass welding or service in the 800 to 1500 degree Farad range.

To meet these requirements, the stabilized grades, type 321 with Ti added, and type 347 with Cb or Ta added, are recommended. In both alloys, a carbide other than chromium carbide precipitates, thus chromium is retained in solution and the alloy maintains its corrosion resistance. A stabilizing heat treatment consists of holding either annealed or welded types at 1600 to 1650 degree Farad for 2 to 4 hour, followed by rapid cooling in air or water. The purpose is to precipitate all carbon as a carbide of titanium or columbium in order to prevent subsequent precipitation of chromium carbide.