Stainless steel is a group of iron-based alloy that contains a minimum of 11% chromium. The more the chromium, the more is the alloy’s ability to prevent the iron from rusting. Rusting of the iron has stopped industries for years before the invention of stainless steel. But now, every industry is benefited from it.
Today, stainless steel is the most used metal in automobile, aerospace, construction, medical industry, food industry, and machining tools. Every industry has its requirements. These requirements help set material standards, which improve their efficiency further and give them a hedge from possible accidents.
Stainless steel manufacturers have to follow these standards. Many stainless steel manufacturers in India work to produce products just for a specific industry. People for different industries lookout for stainless steel products that comply with their industry standards. This blog will introduce you to the different aspects of stainless steel products in the machining tool manufacturing industry. We will help you understand different standards and help you identify the right one.
The different category of stainless steel and grade
The standards define whether a particular product can meet the requirements of an industry or not. Different industries have different environments while the products have to perform; any mistake can lead to reduced efficiency of the unit, accident, and even increased overhead expenses. Here are five different categories of stainless steel and their grades.
Ferritic
Ferritic stainless steel has magnetic properties. It boasts low corrosion and has a high heat resistance lower than the austenitic stainless steel. The most popular grades are 430 and 446, and it is widely used in Automotive parts making and kitchen appliances.
Martensitic
Martensitic stainless steel too has magnetic properties and has moderate corrosion resistance. The most popular grades of Martensitic stainless steel are 416, 420 and 440. It is a very popular choice of material used in knives, firearms, surgical instruments, and hand tools.
Austenitic
Austenitic is a non-magnetic, highly corrosion and heat resistant stainless steel. It is one of the most sophisticated stainless steel. The most common austenitic stainless steel standards are 304 and 306. It is commonly used for making food processing equipment, bolts, nuts and other fasteners.
- Precipitation Hardened
Talk about the strongest stainless steel, and here it is. Precipitation hardened stainless steel boasts the strongest grade. It is heat treatable stainless steel and is corrosion-resistant. It comes in 17-4, 15-5 PH grades and is used in the Aerospace industry.
Duplex
Duplex stainless steel is a stronger mixture of both Austenitic and Ferritic stainless steel. It comes in 244, 2304 and 2507 grade stainless steel. It is used in water treatment plants and pressure vessels.
A mixture of alloys and their properties
Adding other alloys to stainless steel gives it different properties. By adding other alloys, stainless steel manufacturingcompanies achieve harder, weldable, formidable, non-reactive stainless steel ready to meet the needs of different industries.
With so many steels available to choose from, you have to identify the most important things you need in stainless steel in the machining industry. The wrong grade of stainless steel can completely degrade the quality of the product. The wrong selection of the grade can also hinder the production by delaying it and ultimately affecting its profitability.
Process of selecting the grade
This puts immense pressure on you to choose the right grade for your needs. Here is a complete breakdown of the needs of the machining industry concerning stainless steel. And it will help you reach the right decision.
Grades that work best for machining
To make stainless steel products for the machining industry, here are the stainless steel grades used in many industries.
- 302
- 303
- 430F
Grade 302
Grade 302 contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel austenitic. It is made of more carbon than the other Austenitic grades, such as 304. This increases its tensile strength needed in the machining industry and is an excellent material to use when making corrosion-resistant products.
Stainless steel grades 302 is a higher version of the steel grade 304. It is manufactured to build products that can endure extreme heat and extreme cold. It is a very hard stainless steel, non-magnetic to fulfil your needs to build machining parts.
Grade 303
The grade of stainless steel also contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. It is also non-magnetic and carrion-resistant. It is used in making industrial machining parts. To improve machinability, sulphur is added to it. It makes it easily modifiable into the machining product of your choice, making it also a good material for machining parts.
Grade 430F
Grade 430F performs very well in the feed, and speed makes it very popular in the machining industry. When Ferritic Stainless Steel is treated with extra sulphur, you get 430F grade stainless steel. This treatment improves its machinability. And thus, it is used in making products such as shafts, gears, solenoids, pinions, fasteners and other various types of equipment.
Stainless steel has several other grades you can look into; however, these three were the most suited for the machining industry. You can also check out Engg Pro, where you will find industry-leading stainless steel manufacturers and stainless steel companies that work for various industries and provide various types of stainless steel products.
You can also use the platform to chat with them, share your project requirement, use their knowledge, know prices and fulfil your needs faster.
