Overview
Français
ABSTRACT
Due to its resistance to corrosion, its main property, stainless steel is a material of choice for steel metal work. A classification of stainless steels is proposed in this article: basic notions, structure diagrams and surface states. Martensitic, ferritic, ferritic-austenitic and austenitic stainless steels are then detailed by type through their composition, properties, treatments, forming, etc. The sound knowledge of the properties and behaviors of the stainless steel involved allows for adapting the industrial implementation methods to the end use (e.g. clad plates welding or assembly of tubes on tubular plates).
Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.
Read the articleAUTHORS
-
Pierre SOULIGNAC: Materials engineer from Ecole des Mines de Nancy - Industeel
-
Bernard BONNEFOIS: Materials engineer - Le Creusot Materials Research Center, Industeel
-
Etienne SOUTIF: Welding engineer - Technip
INTRODUCTION
The main defining property of stainless steels is their resistance to corrosion, making them the materials of choice for the chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, power generation, food and beverage, water, construction and civil engineering industries. This corrosion resistance is due to their high chromium content (10-30%), reinforced by additions of molybdenum (up to 7%) and other alloying elements such as tungsten, copper, nickel, nitrogen... Nickel and nitrogen are used to reinforce the structure of austenitic stainless steels, as they often play a positive role in their corrosion resistance, unlike carbon.
The presence of a "passive layer" on the surface of stainless steels, a guarantee of their good service life, means that it is essential to maintain – or, where necessary, reconstitute – during boiler-making operations, the surface condition adapted to the service conditions of the appliances or equipment.
To select and use the most appropriate processing methods for each stainless steel (of which there are around a hundred), it is essential to know its properties and processing behavior, which are, to a first approximation, related to the family to which it belongs.
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Hydraulic, aerodynamic and thermal machines
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Stainless steel boilermaking
Classification of stainless steels
Bibliography
Basic works
Reference
In Engineering Techniques
On stainless steels
On forming
About welding
Basic works
Standardization
Series of AWS standards (published by AWS).
ASTM series of standards (distributed by ASTM International).
Series of NF EN standards (distributed by AFNOR).
- Standard Test Method for Determining Volume Fraction by Systematic Manual Point Count - ASTM E 562 - 2002
- Standard Practice for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Austenitic...
Regulations
Directive 97/23/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 29, 1997 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning pressure equipment, known as the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), OJ L181 of July 9, 1997.
Organizations
UNS numbers (unified numbering system for metals and alloys)
http://www.matweb.com/search/SearchUNS.asp
Center technique des industries mécaniques (Cetim)
Syndicat national de la chaudronnerie,...
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
