Stainless steels are iron alloys characterized, in addition to the mechanical properties typical of carbon steels, by remarkable corrosion resistance.
This ability to resist corrosion is due to the presence of alloying elements, mainly chromium, capable of passivation, that is, of covering themselves with a thin, adherent, practically invisible oxide layer as thick as a few atomic layers (on the order of 3-5 × 10-7 mm), which protects the underlying alloy from the action of external chemical agents.
Stainless steels are characterized by a carbon content generally below 1.2 percent. The minimum content of “free” chromium, that is, not combined with carbon, is between 11-12% in order to have formation of the continuous “passivating” oxide layer, which is protective against corrosion. The chromium in the alloy, in fact, combining with carbon during heat treatment, can be treated to form chromium carbides (with a hardness of about 1600 HV).
In this case,however,the availability of free chromium will be less,so it will worsen the stainlessness but increase the mechanical properties,for example,wear resistance.
Other alloying elements will increase the mechanical properties.
Then there are stainless steels made by the Powder Metallurgy process, an exceptional system for allowing exaggerated quantities of alloying elements that are impossible to assemble by the traditional production system.
The following is a brief guide to some INOXIDABLE SOLUTIONS that we offer thinking you will enjoy.