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Stainless steel is one of the most commonly used machining materials. Stainless steel machining creates products and tools for every sector out there.
Stainless steel machining is not as easy as materials like wood. Stainless steel has a high hardness and tensile strength. Therefore, machining stainless steel requires understanding the different metalworking processes that work well on this material.
This article will discuss the different grades of stainless steel and the methods to machine them. It will also provide several tips to make stainless steel machining the easiest metalworking process.
Stainless steel is an alloy of Iron and Chromium. Other elements like Carbon can also be added to get some particular properties. The amount of Chromium is at least 11%.
Iron has excellent physical properties like strength and durability. However, it is highly prone to corrosion and abrasions. Adding Chromium to iron adds the ability to resist corrosion and abrasions.
Yes, stainless steel can be machined. In fact, there are many different ways of stainless steel machining. Machining stainless steel can be quite easy once you understand the properties of stainless steel and the right machining methods to use.
Stainless steel is a wide class of a number of materials. Many believe that stainless steel is one particular alloy, which is wrong. There are more than 150 grades of Stainless Steel. These different stainless steels are divided into various classes.
Let us explore the five classes of stainless steels one by one:
Austenitic stainless steel is the most popular variety among all stainless steels. These steels are named so because they have an Austenite structure. Austenitic stainless steels are non-magnetic in nature. Additionally, they cannot be hardened by heat treatment. These properties are derived by elements like Nickel, Manganese, and Nitrogen.
Austenitic stainless steels are divided into two subgroups: AISI 200 and AISI 300. Sometimes, molybdenum is added to these steels to increase corrosion resistance.
Ferritic stainless steels were discovered early in history (1912). However, it wasn’t until the 1980s that their popular applications took place. Ferritic stainless steels belong to the AISI 400 family.
Ferritic stainless steels don’t shine among other steels in terms of physical properties. However, they have exceptional quality in magnetic properties and chemical resistance. Ferric steel’s strength lies in its resistance to stress corrosion cracking.
Ferritic stainless steels find applications in making kitchenware, automotive parts, and industrial tools.
Martensitic stainless steels are named after Adolf Martens. These steels are known for their exceptionally high hardness. Aging and heat treatments apply to these steels for high hardness and tempering. Martensitic stainless steels can have high carbon quality or low carbon quality.
Martensitic grades are used for surgical instruments, dental equipment, door beams, bumpers, firearms, cutlery, and ball bearings.
Duplex stainless steels have two structural components in their design. Duplex alloys are a combination of austenitic stainless steels and ferritic stainless steels. Duplex stainless steels improve the qualities of these two constituent structural elements. There are three grades in duplex stainless steel: standard duplex, super duplex, and lean duplex alloys
Duplex stainless steels are used for heat exchangers, tubes, shells, columns, condensers, reactors, piping systems, and other commercial equipment.
Precipitation Hardening stainless steels are also known as PH stainless steel alloys. These alloys have slight additions of elements like titanium, copper, phosphorus, or aluminum. After the formation of alloy, these steels undergo age-hardening treatment. Precipitation hardening stainless steels can have 3-4x the yield strength of austenitic stainless steel.
The properties of PH hardened steels are highly variable and specially curated to get the desired results.
PH hardened steels find applications in extremely high strength requirements. Common examples are marine construction, aircraft, nuclear plants, and the chemical industry.
Rajgranth Industries is one of the most trusted and reliable manufacturers of Precision Machined Components and Turned Fasteners in Stainless Steel. Rajgranth Group is in the business of Stainless Steel since 1970.
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