Austenitic Stainless Steel Grades, Characteristics and Advantages

In this era of constant pursuit of innovation and high-performance materials, austenitic stainless steel has become a dazzling star in modern industry due to its unique physical properties, wide range of applications, and unparalleled advantages. In this article, let us unveil the mystery of austenitic stainless steel and explore austenitic stainless steel grades, characteristics, and advantages.

What Is Austenitic Stainless Steel?

Austenitic stainless steel is a steel alloy with chromium and nickel as its main alloying elements, and its composition is essentially fully austenitic. Its basic composition is Cr18Ni8 (18-8), which can be further modified into many different grades. The high chromium content significantly improves the corrosion resistance of the steel, as a very dense and strong chromium oxide protective layer is easily formed on the surface.

To reduce the hardness of the chromium steel, and improve its plasticity and toughness, at least 8% nickel must be added to form a fully austenitic steel with a face-centered structure, which can be cold-worked, easily welded, and has excellent high-temperature and low-temperature properties, thus having a wide range of applications.

What Are the Characteristics of Austenitic Stainless Steel?

Austenitic stainless steel is characterized by high chromium and nickel content. The typical composition of austenitic stainless steel is 18% chromium and 8% nickel. This composition gives the steel an austenitic microstructure, which provides it with excellent corrosion resistance compared to ferritic and martensitic stainless steels. The high content of chromium also gives austenitic stainless steel a high degree of heat resistance. translate to English.

Austenitic Stainless Steel Grades:

Austenitic stainless steel is classified into 200 and 300 series, containing 16% to 30% chromium and 2% to 20% nickel to enhance surface quality, formability, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. The most common austenitic alloys are grades 304 and 316.

Other famous austenitic stainless steel grades include 304L, 316L, 309S, 310S, 317L, 321, 347H, etc. Dual-phase stainless steel grades, such as 2205 (22% chromium, 5% nickel), also belong to the austenitic category.

Available Austenitic Stainless Steel Grades: 301, 304, 304L, 304LN, 321, 347, S30430, 316, 316L, 316LN, S31653, 316Ti, 317L.

What Are the Advantages of Austenitic Stainless Steel?

Austenitic stainless steel is a stainless steel containing austenite. Austenite is a type of iron that is stable at high temperatures. This makes austenitic stainless steel ideal for applications where high temperatures are common, such as industrial environments.

Austenitic stainless steel also has high corrosion resistance. This makes it ideal for applications where corrosion is a concern, such as food processing or medical equipment. Austenitic stainless steel is also non-magnetic. This makes it ideal for applications that do not require magnetic materials, such as electronic components.

More about Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steel is prone to intergranular corrosion. Using ultra-low carbon components, adding elements that easily form carbides (titanium), and using solid solution treatment are all effective measures to prevent intergranular corrosion.

Chloride ions are extremely harmful to austenitic stainless steel and will cause stress corrosion cracking. Therefore, components that bear tensile stress and come into contact with chloride ions (such as pressure vessels) must first greatly reduce the chloride ions in the medium, or use the annealing method to eliminate welding residual stress.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you know the austenitic stainless steel grades, characteristics, and advantages better. If you want to find more information about austenitic stainless steel grades, we’d advise you to visit Sino Stainless Steel.

As a top supplier of stainless steel products, Sino Stainless Steel provides customers with high-quality stainless steel products like stainless steel coils, carbon steel pipes, stainless steel strips, stainless steel sheets, stainless steel wires, and stainless steel bars at a very competitive price.