austenitic stainless steel strips guide

Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips Grades: Comprehensive Guide

There is a growing demand of austenitic stainless steel strip with the trend expected to continue until 2025.

A combination of different properties makes austenitic stainless steel strips suitable for different applications in different industries such as the aerospace, petroleum, automobile and energy.

From the five different stainless steel classes, austenitic stainless steel is the most popular.

Austenitic stainless steel is known to be made up of high nickel and chromium content that makes have a higher resistance to corrosion and great mechanical features.

Let’s keep reading.

Austenitic stainless steel strip is known to comprise of an austenitic micro structure.

This means its cells take the shape of cubes with a single atom placed at every cubes corner with one at the center.

Stainless steel is considered to be austenitic when it is alloyed with enough nitrogen, nickel and manganese to help in keeping the microstructure at different ranges of temperature from low to the melting point.

Austenitic possess similar microstructures despite the temperature it is exposed at. This means they can never be hardened using heat treatment.

Grades & Applications of Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips

Austenitic stainless steel strips grades are divided into two series.

There is the 200 series and 300 series.

Nickel is the dominant alloying element in the 300 series while nitrogen and manganese are the abundant alloying elements in the 200 series.

200 Series Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips

Grade 201: Grade 201 stainless steel strip is a lower-cost alternative to the conventional Cr-Ni austenitic stainless steels, such as 304 strips. 

Grade 202: 202 stainless steel strip is one of the 200 series stainless steel strips, and China standard grade is 1Cr18Mn8Ni5N.

The 202 grade stainless steel strip is the low nickel and high manganese stainless steel material.
The manganese content is around 8%, and it is also a nickel-saving stainless steel.


But 202 stainless steel strip has higher nickel content (4%-6%) compared with 201 stainless steel strip.

300 Series Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips

The 300 series is the most popular one since it can be used in a wider range of applications. Its high nickel content offers it a higher resistance to corrosion capability.

Most of the austenitic grades belong to the 300 series.

Grade 301: Grade 301 stainless steel strip is particularly well suited for the manufacture of high strength room temperature springs.

Grade 304/304L: 304 stainless steel strip is austenitic stainless steel type in the market. It is made up of high chromium and nickel content which makes it have a great corrosion resistance, strength and fabricability.

Grade 316/316L: Grade 316L stainless steel strip is the second most popular austenitic stainless steel grade. Molybdenum addition helps increase its level of corrosion resistance and also helps in making it have higher heat resistance.

Grade 310S: Grade 310S stainless steel strip has a medium nickel and high chromium content levels that makes it resistant to corrosion and oxidation. It is an excellent grade for use in applications where higher temperatures are used.

Grade 321: There is addition of titanium together with larger levels of carbon which gives it a higher level of resistance to corrosion even when exposed to higher temperatures and chemicals.

Properties of Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips

The face centered crystal structure characterizes austenitic stainless steel strips.

This structure is attained by enough amounts of Austenitic elements like carbon, nickel, nitrogen and manganese which are added to chromium and iron alloy.

When compared to ferritic alloys, these austenitic stainless steel strips are capable of retaining ductility at higher temperatures.

Their level of resistance against corrosion ranges from the normal daily use to high use such as when boiling the sea water.

The Austenitic stainless steel together with nickel is perfect for cryogenic or low temperature applications.

Other elements like niobium, aluminum or silicon can be added to give the stainless steel strips properties like oxidation or halide pitting.

Selenium or sulphur is normally added to particular stainless steel grades to help in improving their machinability levels.

Austenitic Stainless Steel Strips Applications

Austenitic stainless steel strip is the most popular stainless steel strip class due to their properties.

They are strong, have high corrosion resistance, high heat resistance and formability making them an excellent material in architectural, industrial and transport sector.

The austenitic can also be used in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries due to their high resistance to corrosion which makes them require low maintenance, durability and high clean ability.

Conclusion

The austenitic stainless steel strips well known for their workhorse of steel due to their versatility and durability are important in the metal world.

These metals are known to have high resistance to corrosion, high formability and high resistance to heat making them an excellent option for several applications.

Asia is a top austenitic stainless steel strip consumer with several countries like India, China and South Korea being key players.

According to research findings, North America is anticipated to have a huge market for austenitic stainless steel strips due to the automobile and aviation industries growth.

At HZW, we have knowledgeable and experience personnel who will take their time and explain to potential customers the strip to help them make an informed decision on which stainless steel strip grade suit their project best.

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