Stainless Steel is an integral part of modern architecture, from decorative components to mechanical and electrical constructions. Stainless steel is an alloy made of iron, nickel, carbon, molybdenum, and chromium.
The additives, nickel, and chromium impart an oxide layer making it resistant to rust and corrosion. It is this shiny and reflective layer that distinguishes stainless steel from plain steel.
Manufacturing Process of Stainless Steel
Step 1 – Heating the Raw Materials to Melting Point
This step is as simple as it sounds. The raw materials are placed in an electric furnace and melted. According to most sheet pile manufacturers, it usually takes 8 to 12 hours for the materials to completely melt.
Step 2 – Removing Excess Carbon from the Conglomeration
Once the conglomeration of metals is molten, it is time for the next step. A vacuum oxygen decarburization (VOD) is used to eliminate the excess carbon content. Sometimes an argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) is used for the removal process. This equipment allows the manufacturer to control the extent of carbon that is removed. Tweaking the carbon removal results in stainless steel of different varieties like Grade 310, Grade 304, and more. The amount of carbon in turn determines the tensile strength and brittleness of the steel.
Step 3 – Fine-Tuning the Final Product
Tuning or stirring is used to fine-tune the final product. The molten concoction of metals is stirred to distribute the different components evenly throughout the mixture. Stirring may also be used to remove certain components from the concoction. We stress this step to ensure that the final stainless steel formed has the same quality throughout. Any sheet pile manufacturer will tell you; how essential uniformity is for good quality products.
Step 4 – Forming/Casting the Metal
The next leg of the steel manufacturing process is to subject the metal to different forming processes. One of the most popular processes is hot rolling the steel, while it’s above its crystallization point. Hot rolling is mostly used to create blooms and billets. While hot rolling gives a rough finish, for more precise measurements and finishes, manufacturers will use cold rolling.
The other casting methods used to transform the steel slabs into sheets, plates, and strips are picking and cutting. This step in the process is where different techniques are applied to obtain stainless steel of different grades and appearances.
Step 5 – Annealing the Stainless Steel
It is the process where the manufacturer administers controlled heating and cooling on the steel to relieve the internal stress. Annealing is considered necessary since internal stress can change the mechanical properties of stainless steel. During the treatment, the steel should be descaled to protect the oxide layer on the surface.
Step 6 – Cutting and Shaping into Desired Products
Now that we have progressed to the second last step, the steel is cut and shaped to obtain the desired final product. For example, making thick metal sheets will require the metal to be cut using mechanical shears. Sheet pile manufacturers use CNC punching machines or laser cutters to work with thinner sheets.
Step 7 – Putting on Surface Finishes to the Finished Stainless Steel
The final part of the manufacturing process is applying surface finishes. Surface finishes are usually applied to blooms, billets, or wires. Usually, the surface finish will be customized depending on the product’s intended usage. A common practice is grinding down the surface to get rid of impurities and smooth it down.
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Stainless steel is an iron-containing alloy—a substance made up of two or more chemical elements—used in a wide range of applications. It has excellent resistance to stain or rust due to its chromium content, usually from 12 to 20 percent of the alloy. There are more than 57 stainless steels recognized as standard alloys, in addition to many proprietary alloys produced by different stainless steel producers. These many types of steels are used in an almost endless number of applications and industries: bulk materials handling equipment, building exteriors and roofing, automobile components (exhaust, trim/decorative, engine, chassis, fasteners, tubing for fuel lines), chemical processing plants (scrubbers and heat exchangers), pulp and paper manufacturing, petroleum refining, water supply piping, consumer products, marine and shipbuilding, pollution control, sporting goods (snow skis), and transportation (rail cars), to name just a few.
About 200,000 tons of nickel-containing stainless steel is used each year by the food processing industry in North America. It is used in a variety of food handling, storing, cooking, and serving equipment—from the beginning of the food collection process through to the end. Beverages such as milk, wine, beer, soft drinks and fruit juice are processed in stainless steel equipment. Stainless steel is also used in commercial cookers, pasteurizers, transfer bins, and other specialized equipment. Advantages include easy cleaning, good corrosion resistance, durability, economy, food flavor protection, and sanitary design. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1992 shipments of all stainless steel totaled 1,514,222 tons.
Stainless steels come in several types depending on their microstructure. Austenitic stainless steels contain at least 6 percent nickel and austenite—carbon-containing iron with a face-centered cubic structure—and have good corrosion resistance and high ductility (the ability of the material to bend without breaking). Ferritic stainless steels (ferrite has a body-centered cubic structure) have better resistance to stress corrosion than austenitic, but they are difficult to weld. Martensitic stainless steels contain iron having a needle-like structure.
Duplex stainless steels, which generally contain equal amounts of ferrite and austenite, provide better resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in most environments. They also have superior resistance to cracking due to chloride stress corrosion, and they are about twice as strong as the common austenitics. Therefore, duplex stainless steels are widely used in the chemical industry in refineries, gas-processing plants, pulp and paper plants, and sea water piping installations.
Stainless steels are made of some of the basic elements found in the earth: iron ore, chromium, silicon, nickel, carbon, nitrogen, and manganese. Properties of the final alloy are tailored by varying the amounts of these elements. Nitrogen, for instance, improves tensile properties like ductility. It also improves corrosion resistance, which makes it valuable for use in duplex stainless steels.
The manufacture of stainless steel involves a series of processes. First, the steel is melted,
Though the heating rate to reach the aging temperature (900 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit or 482 to 537 degrees Celsius) does not effect the properties, the cooling rate does. A post-aging quenching (rapid cooling) treatment can increase the toughness without a significant loss in strength. One such process involves water quenching the material in a 35-degree Fahrenheit (1.6-degree Celsius) ice-water bath for a minimum of two hours.
The type of heat treatment depends on the type of steel; in other words, whether it is austenitic, ferritic, or martensitic. Austenitic steels are heated to above 1900 degrees Fahrenheit (1037 degrees Celsius) for a time depending on the thickness. Water quenching is used for thick sections, whereas air cooling or air blasting is used for thin sections. If cooled too slowly, carbide precipitation can occur. This buildup can be eliminated by thermal stabilization. In this method, the steel is held for several hours at 1500 to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit (815 to 871 degrees Celsius). Cleaning part surfaces of contaminants before heat treatment is sometimes also necessary to achieve proper heat treatment.
Stainless steel can also be cut using flame cutting, which involves a flame-fired torch using oxygen and propane in conjunction with iron powder. This method is clean and fast. Another cutting method is known as plasma jet cutting, in which an ionized gas column in conjunction with an electric arc through a small orifice makes the cut. The gas produces extremely high temperatures to melt the metal.
Surface finishes are the result of processes used in fabricating the various forms or are the result of further processing. There are a variety of methods used for finishing. A dull finish is produced by hot rolling, annealing, and descaling. A bright finish is obtained by first hot rolling and then cold rolling on polished rolls. A highly reflective finish is produced by cold rolling in combination with annealing in a controlled atmosphere furnace, by grinding with abrasives, or by buffing a finely ground surface. A mirror finish is produced by polishing with progressively finer abrasives, followed by extensive buffing. For grinding or polishing, grinding wheels or abrasive belts are normally used. Buffing uses cloth wheels in combination with cutting compounds containing very fine abrasive particles in bar or stick forms. Other finishing methods include tumbling, which forces
There are a variety of methods for joining stainless steel, with welding being the most common. Fusion and resistance welding are the two basic methods generally used with many variations for both. In fusion welding, heat is provided by an electric arc struck between an electrode and the metal to be welded. In resistance welding, bonding is the result of heat and pressure. Heat is produced by the resistance to the flow of electric current through the parts to be welded, and pressure is applied by the electrodes. After parts are welded together, they must be cleaned around the joined area.
and then it is cast into solid form. After various forming steps, the steel is heat treated and then cleaned and polished to give it the desired finish. Next, it is packaged and sent to manufacturers, who weld and join the steel to produce the desired shapes.
In addition to in-process control during manufacture and fabrication, stainless steels must meet specifications developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) with regard to mechanical properties such as toughness and corrosion resistance. Metallography can sometimes be correlated to corrosion tests to help monitor quality.
Use of stainless and super stainless steels is expanding in a variety of markets. To meet the requirements of the new Clean Air Act, coal-fired power plants are installing stainless steel stack liners. Other new industrial applications include secondary heat exchangers for high-efficiency home furnaces, service-water piping in nuclear power plants, ballast tanks and fire-suppression systems for offshore drilling platforms, flexible pipe for oil and gas distribution systems, and heliostats for solar-energy plants.
Environmental legislation is also forcing the petrochemical and refinery industries to recycle secondary cooling water in closed systems rather than simply discharge it. Reuse results in cooling water with elevated levels of chloride, resulting in pitting-corrosion problems. Duplex stainless steel tubing will play an increasingly important role in solving such industrial corrosion problems, since it costs less than other materials. Manufacturers are developing highly corrosion-resistant steels in respond to this demand.
In the automotive industry, one steel manufacturer has estimated that stainless-steel usage per vehicle will increase from 55 to 66 pounds (25 to 30 kilograms) to more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) by the turn of the century. New applications include metallic substrates for catalytic converters, air bag components, composite bumpers, fuel line and other fuel-system parts compatible with alternate fuels, brake lines, and long-life exhaust systems.
With improvements in process technology, superaustenitic stainless steels (with nitrogen contents up to 0.5 percent) are being developed. These steels are used in pulp-mill bleach plants, sea water and phosphoric-acid handling systems, scrubbers, offshore platforms, and other highly corrosive applications. A number of manufacturers have begun marketing such materials in sheet, plate, and other forms. Other new compositions are being developed: ferritic iron-base alloys containing 8 and 12 percent Cr for magnetic applications, and austenitic stainless with extra low sulfur content for parts used in the manufacture of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Research will continue to develop improved and unique materials. For instance, Japanese researchers have recently developed several. One is a corrosion-resistant stainless steel that displays the shape-memory effect. This type of material returns to its original shape upon heating after being plastically deformed. Potential applications include assembly components (pipe fittings, clips, fasteners, clamps), temperature sensing (circuit breakers and fire alarms), and springs. An improved martensitic stainless steel has also been developed for precision miniature and instrument rolling-contact bearings, which has reduced vibration levels, improved life expectancy, and better surface finish compared to conventional materials.
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— L. S. Millberg