Stainless steel is a commonly used material in applications ranging from medical instruments or chemical storage to transport or power generation because of its high corrosion resistance, hygiene, and strength. While there are more than 3,500 grades of steel, not all stainless steel grades are created equally.

With so many options, how can you ensure you’re selecting the appropriate grade for your specific needs?

1. Choose the Right Metal for Your Operating Environment

To determine which grade of steel will uphold best in a given environment, think about the conditions your final product will face. Extremely low pH, high stresses and high temperatures, and crevice corrosion negatively impact stainless steel performance. Steels in the austenitic T3XX series, like the common types 316 and 304 alloys, retain their strength, toughness, and corrosion-resistant properties over the broadest temperature range.

Corrosion resistance is the main reason for choosing austenitic stainless grades. Type 316, with its molybdenum addition, even resists chloride ions found in marine and chemical processing applications. With any steel grade, high-quality structural design is the best defense against corrosion.

2. Prioritize Strength, Ductility, and Toughness

Next, consider these three top mechanical qualities:

• Strength: The stress a metal can withstand before it fractures or deforms
• Ductility: The ability of a material to have its shape changed, such as being drawn out into a wire or thread, without losing strength or breaking
• Toughness: The metal’s ability to deform and absorb energy before fracture

Stainless steel contains 10–30% chromium as its alloying element, which is what helps it resist corrosion. The nickel addition in austenitic grades provides the highest toughness and ductility among stainless grades. Grades high in chromium, molybedenum, and nickel are the most resistant to corrosion.

Alloy content is not the only aspect to consider when choosing a grade of stainless steel; the material’s processing also affects the mechanical response. The duration of time steel is held at different temperatures as part of its cooling process, as well as the total speed at which it is cooled can affect its overall quality.

While the hardness of carbon steels can be increased by heat treatment, austenitic stainless is hardened by cold working operations like rolling, bending, swaging, or drawing at temperatures below the recrystallization temperature. Be aware that increased hardness by cold working operations decreases other properties like elongation and impact resistance.

3. Factor in Form and Process

Austenitic stainless steel is widely available in bar, wire, tube, pipe, sheet, and plate forms; Most products require additional forming or machining before they can be used for their specific application.

Stainless steel tubing, for instance, may need bending or coiling, re-drawing, machining, welding, or end forming. If your stainless steel will see machining processes like CNC machining, drilling, reaming, bevel cutting, chamfering, knurling, or threading, choose a machining rate that mitigates the risk of work hardening or select a “free-machining” grade containing sulfur.

When welding any stainless steel parts, embrittlement in the weld area is a top concern. Choose a lower carbon grade like 304, 304L, or 316L to reduce carbide formation.

4. Consider Your Customers’ Preferences

Many designers choose stainless steel for its aesthetic appearance, whether that appearance is a shiny, electropolished “bright” finish, a dull “pickled” finish, a matte surface polished to a specific RMS, or a light-absorbing black oxide coating. Austenitic stainless steel grades can take any of these finishes plus the common addition of passivation.

Customers may also need certification for application-specific specifications. For instance, ASTM A213 and A249 should be used for boiler, superheater, and heat-exchanger tubes, while ASTM A908 should be used for hard-drawn austenitic stainless steel industrial needle tubing. There are more than 12,000 ASTM standards, and each addresses a specification so customers know the technical standards tested for chemical composition, heat treatment or temper, and other physical and mechanical attributes.

5. Manage Material Cost and Availability

Although high-performing austenitic stainless steels are the most expensive stainless steels upfront, they are well worth the investment. Choosing a corrosion-resistant material well-suited to its application reduces maintenance, downtime, and replacement costs. Life-cycle costing methods can quantify current and future costs and create an “apples-to-apples“ comparison of different materials.

Selecting a Stainless Steel Supplier

At Eagle Stainless we can help you prioritize your material requirements and guide you toward choosing the perfect stainless steel grades for your application. With quality management certifications in place since 1998, our commitment to quality is evident at every step of the process and designed to help you make the best steel selection for your industrial application.

Things to consider before buying Stainless Steel Cookware

We can not think of an Indian kitchen without stainless steel cookware. Stainless steel is an alloy of steel that does not stain, tarnish, or rust like steel or cast iron. The reasons behind using stainless steel for cooking are durability, non-reactive with food, ease of maintenance, versatility, and safest cookware.

And if you are looking to buy stainless steel cookware, you will find ample options in the market, but which is the best stainless steel cookware in India? The market is flooded with numerous options and every brand is claiming its product to be excellent. With all these choices and confusion, choosing stainless steel cookware can be difficult and tiresome.

In this blog, we have discussed some of the key features that you should look for in stainless steel cookware before buying.

Opt for stainless steel cookware with an aluminum core

Though stainless steel cookware is durable and corrosion free but fails to retain heat and cooks food unevenly. This is when triply stainless steel cookware came into the picture. Stahl Kitchens has pioneered the manufacturing of triply cookware in India. Triply has 3 ply material, in which an aluminum layer is sandwiched between two steel layers. Triply cookware only utilizes the heat conduction benefits of aluminum while making sure that food does not come in contact with it.

Weight of the cookware

While choosing the best stainless steel cookware without getting into technicalities about the thickness of the cookware’s base, and the thickness of the edges, you can assess the quality by simply lifting the cookware. A good quality stainless steel cookware will always be heavy. Heavier cookware means it is made with more material and will allow even cooking. Stahl kitchens offer cookware made with high-quality triply stainless steel and which is 100% residue-free and PFOA Free.

Grade of stainless steel

The safest quality of stainless steel for food contact is SS304 which is also called surgical steel. Ensure that your food is in contact with SS304. Another thing to ensure is whether any rivets that might be a part of the cookware are also made of stainless steel and not aluminum. Stahl Kitchens cookware is manufactured with utmost care and precision, ensuring an impeccable feel and finish.

The reputation of the cookware brand

Lastly, while choosing a cookware brand, you should also focus on the brand’s reputation in the market. Stahl, one of the best cookware brands, was launched with the aim of pushing the boundaries of tools available for cooking. Our team is focused on making intuitive and innovative cookware with the highest safety standards. The brand has played a part in redefining people's expectations of cookware. Stahl was awarded the title of 'Prestigious Brands of Asia 2021-22' for its breakthrough products and design.