Stainless steel can be found everywhere in the daily lives of modern people. The invention and use of stainless steel dates back to the time of the First World War. British scientists Buhenli Brierley was commissioned by the British government’s War Department Arsenal to study the improvement of weapons. At that time, the rifle chamber used by soldiers is very easy to wear, Brierley wanted to invent a kind of alloy steel that is not easy to wear, and later he successfully invented stainless steel.
Stainless steel has now gone from the use of weapons into the daily life of ordinary people, whether it is everywhere small objects, such as kitchen utensils, or the construction industry, the energy industry, etc., stainless steel plays an important role.
For the piping industry we Fluidtech,China are in, stainless steel is always an indispensable rigid demand. I believe that stainless steel piping and stainless pipe fittings are the most basic impression most people have of piping systems.
Today, Fluid Tech, China would like to give a brief introduction to stainless steel as a material and stainless pipe fittings.
Production process of stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of metallic elements such as iron, chromium, nickel and molybdenum. The manufacturing process of stainless steel includes steelmaking, smelting, ingotting, rolling and other anti-corrosion treatments.
1. steelmaking: the raw materials of stainless steel first need to be steelmaking, mixing and melting iron and iron alloy at high temperature, in order to adjust the carbon content and composition ratio of steel, so as to make it reach the quality standard required for production.
2. Smelting: After steelmaking, the impurities in the steel need to be removed, so as to get clean steel. Smelting methods include vacuum smelting and electroslag remelting. 3. Ingotting.
3. Ingotting: After smelting, the steel is cast into ingots. Ingot is a lump of metal solidified at high temperature, which has no metal oxides, so it can ensure the corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
4. Rolling: after ingotting, stainless steel needs to be rolled, the ingot is heated to the appropriate temperature and then rolled in long billets until the shape and thickness of the steel meets the customer’s requirements. In addition, in the rolling process also need to stainless steel surface treatment, and control the quality of steel.
5. Other anti-corrosion treatment: Stainless steel has a dense oxide-free film on its surface, so it does not need any surface anti-corrosion treatment before use.
Characteristics of Stainless Steel
1. Good corrosion resistance. Stainless steel has very high corrosion resistance, not easy to be corroded by chemicals, rust, and will not be directly corroded by air, water vapor and other acidic substances.
2. Easy processing. Stainless steel has good plasticity and malleability, and can be shaped and processed by screw chipping, milling, drilling, cutting and other machining methods.
3. High strength. Stainless steel has the advantages of high strength and high hardness.
In summary, SS fittings are not easy to damage, durable and pressure resistant, and easy to process.
An example of stainless steel
304 stainless steel is a common material in stainless steel, density of 7.93 g/cm³; also called 18/8 stainless steel in the industry, meaning that contains more than 18% of chromium and more than 8% of nickel; high temperature resistance of 800 ℃, with good processing performance, high toughness, widely used in piping systems.
304 fittings as stainless heat-resistant steel fittings are the most widely used, 304 fittings are preferred by food equipment, general chemical equipment, atomic energy industry equipment piping system.