SAE 304 stainless steel

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304 stainless steel pipes. 304 STAINLESS STEEL PIPE.png
304 stainless steel pipes.

SAE 304 stainless steel is the most common stainless steel. It is an alloy of iron, carbon, chromium and nickel. It is an austenitic stainless steel, and is therefore not magnetic. It is less electrically and thermally conductive than carbon steel. It has a higher corrosion resistance than regular steel and is widely used because of the ease in which it is formed into various shapes. [1]

Contents

The composition was developed by W. H. Hatfield at Firth Brown in 1924 and was marketed under the trade name "Staybrite 18/8". [2]

It is specified by SAE International as part of its SAE steel grades. It is also known as: [3]

Chemical composition

Type 304 stainless steel chemical composition, [6]  %
Standard AISI (UNS) C, ≤ Si, ≤ Mn, ≤ P, ≤ S, ≤ Cr Ni
ASTM A276/A276M304 (S30400)0.081.002.000.0450.03018.0–20.08.0–11.0

Corrosion resistance

304 stainless steel has excellent resistance to a wide range of atmospheric environments and many corrosive media. It is subject to pitting and crevice corrosion in warm chloride environments and to stress corrosion cracking above about 60 °C (140 °F). It is considered resistant to pitting corrosion in water with up to about 400 mg/L chlorides at ambient temperatures, reducing to about 150 mg/L at 60 °C.

304 stainless steel is also very sensitive at room temperature to the thiosulfate anions released by the oxidation of pyrite (as encountered in acid mine drainage) and can undergo severe pitting corrosion problems when in close contact with pyrite- or sulfide-rich clay materials exposed to oxidation.[ citation needed ]

For more severe corrosion conditions, when 304 stainless steel is too sensitive to pitting or crevice corrosion by chlorides or general corrosion in acidic applications, it is commonly replaced by 316 stainless steel. 304 and 302 stainless steels are subject to chloride stress fracture failure when used in tropical salt water conditions such as oil or gas rigs. 316 stainless steel is the preferred alloy for these conditions.

Mechanical properties

304 stainless steel cannot be heat treated—instead it can be strengthened by cold working. It is weakest in the annealed condition, and is strongest in the full-hard condition. The tensile yield strength ranges from 210 to 1,050 MPa (30,000 to 153,000 psi).

The density is 7,900 kg/m3 (0.286 lb/cu in), and its modulus of elasticity ranges from 183 to 200 GPa (26.6×10^6 to 29.0×10^6 psi). [7]

Applications

Staybrite containers in a salad bar Salad bar.JPG
Staybrite containers in a salad bar

304 stainless steel is used for a variety of household and industrial applications such as food handling and processing equipment, screws, [4] machinery parts, utensils, and exhaust manifolds. 304 stainless steel is also used in the architectural field for exterior accents such as water and fire features. It is also a common coil material for vaporizers.

Early SpaceX Starships used SAE 301 stainless steel in their construction, [8] before moving over to SAE 304L for the SN7 test tank [9] and Starship SN8 in 2020. [10]

304 stainless steel was used to clad the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. [11] [12]

Carbon content

304, 304H, and 304L all possess the same nominal chromium and nickel content and also possess the same corrosion resistance, ease of fabrication, and weldability. The difference between 304, 304H, and 304L is the carbon content which is < 0.08, < 0.1, and < 0.035% respectively (also see UNS designations S30400, S30409, & S30403 respectively) 304 has both the H=High and the L=Low carbon variants.

The carbon content of 304H (UNS S30409) is restricted to 0.04–0.10%, which provides optimal high-temperature strength.

The carbon content of 304L (UNS 30403) is restricted to a maximum of 0.035%, which prevents sensitization during welding. Sensitization is the formation of chromium carbides along grain boundaries when stainless steel is exposed to temperatures in the approximate range of 480–820 °C (900–1,500 °F). The subsequent formation of chromium carbide results in reduced corrosion resistance along the grain boundary leaving the stainless steel susceptible to unanticipated corrosion in an environment where 304 would be expected to be corrosion resistant. This grain boundary corrosive attack is known as intergranular corrosion. [13]

The carbon content of 304 (UNS 30400) is restricted to a maximum of 0.08% and is not useful for corrosive applications where welding is required, such as tanks and pipes where corrosive solutions are involved, and 304L is preferred. Its lack of a minimum carbon content is not ideal for high-temperature applications where optimal strength is required, thus, 304H is preferred. Thus 304 is typically restricted to bars that will be machined into components where welding is not required or thin sheets that are formed in articles such as kitchen sinks or cookware that are also not welded.

Carbon content has a strong influence on room temperature strength and thus the specified minimum tensile properties of 304L are 34 MPa (5,000 psi) lower than for 304. However, nitrogen also has a strong influence on room temperature strength and a tiny addition of nitrogen produces 304L with the same tensile strength as 304. Thus, practically all 304L is produced as dual certified 304/304L, meaning it meets the minimum carbon content of 304L and also meets the minimum tensile strength of 304. [14] [ full citation needed ]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austenitic stainless steel</span> One of the 5 crystalline structures of stainless steel

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duplex stainless steel</span> Stainless steel that has both austenitic and ferritic phases

Duplex stainless steels are a family of stainless steels. These are called duplex grades because their metallurgical structure consists of two phases, austenite and ferrite in roughly equal proportions. They are designed to provide better corrosion resistance, particularly chloride stress corrosion and chloride pitting corrosion, and higher strength than standard austenitic stainless steels such as type A2/304 or A4/316. The main differences in composition, when compared with an austenitic stainless steel is that the duplex steels have a higher chromium content, 20–28%; higher molybdenum, up to 5%; lower nickel, up to 9% and 0.05–0.50% nitrogen. Both the low nickel content and the high strength give significant cost benefits. They are therefore used extensively in the offshore oil and gas industry for pipework systems, manifolds, risers, etc. and in the petrochemical industry in the form of pipelines and pressure vessels. In addition to the improved corrosion resistance compared with the 300 series duplex stainless steels also have higher strength. For example, a Type 304 stainless steel has a 0.2% proof strength in the region of 280 MPa (41 ksi), a 22%Cr duplex stainless steel a minimum 0.2% proof strength of some 450 MPa (65 ksi) and a superduplex grade a minimum of 550 MPa (80 ksi).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAE 316L stainless steel</span> Low carbon austenitic alloy

SAE 316L grade stainless steel, sometimes referred to as A4 stainless steel or marine grade stainless steel, is the second most common austenitic stainless steel after 304/A2 stainless steel. Its primary alloying constituents after iron, are chromium, nickel (10–12%) and molybdenum (2–3%), with small (<1%) quantities of silicon, phosphorus & sulfur also present. The addition of molybdenum provides greater corrosion resistance than 304, with respect to localized corrosive attack by chlorides and to general corrosion by reducing acids, such as sulfuric acid. 316L grade is the low carbon version of 316 stainless steel. When cold worked, 316 can produce high yield and tensile strengths similar to Duplex stainless grades.

904L is an austenitic stainless steel. It is softer than 316L, but its molybdenum addition gives it superior resistance to localized attack by chlorides and greater resistance reducing acids; in particular, its copper addition gives it useful corrosion resistance to all concentrations of sulfuric acid. Its high alloying content also gives it greater resistance to chloride stress corrosion cracking, but it is still susceptible. Its low carbon content makes it resistant to sensitization by welding and which prevents intergranular corrosion.

References

  1. ↑ Data sheet on SAE 304 stainless steel Archived 2012-07-23 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Stainless steel grades listed in the international standard ISO 15510:2010 Comparative designations of grades with similar composition from other important standards. (listed by type of steel structure and by increasing intermediate 3-digits code of the ISO name)" (PDF). International Stainless Steel Forum. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Stainless Steel Fasteners". Australian Stainless Steel Development Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
  5. ↑ "X5CrNi18-10 | 1.4301 - learn more". Materials Processing Europe.
  6. ↑ AISI SAE 304 Stainless Steel Properties Archived 2020-08-20 at the Wayback Machine .
  7. ↑ MIL-HDBK-5J. United States Department of Defense. 31 January 2003. p. 2-222.
  8. ↑ Mike Wall (2020). "SpaceX's Starship will soon be made of different stuff". space.com . Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Matthew Greenwood (22 August 2020). "SpaceX's Starship Vehicle Aces First Test Flight". engineering.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Areeb Ali (28 October 2020). "The Test Flight of SpaceX's Starship Prototype SN 8 Is Excitement Guaranteed". The Wire . Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Offer, Dave (May 26, 1968). "Lofty Gateway Arch Dedicated And Hailed by HHH in St. Louis" (PDF). The Hartford Courant . p. 12A. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  12. ↑ "The Gateway Arch, St Louis". July 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ admin (2021-10-12). "What Does Intergranular Corrosion Mean" . Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  14. ↑ "Easily distinguishing tips between 304,304H and 304L". September 1, 2017. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
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