Stainless Steel Strip
Stainless steel strips are very thin sheets of stainless steel that have been flat-rolled via cold or hot rolling. Stainless steel strips can be made into a variety of different shapes, including angles, channels, coils, trim and frames, in order to serve various applications.
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Stainless Steel Strip Applications
They are useful in industries including aerospace, automotive, construction, electronics, food processing, health and medicine, petrochemical and fuel and telecommunications. Some of the many hats they may wear include: building materials, catalytic converters, compressor valves, consumer appliances, cutting tools, electronic enclosures and hospital equipment. Stainless steel strips enjoy such widespread usage because they offer many positive qualities that conventional steel materials do not, such as cryogenic toughness, increased corrosion resistance, ductility and tensile strength. Furthermore, stainless steel strips are 100% recyclable, which is an important quality in a world that is growing in awareness of environmentalism.
Types of Stainless Steel Strips
A common mill form of stainless steel, stainless steel strip is typically available in three types: heat treatable, non heat treatable and pre hardened. The process by which stainless steel strips are manufactured is a bit involved; it involves multiple steps. To begin, the necessary raw metal materials are gathered and placed inside an electric furnace to melt for 8 to 12 hours. They are removed when they reach their recrystallization temperature. After this, manufacturers cast the molten stainless steel into semi-finished forms known as tube rounds, billets, rods, blooms and slabs. After they have been cast, the unfinished shapes are sent on to undergo cold or hot rolling, where they are transformed into stainless steel strips. During the cold rolling process, metals are worked not at genuinely cold temperatures, but rather merely at temperatures somewhere closer to room temperature, specifically below the recrystallization point of the metal. During this procedure, the stainless steel forms are placed in between rollers, through which they are pulled. As they are pulled, the metal forms are compressed and squeezed until they take on the shape, width and length that the manufacturers desire. Hot rolling works in much the same way. The only difference is that, in this case, the metal is heated to temperatures above the recrystallization point. Hot rolling is only appropriate for use with heat treatable stainless steel. After stainless steel strips have been formed, they may undergo a number of different secondary processes in order to better fit the needs of their intended applications. Examples of such processes include custom finishing, edging, tempering, shearing, slitting, polishing and annealing.
Stainless Steel Grades
Depending on the requirements and specifications of an application, manufacturers may select any number of different stainless steel bar grades with which to work, such as 201 stainless steel, 420 stainless steel, 304-L stainless steel and 430 stainless steel. However, most often, they use either grade 304 stainless steel or grade 316 stainless steel. Both of these grades offer the advantages of the stainless steel 300 series; because 300 series stainless steel bars are a type of austenitic stainless steel, they are non-magnetic and equally useful in corrosive, harsh and mild work environments. Other types of stainless steel include ferritic grades and martensitic grades. Ferritic stainless steel, unlike austenitic stainless steel, is not heat treatable but is magnetic. It is heat and corrosion resistant, especially in the face of seawater, and it is also resistant to corrosion-related stress cracking. While ferritic stainless steel is not as strong as austenitic stainless steel, it is more aesthetically pleasing. Martensitic stainless steel is the hardest of all the stainless steels and can be heat treated via tempering or quenching. Despite this, it is not as resistant to corrosion as the other two grades.
Things to Consider When Purchasing Stainless Steel Strips
To figure out what type of stainless steel strip might be best for you, bring your specifications to a knowledgeable professional, such as those listed right here on this page. They will take into consideration such important factors as: intended application environment (including temperatures and weather) of the strips, projected levels of impact to be sustained by the strips, required strength of strips and the dimensions of the space in which the strips will work. Quality manufacturers will also take into consideration any standard regulations that your stainless steel strips must meet, such as those put out by the FDA, OSHA, ISO, ASME or ASTM International. Again, to find experienced, trustworthy and reliable stainless steel strip suppliers, browse the list of companies we have provided for you on this page. You will find their respective information listed near the top of this page, along with their contact information, company profiles and website links.