These Technical Notes have been prepared by the technical department of Meta Steels and provide technical information related to the selection, application, fabrication and use of special steels.
Qualitative Sorting Tests for Stainless Steels
An overview of tests intended for rapid, inexpensive and usually non-destructive and on-site sorting of grades of stainless steel.
Pitting & Crevice Corrosion of Stainless Steels
- What is pitting corrosion?
- What is crevice corrosion?
- Environmental factors.
- Which steels are susceptible?
- Measurement of resistance to corrosion attack.
- Pitting Resistance Equivalent Number (PREN).
- Effect of welding on corrosion resistance.
- Measures to reduce pitting and crevice corrosion.
Stainless Steel – Properties & Equivalent Grades
- Chemical composition.
- Mechanical properties.
- Typical physical properties.
- Comparison of international grade specifications of stainless steel.
Machining of Stainless Steels
- Machinability of stainless steels.
- Free-machining stainless steels.
- Improved machinability stainless steels.
- Cutting fluids.
- Rules to optimise machining of stainless steels.
- Maintaining corrosion resistance of machined components.
- Guide to machining speeds and feeds.
- Drilling stainless steels.
- Turning stainless steels.
Cleaning, Care & Maintenance of Stainless Steels
- Why maintenance is necessary.
- Maintenance during installation.
- On-going maintenance.
- Good housekeeping during fabrication.
- Cleaning methods – passivation and pickling treatments.
- Recommendations for cleaning stainless steel product.
- Precautions – acids, solvents and chloride.
Life-cycle Costing (LCC) of Stainless steels
- Things to consider.
- Evaluation of LCC.
- LCC calculations.
- Examples of LCC analysis.
- Sensitivity analysis of LCC estimates.
Galvanic Corrosion
- What galvanic corrosion is.
- What conditions are needed.
- The area effects.
- Crevices and stagnant conditions.
- Passive surface films.
- Avoidance of galvanic corrosion.
“L”, “H” and Standard Grades of Stainless Steels
- What “L” grades are and why they are used.
- What “H” grades are and why they are used.
- What the differences are.
- Alternative grade usage.
- Dual certification of stainless steels.
Stainless Steel Tube for the Food Industry
- Specification comparison:
- Material;
- Manufacture;
- Dimensional tolerances;
- Surface finish;
- Weld bead;
- Heat treatment;
- Mechanical properties and
- Non-destructive inspection.
- Which specification to use?
Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
- Background.
- Maximum allowable levels.
- Product exemptions.
Magnetic Response of Stainless Steels
- What are the basic magnetic properties of materials?
- Which metals are magnetic?
- Which metals are non-magnetic?
- Welds and castings.
- The effect of cold work.
- Heat treatment.
- Does magnetic response matter?
- Magnetically soft stainless steels.
- Sorting of steels.
Pipe Dimensions
- Specifications.
- Outside diameter.
- Wall thickness.
- Where carbon steel schedules equal stainless steel schedules.
- The differences between carbon steel and stainless pipe.
- Stainless steel pipe with Sch 80.
- Tolerances.
- Australian Standards.
- Pipe designates by size.
3CR12 & 3CR12Ti – The 12% Chromium Ferritic Stainless Steels
Properties and applications of the 12% Cr utility ferritic stainless steels.
Aluminium Alloys 5052 and 5251
The differences between these similar alloys, and why it is important to understand the differences.