Stainless Steel: Advantages and Disadvantages

We will not describe in detail here what stainless steel is, the history of its origin and classification. A huge number of scientific works, articles and materials have already been written about this:

"Stainless steel - resistant to corrosion in the atmosphere and aggressive environments steel with a chromium content of at least 10.5% and a low carbon content. Stability is achieved by alloying. The main alloying element of stainless steel is chromium (10.5 - 20%). A higher chromium content in steel provides greater corrosion resistance, alloys of more than 12% chromium do not rust under normal conditions and slightly aggressive environments, more than 17% - corrosion-resistant in aggressive oxidizing environments, in particular in nitric acid concentrations up to 50%."

We will try to explain why, when you are faced with choosing one or another material for further work, you should give preference to stainless steel products. Such steel has a number of advantages over other metals, alloys and other materials. However, it should be noted that it also has its own disadvantages.

Even an inexperienced person can understand from the name “stainless steel” that stainless steel is a material that does not rust or should not rust. But to be fair, it should be noted that it will remain stainless only under certain conditions. This will be discussed in a separate article.

What are its advantages and disadvantages compared to other materials?

Wherever you are: on the street, in transport, indoors, on vacation, at work, etc. - take a close look - stainless steel products or structures are everywhere. They inspire hope for tomorrow, symbolize reliability, durability, longevity, practicality. They look aesthetically pleasing and have an attractive appearance.

Let's start with the disadvantages, since there are few of them...

Flaws:

In our opinion, there are several disadvantages, although they are not significant and do not concern the characteristics of the material itself:

- Cost

This material has a higher cost compared to such widely known and generally available building materials as wood, glass, ordinary "black" steel, concrete, various types of plastic... But if you look into the future, this disadvantage can be considered a significant advantage: the service life of a stainless steel product is much longer than that of the listed materials. And if you choose something other than stainless steel, you will spend much more money and your own time on repairs or replacements in the future.

- Weight

Stainless steel has a greater weight compared to other materials such as wood, plastic, aluminum (various types of alloys). This is important, for example, when cladding the facades of structures, buildings, columns. Here it is necessary to make a clear calculation whether the entire structure will withstand a large load.

Advantages:

- Service life

Depending on the operating conditions and purpose of the facility, finished structures or elements made of stainless steel can serve from 20 to 50 and even up to 100 years.

- High strength

Stainless steels have very good mechanical properties. This allows to reduce the overall thickness of future products and, as a result, to reduce the overall weight of the manufactured structures.

- Easy to handle and convenient to maintain

A huge range of modern technologies and equipment allow for the quick and high-quality execution of various metalworking processes: welding, cutting, forming, surface treatment, etc. Over time, products made from such steel do not need to be painted and/or additionally coated with special protective or decorative agents.

- Good performance properties

High resistance to corrosion, humid environments and sudden temperature changes, resistance to mechanical damage and aggressive environments depending on the grade of stainless steel.

- Appearance

The shiny and bright surface of stainless steel provides products with a wide range of applications in various industries and areas of production, in architecture and in design projects.

- Hygiene

Stainless steel meets all current hygienic requirements due to the fact that bacteria and dirt do not penetrate through the surface of stainless steel materials. It is widely used in the food industry, medicine, processing plants, etc.

- Combinatorics

Such metal goes well with a wide variety of materials and decorative elements: with brick, with natural and artificial stone, with wood, with plastic and concrete. Copper, brass, and aluminum combine well with glass or some other metals. Such a combination allows you to get extremely original and exclusive items and designs. Today, a huge range of products are made from stainless steel (be it a pipe, sheet, square, etc.), which can have different types of surfaces: polished, ground, decorative colored, matte, etc.

If possible, do not combine stainless steel with ferrous metals that corrode easily. This can lead to irreparable consequences for your stainless steel product.