Metallurgy Interview Question:

How can you find out what kind of stainless steel was used in making a stainless object?

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Usually, one can simply guess the general type of stainless steel i.e. tell if it is ferritic (or martensitic) or austenitic though there are some other types of stainless steels like precipitation hardening and duplex types which have some specific applications. To find the category to which you are stainless belongs, you only need a magnet. If the magnet attracts your steel, then it is a ferritic (martensitic) type otherwise austenitic. Austenitic steels have high nickel or manganese contents, which are both austenite stabilizer elements. However, you need to perform further examinations to tell the exact grade of your steel. These examinations might be micro structural, compositional etc. Usually purchasers of stainless use a quantometer to find chemical composition of stainless steels; then they compare the compositions with the standards and find their type. Please note that only limited grades of stainless steels like 410, 420, 201, 304, and 316 are frequently used and usually one only needs to tell these from each other.
Submitted by: Administrator