2024-01-25
Stainless steel-Is Stainless steel magnetic?
In the real world, things of course aren’t so black and white.Common austenitic grades can still exhibit mild magnetism for a number of reasons. Cold worked 304 and other high formability alloys, when bent or drawn, form strain induced martensite which is, you guessed, magnetic. Forged bolts also exhibit some magnetism, resultant from the forming processes. Even edge deformation (shearing, cutting) induces the same effect.When welding austenitics, filler metals are chosen to deliberately form small amounts of ferrite, as this helps prevent hot cracking and prevent impurity concentrations. Excessive heat input can cause sensitisation, encouraging martensite formation around carbides.