Some applications of stainless steel are listed below:

1. Kitchen Appliances and Utensils

Stainless steel is a widely employed choice in kitchen equipment of all kinds. It’s a durable and long-lasting material that can withstand heavy and constant use in the kitchen. It is resistant to corrosion, which is important in a food environment where there is constant exposure to water and other liquids. This results in no taint of food. It is a hygienic material that is easy to clean and maintain and withstands the most aggressive cleaning. It does not absorb food odors or flavors and is resistant to stains.

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2. Medical Equipment

Stainless steel is a widely applied material choice in the medical sector for various equipment and devices. A main driver of this is its corrosion resistance, which prevents surface degradation by addition or pitting. It makes durable products that can tolerate the autoclave cleaning and aggressive chemical sterilization processes necessary for medical equipment. Since it is non-porous, it is easy to clean to extreme hygiene standards. Stainless steel is also a biocompatible material, so it is rarely actively rejected when implanted into patients. This property results in stainless steel being tolerated and durable in medical implants and devices that come into direct contact with the human body.

3. Automotive Industry

Stainless steel is an important material choice in many automotive components, due to its general strength, durability, and resistance to corrosion. It is used in exhaust systems, fuel tanks, external decorative/finishing applications, and sometimes in whole-body (monocoque) construction.

A primary benefit of stainless steel in automotive applications is corrosion resistance. The often high-salt environment results in rapid corrosion of even well-protected basic steels, quickly degrading vehicles. Stainless steel is resistant to rust and corrosion, making it an ideal material choice for automotive components that are exposed to harsh conditions, despite the mild salt vulnerability of some lower-cost alloys.

In exhaust, engine, suspension, and transmission parts it is durable and can withstand high temperatures and mechanical stresses. In exhaust systems, it can handle high-temperature, high-vibration applications without fracturing or corroding.

4. Construction Industry

Stainless steels are important in the construction sector in that they are widely used in sheet form for cladding purposes, lending high environmental resistance, but not as structural components. Stainless steels also feature extensively in “finishing” components such as flashings for window and door installations, and as structural and functional components for doors, windows, and balustrades/handrails. Stainless steels are widely employed in functional piping and exterior ducting, where corrosion resistance is paramount both from environmental causes and from potentially contaminated materials carried within pipes.

5. Aerospace Industry

Stainless steels find wide application in gas-turbine technologies, which have been a key driver of research into higher-performing alloys and processing methods, such as precipitation-hardening alloys. The materials compensate for their relatively high weight, in the highest-stress and higher-temperature applications by bringing extreme tolerances and strength to otherwise vulnerable parts. The use of stainless steel in landing gear is also critically important—high-stress tolerance is important, but landing gear encounters harsh conditions with complex mechanics exposed to runway environments that are wet, abrasive, and often chemically contaminated.

6. Chemical and Petrochemical Industry

Stainless steel is much favored in these sectors as good alloy selection and correct processing methods make remarkably stable and durable components for harsh conditions. It brings high-temperature tolerance, high resistance to vibration fatigue, great chemical resistance, and low maintenance needs to piping, valve gear, vessels, and structural parts.

7. Marine Industry

Stainless steel is a mainstay of small components in the marine sector. Marine environments are harsh in that materials undergo large temperature swings, constant wet-salt exposure, and high mechanical stresses. The material is widely used for engine parts, general fittings, anchors/chains, capstans, structural elements, and much more—from small pleasure craft to supertankers. Alloy selection is critical, in that some alloys have cosmetic and even pinhole/pitting sensitivity to salt environments. The use of the most chemically resilient alloys is important for both long-term durability and short-term cosmetic reasons.

8. Jewelry

Stainless steel is widely used in “costume” (i.e., non-precious) jewelry. It allows fine components of high strength and polished “silver” appearance, while being low cost to use, compared with precious metals of lesser corrosion resistance.

What Are the Benefits of Stainless Steel?

Listed below are some benefits of stainless steel:

1. Corrosion Resistance: Stainless steel is highly resistant to corrosion and rust due to the presence of chromium in the alloy. This makes it suitable for use in harsh environments, such as marine or chemical industry applications (by careful alloy specification) and reduces the need for maintenance and replacement.
2. Durability: Stainless steel is a strong and durable material with a high strength-to-weight ratio. It is resistant to deformation and can withstand high stress without breaking or cracking, making it suitable for use in demanding applications.
3. High Cosmetic Facility: Stainless steels lend a modern and enduring appearance to many applications, being essentially unchanging and maintenance-free in the great majority of applications.
4. Weldability: Most stainless steel alloys are highly weldable, making the assembly of complex systems from individual parts a clean, watertight, and permanent process. Care must be taken with the altered corrosion properties of welded areas.
5. Formability: Being generally fairly malleable materials and in many cases of moderate to high ductility, stainless steels provide many options in manufacturing processes that allow the manufacture of complex and intricate components for a wide range of purposes—from valve gates to turbine blades, from jewelry to kitchen utensils.

What Are the Limitations of Stainless Steel?

Listed below are the limitations of stainless steel:

1. Cost: Stainless steel can be more expensive than other materials, such as carbon steel or aluminum, depending on the specific grade and application.
2. Hardness: Some grades of stainless steel can be too hard for certain applications, making them difficult to machine or shape.
3. Work Hardening Embrittlement: Overstressed components that are repeatedly taken close to their elastic limit can, in some alloys, work harden severely, and this can lead to brittle failure.
4. Weight: While stainless steel is often a preferred choice from a strength and corrosion perspective, its high density makes it impractical for lightweight equipment in many cases.
5. Shape: Stainless steel is hard to work with and requires special tools and skills, compared with less intractable materials.
6. Environment: While highly corrosion resistant, particular grades and types of stainless steel have poorer resistance to salt corrosion.
7. Temperature: Some grades are suited to cryogenic applications, while others have extremely high-temperature limits for safe use. Care is needed in specifying alloys for extreme temperature applications.

Why Use Stainless Steel?

Overall, stainless steels offer huge benefits in a surprisingly wide range of environmental, structural, cosmetic, and engineering applications. They bring durability, low maintenance, high-quality cosmetics, and great design flexibility when used correctly.

How Long Will Stainless Steel Last?

Well-specified, well-designed, and well-cared-for stainless steel components have functional life expectancies that are essentially unlimited. Examples abound from the early stages of the widespread use of the materials in kitchenware. It is common for the “failure” of, for example, cookpots to be the result of handle attachment methods. The same is true for a common construction application of stainless steel, in window stays. It is common for these components to remain in service 30–50 years after they were made. It is also common for the stainless steel components of stays to remain serviceable when the bearings/couplings between them have failed. These design failure issues are not directly a result of the use of stainless steel, where the components themselves have unlimited endurance.

Is Stainless Steel Better Than Carbon Steel?

Choosing which is better between stainless and carbon steel depends on many factors. In contexts where the particular strengths of stainless steels compensate for the weaknesses of carbon steels, the upgrade to stainless is a wise choice for durability, lifespan, and cosmetic reasons. Carbon steels, on the other hand, are exactly the right solution for low-cost, high-strength, and highly durable components in many applications. However, where the risk of corrosion is present, the durability weakness of carbon steel is countered very effectively by the use of stainless steel.

Can Stainless Steel Get Rusted?

Yes, stainless steel gets rusted. Some stainless steels have particular chemical sensitivities and this can result in corrosion. For example, 316 stainless steel fuel tanks in marine environments can see a form of tunneling corrosion that leads to pinholes, due to rust. Stainless steel fittings on boats/ships can bleed brown (iron oxide) stains onto surrounding areas as the iron content responds slowly to salt presence. Welded stainless steel can develop localized sensitivities to corrosion in non-salt environments.

Is Stainless Steel Stronger Than Metal?

Stainless steels of the precipitation-hardening class are among the strongest metals available for mass-produced components. When specified for maximum strength, stainless steel can easily be the equivalent of the strongest carbon steel after heat treatment. For more information, see our guide on Metal.

Is Stainless Steel an Alloy or Metal?

Stainless steels are a broad family of complex alloys of medium- and low-carbon steels, chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, copper, silicon, nitrogen, and other elements. For more information, see our guide on Alloys.

Is Stainless Steel Waterproof?

Yes, stainless steel is waterproof. All stainless steels resist corrosion from fresh water and all are impervious barriers to water unless mechanically pierced. No matter the thickness of the material, water will not pass through it.

What Is the Difference Between Stainless Steel and Ordinary Steel?

The addition of alloying agents such as chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, copper, silicon, and nitrogen alters the properties of the steel, exploiting its fundamental strengths but enhancing various of its weaknesses. The most important change is the addition of chromium (without which the alloy is not stainless steel). This induces a high degree of corrosion protection, by forming a chromium oxide film on the steel in a self-healing coating that renews when scratched (in an oxygen atmosphere).