Stainless Steel is one of the most commonly used metals in metal and manufacturing industries. There is no substitute metal other than stainless steel. The Stainless Steel is an alloy of iron with a minimum of 10.5% chromium which offers excellent strength and corrosion resistance over a wide range of temperatures. By changing the chromium and nickel percentage in steel products different types of SS grades are form. In this article, we discussed what is the difference between SS 304 and SS 316?
SS 304 & SS 316 Products & Applications
Stainless Steel 304 and Stainless Steel 316 is extensively used to produce various types of products such as pipes, tubes, sheets, plates, pipe fittings, flanges, fasteners and many more. These SS products are highly demanded in many industries including:
- Paper & Pulp production
- Shipbuilding
- Heat exchangers
- Pharmaceuticals
- Marine piping
- Power generation
- Processing industries and more.
Stainless Steel 304 and Stainless Steel 316
Stainless Steel is mainly contained chromium and nickel as the main metal and addition of other metal depending on materials grades. In type 304 Stainless Steel has 18% chromium and 8% nickel while Stainless Steel 316 contains 16% chromium and 10% nickel with additional molybdenum. The additional molybdenum improves the corrosion resistance of type 316.
304 Stainless Steel is the most versatile and commonly used stainless steel contains chromium-nickel with low carbon alloy. This low carbon offers good forming and welding characteristics than 316 Stainless Steel. Due to this, type 304 Stainless Steel helps in making pressure vessels, tubing, and piping & storage tanks.
Similarly, the austenitic stainless steel 316 has excellent heat resistance and corrosion resistance properties due to more nickel content and additional molybdenum. Stainless Steel 304 also offers good resistance to both corrosion as well as heat. The resistance to corrosion and heat by Stainless Steel 316 is much better than Stainless Steel 304 for various chemicals.
The last and most important point i.e. price. Type 316 has offered more benefits than type 304 stainless steel but the cost will be much higher for 316 Stainless Steel. Due to this, Stainless Steel 316 products are also costly compared to type SS304.
If you are looking to buy any Stainless Steel 304 or Stainless Steel 316 products, please contact us and get a free estimation.