The Stainless Steel Experts - MSTAINLESS

BUSINESS DIVISION
Industrial components
made of stainless steel
16
Materials and surface finishing
Why stainless steel?
Durablity and high resistance
Stainless steel is frequently the material
of first choice wherever a part is
required to offer durability, neutrality
and a service life spanning decades.
Examples: wastewater and sewage
plant engineering, in environmental
technology for hazardous substances,
in the foodstuffs industry, attachments
and linings.
Aesthetic appearance and
design-enhancing properties
Architects and designers have long
since selected stainless steel as their
“design steel”. Today design elements
in stainless steel are featured
in virtually all manner of consumer
goods, structural components and
service facilities. Indeed, it would be
hard to imagine life without it! The
aesthetic appeal of stainless steel can
be described in just a few short terms:
- brilliant and shiny
- slender and elegant
- robust and functional
Ecological benefits in the
production of stainless steel
Compared with the competing
material sectors, such as plastics,
aluminium etc., the steels, and stainless
steel in particular, are extremely
environmentally friendly. This starts
with the significantly better balance
of energy and resources in the
production process and ends with
a more favourable recycling and
reintroduction into the raw materials
chain. Thus from this point of view,
anyone deciding in favour of stainless
steel, is taking a positive step towards
protecting and improving the quality
of our environment.
High mechanical strength
and toughness
Not without good reason, the Construction
Technology Institute in
Berlin (as the supreme construction
supervisory authority) has made
stainless steel the No. 1 material for
important load-bearing and attachment
situations in the construction
sector. Stainless steel becomes even
stronger when formed – a process
known as strain hardening. Despite
this, however, stainless steel remains
tough without breaking as a result of
abrupt impacts.
Examples: in dowel systems, in order
to attach loads of 30 kN and more
with a single dowel, in modern buildings
as the visible, filigree supporting
structure for complex glass roofs or
glass facades, as bracing for the mast
on ocean yachts in order to withstand
the worst storms.
These benefits resulting from the
strength properties are now also
asserting themselves increasingly in
all sectors of the industry. Structural
components are becoming more
slimline and lightweight on account
of this improved strength. In many
areas there is now a great potential
for economies. Together with the
Stainless Steel Information Centre
in Düsseldorf, the Federal Institute
for Material Research in Berlin and
various universities as well as welding,
teaching and test institutes, we
therefore endeavour to promote the
introduction of new higher performing
stainless steel grades.
Looking to the future with
new materials
Example: lean-duplex
As early as 2002, in other words
before the onset of the major price
increase in stainless steel, we had
already started research work on new
high-performance stainless steels.
In 2006 we were able to obtain the
Technical Approval no. Z-30.3.19 of
the SAF2304 for all fastenings used
in the building and construction
industry.
The advantages of leanduplex
stainless steel,
e.g. material 1.4362, over 1.4571
(A5) or 1.4404 (A4L), can be summarized
in the following simple descriptions:
• Greater planning safety: significantly
reduced alloy content in
terms of nickel and molybdenum,
therefore less expensive and improved
price stability due to the
relatively lower alloy surcharges
• Double the basic strength, also in
the welded state
• Improved corrosion resistance,
among other things, in terms of
chloride induced stress fractures
and pitting.
• Reduced thermal expansion but no
decline in
thermal conductivity
• Improved fatigue strength
• Higher modulus of elasticity values
(according to MPA tests Modersohn
metal sheets >=200 kN) compared
with the austenitic structure
(according to technical approval
only 170 kN)