Stainless Steel 316

Stainless Steel from Special Piping Materials

STAINLESS STEEL 316

Stainless steel 316 is an austenitic grade of steel that is widely used commercially. Stainless steel 316 is mainly made of iron alongside high amounts of chromium and nickel and it also contains silicon, manganese and carbon.

It is very similar to stainless steel 304 but it has added molybdenum which means it has an increased resistance to both pitting and crevice corrosion. For this reason, stainless steel 316 is often used in marine applications.

Having an austenitic structure means that stainless steel 316 has excellent toughness, something that is even apparent at very low cryogenic temperatures.

Stainless steel 316L is a low carbon version of stainless steel 316 and it is immune to grain boundary carbide precipitation (sensitisation).

As always, it is important to choose the metal that is best suited to your application. Although stainless steel 304 is probably the more common choice of stainless steel, stainless steel 316 is a better choice is a variety of situations. These include:

• When the environment is highly corrosive
• When the metal will be continuously underwater
• When high levels of strength and hardness are needed

Stainless Steel 316 Properties

Stainless steel 316 possesses some important properties:

• Corrosion resistance. This means that stainless steel 316 can withstand corrosion even when exposed to corrosive elements such as chemicals or sea water that could cause pitting and crevice corrosion is other metals. This is why stainless steel 316 can often be found in marine and pharmaceutical applications.
• Stainless steel 316 is known to be a very tough metal which means it can last for a very long time.
• Heat Resistance. Stainless steel 316 has good heat resistance and it has good resistance to oxidation in intermittent service to 870°C and in continuous service to 925°C.
• Stainless steel 316 has good machinability. This means that stainless steel 316 can be welded, fabricated, cold worked or hot worked. Consequently, stainless steel 316 can be used in wide variety of ways in a wide variety of applications.

Stainless Steel 316 applications

Although stainless steel 316 was originally created for use just in paper mills, it now has a great many applications and can be found in a wide number of industries. Some of these are listed here:

• Food processing equipment
• Refinery equipment
• Brewery equipment
• Chemical processing equipment
• Petrochemical equipment
• Laboratory benches & equipment
• Coastal architectural panelling
• Medical devices
• Food preparation equipment
• Coastal balustrading such as panelling, railings & trim
• Boat fittings
• Chemical transportation containers
• Heat exchangers
• Mining screens
• Chemical containers
• Nuts and bolts
• Woven or welded screens for mining
• Springs
• Threaded fasteners.
• Medical implants
• Chemical processing and storage equipment.
• Kitchenware, sanitaryware and troughs
• Tubing
• Medical implants

Stainless Steel 316 products available from Special Piping Materials

• Sheet
• Plate
• Bar
• Pipe, welded and seamless
• Fittings (i.e., flanges, slip-ons, blinds, weld-necks, lap-joints, long welding necks, socket welds, elbows, tees, stub-ends, returns, caps, crosses, reducers, and pipe nipples)

To discuss the price of duplex 2205 products, and to find out more about our competitive pricing and specialist services, please contact the Special Piping Materials sales team at one of our offices around the globe: https://specialpipingmaterials.com/contact/

Stainless Steel 316 ASTM specifications

The Stainless Steel 316 ASTM specifications are as follows:

• Pipe seamless: A312
• Pipe welded: A358
• Sheet/Plate: A240
• Bar: A276
• Flanges & forgings: A182
• Buttweld fittings: A403