Stainless steel is the ideal material to design systems, fabricate parts and equipment, or create stunning architectural features – strong yet resilient enough to withstand even extreme environmental conditions.
Thin stainless steel products such as sheet and plate provide many options. Thicknesses up to 6mm qualify as metal plate while anything thicker is considered sheet metal.
Mechanical Properties
Stainless steel plate is an extremely reliable and corrosion-resistant product that is suitable for numerous uses. Its unique alloying composition – primarily chromium – helps it resist rust and staining while being highly heat and fire-resistant. Furthermore, its versatility means it can be formed into different shapes and sizes to suit a range of applications; sheets, coils, bars, flats and rings all exist – which should all help in selecting an ideal stainless steel option for you application.
Multiple grades of stainless steel can be found with differing levels of chromium and nickel content to provide different mechanical properties. Chrome alloys protect from oxidation corrosion in most environments; atmospheric and aqueous corrosion protection are both covered, but adding molybdenum for chloride penetration resistance or nickel for acid environments could further increase resistance.
Due to their lower carbon content, stainless steels are less prone to oxidation at elevated temperatures; however, some grades can become embrittled when exposed for extended periods at high temperatures. Grades with “L” suffixes like 316L tend to have lower carbon contents and thus be less susceptible to embrittlement.
Stainless steel stands up well to corrosion and can withstand heavy loads without succumbing to wear, which makes it suitable for demanding applications such as machinery, transportation vehicles, building construction and marine equipment. Furthermore, its high tensile strength and durability make it suitable for machinery repair shops as well as machinery production facilities and warehouses. Ultimately it makes the material an invaluable choice.
Duplex stainless steels are a type of austenitic stainless steels and feature a two phase austenite-ferritic structure, giving them greater strength and toughness than single phase austenitic alloys while still offering excellent corrosion resistance. Duplex stainless steels are particularly well suited for use in harsh environments like chemical processing equipment, marine vessels, pulp & paper industries and desalination plants due to the combination of their ferrite-austenite phases which also provides resistance against pitting corrosion as well as chloride attack, providing wide corrosion resistance range compared to single phase austenitic alloys.
Chemical Composition
Stainless steel is an iron-based alloy composed of chromium, nickel and molybdenum — as well as other elements — with corrosion-resistant properties. Due to this resistance to corrosion, the alloy is often employed in construction applications as well as industrial settings due to its versatility; rolling sheets into sheets, bars or wires is common practice as is tubing for different uses such as cookware, cutlery and surgical instruments as well as major appliances or vehicles and the building of large buildings.
Based on its chemical composition and corrosion-resistance properties, stainless steel can be classified into several categories. This may include low carbon grades containing chromium-nickel alloys as well as molybdenum; austenitic, martensitic or duplex grades may also fall into these groups.
Low carbon, chromium-containing grades of stainless steel have high strength and corrosion resistance, making them perfect for use in automotive, aerospace and appliance applications. Furthermore, these less complex forms can easily be welded together or formed for welding/forming processes – as well as being suitable for outdoor environments due to rust protection.
Martensitic grades of stainless steel boast low to medium carbon contents and contain between 14%-16% chromium and up to 1% molybdenum content, providing good corrosion and oxidation resistance as well as good strength at lower temperatures or creep resistance at elevated temperatures. They are generally suitable for applications where these properties are required in an economical package.
Austenitic grades of stainless steel feature higher nitrogen contents and reduced chromium concentrations than austenitic grades, making them more rust-resistant in more aggressive environments like paper mills and power plants. Furthermore, these varieties of steels can withstand sulfuric acid solutions or other harsh chemicals effectively.
Duplex grades of stainless steel feature a mixed microstructure of ferrite and austenite, featuring low carbon content compared to austenitic grades but more chromium and molybdenum than ferritic grades. As such, duplex stainless steel grades combine corrosion resistance, good strength at low temperatures, toughness, and toughness into one package for use when corrosion resistance is of particular concern.
Applications
6mm stainless steel plate can be found in applications where corrosion resistance and strength are desired, including kitchen equipment such as sinks and counters, cookware, railway vehicle parts and machinery, construction projects including major buildings as well as in marine environments or other harsh conditions. It offers anti-rust properties and can easily be cleaned using damp cloth – making this durable enough for marine environments or harsher conditions.
Stainless steel comes in many different forms and sizes, each serving specific functions. Common formats for stainless steel products are bars, tubing, and sheets – each offering load-bearing support or being cut to create custom pieces of equipment depending on its environment and application. Furthermore, most suppliers offer pre-cut sizes which make sourcing them even simpler.
While products of different shapes and sizes have their own set of benefits, when selecting one it is essential to keep weight and thickness in mind when making your selection. A rough estimate of this weight can be calculated by dividing total volume by density; this provides an effective means of designing applications or estimating shipping costs.
A 6mm stainless steel plate weighs around 1.7 kg per square metre. This light weight makes it easier to transport and handle, while its relatively stiff nature allows it to be bent or formed into unique shapes without becoming brittle or damaged.
These plates are composed primarily of grade 304 stainless steel, known for its good corrosion resistance and versatility in applications across a range of fields. Commonly referred to as 18/8, due to its composition containing 18% chromium and 8% nickel; other grades like grade 316 are also widely utilized, providing food processing or medical equipment solutions.
Grade 410 stainless steel boasts exceptional corrosion resistance. It’s an economical, versatile material suitable for forging and welding that features higher carbon content for added strength; additionally, this grade can be hardened for increased durability – making it an excellent material choice for tools or equipment with long lifespan requirements.
Pricing
Pricing of 6mm stainless steel plate can differ based on several factors. These factors include raw material prices used to manufacture it, market regulations and the availability of domestic or imported material. Raw materials like iron ore and pig iron have an enormous influence on production costs; when these materials become scarcer, the price increases exponentially leading to higher priced product being produced.
Price of steel depends largely on its grade; for instance, grade 304 is an affordable all-around steel that provides corrosion protection in most environments while grades 316 and 321 provide enhanced resistance in coastal or marine applications. Additional additives, such as molybdenum which increases acid corrosion resistance or titanium which improves weldability may also be added depending on its use in various environments.
Location can also have a considerable effect on steel prices. When purchased domestically, market regulations, such as tariffs on non-domestic material and subsidies to local producers, can significantly alter a project’s final price tag.
An additional factor affecting the cost of 6mm stainless steel plate can be its status as either prime or secondary material. Prime plate, which meets regulatory or mill proprietary specifications for chemical and physical properties, tends to be more costly. However, project-specific considerations may change this; depending on their requirements some situations necessitate using only high quality material available.
Like sheet, plate comes in various standard pre-cut sizes ranging from 4 feet (1.2m) to 10 feet (3m). However, custom cuts may also be ordered to meet project-specific dimensions. As its thickness makes plate more expensive and heavier than sheet in terms of weight-to-thickness ratio; therefore it might not be ideal for lightweight applications; however its thickness often provides increased strength in some instances.
