How to distinguish 304 from 316 stainless steel
Stainless steel is often divided into: martensitic steel, ferritic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, duplex stainless steel and precipitation hardening stainless steel, etc.Austenitic stainless steel has the best comprehensive performance and is not magnetic, so it is most widely used in our daily life.
304, 316 belong to the austenitic stainless steel. The difference is that 316 adds 2% more molybdenum, so 316’s corrosion resistance, especially chloride ion corrosion resistance, is better than 304.
304 corresponds to The Chinese brand 0Cr18Ni9, is a universal stainless steel, is also the most commonly used stainless steel. It is widely used in the production of comprehensive performance (corrosion resistance and molding) good equipment and parts, such as food equipment, general chemical equipment and so on.
304 has excellent hot and cold processing and forming properties. Can process production plate, pipe, silk, belt, type of various products, suitable for manufacturing cold heading, deep drawing, draw forming parts. General weldability, the usual welding method can be used for welding, welding before and after do not need heat treatment.
Other models: high carbon stainless steel 304H, low carbon stainless steel 304L, nitrogen stainless steel 304N, etc.
316, corresponds to Chinese brand 0Cr17Ni12Mo2, is a low-carbon stainless steel, whose welding performance is better than 304. Besides, because of the molybdenum contained in 316 stainless steel, the pitting corrosion resistance of 316 stainless steel in Marine and chemical industrial environment is much better than 304 stainless steel.
Under high temperature conditions, 316 stainless steel has a wide range of uses when the sulfuric acid concentration is lower than 15% and higher than 85%. 316 stainless steel also has good chloride erosion performance.
Other models: low carbon stainless steel 316L, nitrogen stainless steel 316N, sulfur stainless steel 316F, etc.
In a word, 304 and 316 are common stainless steel with excellent performance in daily life, 316’s corrosion resistance is better than 304, so 316’s production cost is higher, the price is relatively higher.
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