Stainless Steel Snapshot:

Ferritic Steel

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Ferritic steel is made withchromium ranging fromapproximately 12-30% and littleor no nickel. Specialty gradesoften include molybdenum,aluminum, and titanium.

Use of ferritic stainless steel depends largely on its chromiumcontent.  Lower-chromium gradesare widely used in automotiveexhaust systems. Intermediate-chromium grades are extensivelyused in home appliances. used in home appliances.

Ferritic steel is generally easy toform and machine for thinnergauges.

The most commonly used ferriticsteel is type 430, which is oftenfound in washing machine drums,kitchen sinks, cutlery, indoorpanels, dishwashers and othercooking utensils.

Stainless steel is made primarily from iron and carbon in a two-step process, with the addition ofchromium (Cr) and other alloying elements to create a corrosion-resistant product. Steel corrodesbecause when iron is artificially manipulated into a pure form to make steel, it becomes unstable andwill readily recombine with oxygen. There are five main grades of stainless steel: austenitic, ferritic,martensitic, duplex, and precipitation hardening.

Ferritic steel is a type of steel that is composed of less than 0.10% carbon, usually composed offerferromagnetic compounds of ferric oxide with other oxides. Here are a few facts about ferriticstainless steels:

Ferritic and austenitic steels canbe combined to form Duplexstainless steel. Duplex steelsoffer the combined advantageof high mechanical strength andhigh corrosion resistance. Theyaare used in the paper, pulp,shipbuilding, and petrochemicalindustries.

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1Ferritic stainless steel has similarproperties to carbon steel butwith better corrosion, heat, andcracking resistance, although itis not as corrosion resistant asthe austenitic grades.