High quality stainless steel CNC machining

What is stainless steel？

Stainless steel is the abbreviation of stainless acid-resistant steel, which is a corrosion-resistant and high-temperature resistant alloy. The steel grades that are resistant to weak corrosive media such as air, steam, and water or have rust properties are called stainless steels. The steel grades that are resistant to chemical corrosion media (acid, alkali, salt and other chemical corrosion) are called acid-resistant steels.The term "stainless steel" does not simply refer to one type of stainless steel, but to more than one hundred industrial stainless steels. Each stainless steel has good properties in its specific application area. Stainless steel has a series of characteristics such as excellent corrosion resistance, formability, compatibility and toughness, and is widely used in heavy industry, light industry, daily necessities industry, building decoration and other industries.

Stainless Steel

What components are stainless steel composed of?

The main component of stainless steel is chromium. Chromium is a steel-grey metal, which is the hardest metal in nature. Stainless steel has corrosion resistance only when the content of chromium element reaches a certain value. Therefore, stainless steel generally has a chromium content of at least 12%. Stainless steel also contains elements such as Ni, Ti, Mn, N, Nb, Mo, Si, and Cu. The corrosion resistance of stainless steel decreases with the increase of carbon content, so most stainless steels have a low carbon content, with a maximum of 1.2%. Some steels contain even less than 0.03% carbon.

What are the main types of stainless steel?

Stainless steel is often divided into five types according to the structure state: Martensitic Stainless Steel, Ferritic Stainless Steel , Austenitic Stainless Steel, Duplex Stainless Steel (austenitic-ferritic) and Precipitation Hardened Stainless Steel.

1）Martensitic Stainless Steel

Martensitic stainless steel is a type of steel that can be heat treated and hardened. Its carbon content is higher, so it has higher strength, hardness and wear resistance, but slightly poorer corrosion resistance. It is mainly used in some parts with high mechanical performance requirements and general corrosion resistance requirements, such as springs, steam turbine blades, hydraulic press valves, etc.

2）Ferritic Stainless Steel

Ferritic stainless steel is one of the most common stainless steel materials, which is a stainless steel with a ferritic structure. In addition to strong corrosion resistance, it has good oxidation resistance, great stress resistance, excellent thermal conductivity and a very small coefficient of expansion. However, the plasticity of ferritic stainless steel is poor. Therefore, this stainless steel material is mainly used to make corrosion-resistant parts.

3）Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steel is a material with good comprehensive properties, which can resist the corrosion of various media. This type of steel has good plasticity, toughness, weldability, corrosion resistance and non-magnetic or weak magnetic properties. Due to its good corrosion resistance in oxidizing and reducing media, it is often used to make acid-resistant equipment, such as corrosion-resistant containers, conveying pipes, and nitric acid-resistant equipment parts.

4）Duplex Stainless Steel (austenitic-ferritic)

This type of steel combines the characteristics of austenitic and ferritic stainless steels and has superplasticity. Compared with ferrite, its plasticity and toughness are higher, and its resistance to intergranular corrosion and welding performance are significantly improved. Compared with austenitic stainless steel, it has high strength and significantly improved resistance to intergranular corrosion and chloride stress corrosion. Duplex stainless steel also has excellent pitting corrosion resistance

5）Precipitation Hardened Stainless Steel

Precipitation hardening steel is the strongest steel. It can be heat treated and has excellent corrosion resistance and toughness. It is mainly used for aerospace components.

Stainless Steel CNC Machining

Stainless steel is ideal for a variety of CNC machining projects due to its excellent machinability and excellent uniformity. It has good machinability and solderability. Specific machining needs can be met by CNC machining. When CNC machining stainless steel, the cutting tool must be kept sharp. This can be achieved by carefully grinding and honing the tool face. In addition to extending tool life, regular sharpening and maintenance can help improve tolerances, accuracy, finish, occurrence of tool breakage, productivity between regrinds, and power efficiency.

Stainless Steel CNC Machining

The advantages and disadvantages of Stainless Steel CNC Machining

Advantages: 

1) Strength.

2) Corrosion resistance.

3) Strong formability and weldability.

4) High versatile and flexible.

5) Low maintenance and durable.

6) The appeal of aesthetics.

Disadvantages:

1) The cutting force is large and the cutting temperature is high.

2) The thermal conductivity of stainless steel is poor.

3) Serious work hardening.

4) Easy to stick to the knife.

5) Tool wear is accelerated.

The aplications of Stainless Steel CNC machining

CNC machining of stainless steel is widely used in the production of various parts for the medical industry, food and beverage industry, robotics, aerospace, and any industry that requires high strength. Stainless steel is an ideal material for applications such as:

1）Medical instruments

2）Machine parts

3）Gears

4）Parts for tractors

5）Heavy construction equipment

6）Vacuum and pressure vessels