Stainless Steel Fabrication

About stainless steel material

Stainless steel is an alloy containing iron (Fe) as the main component (50% or more) and chrome (Cr), nickel (Ni), etc. Stainless steel is a material with excellent mechanical properties, fire resistance, low-temperature characteristics, toughness, workability, etc., including corrosion resistance.
Therefore, it is hard to rust, which is the biggest feature. It also has high strength and excellent heat resistance, and low-temperature resistance. Due to these properties, it is used in a wide range of products. For example, construction, civil engineering, kitchens, precision equipment, home appliances, industrial equipment, transportation equipment, etc. There are various specifications for the surface finish of stainless steel, and the most frequently used are “hairline (HL)”, “mirror surface (BA)”, “2B”, and “striped plate”.

We often use three types of stainless steel: SUS304, SUS430 and SUS316.

SUS430: Ferritic stainless steel is a steel grade containing 18% chromium. As a feature, its strength, hardness and corrosion resistance are between those of martensitic and austenitic stainless steel. Still, it is relatively inexpensive and is often used in automobile parts, building interiors, and kitchen sinks for home use.
SUS304: Non-magnetic austenitic stainless steel containing 18% chromium and 8% nickel. It is the most commonly used stainless steel because it has the property that its strength does not decrease as much as other stainless steel, even in low and high-temperature environments. For example, it is often found in industrial equipment such as processing machinery, food, chemicals, atomic energy and household goods, cabinets, indoor pipelines, water dispensers, boilers, bathtubs, etc. It has high corrosion resistance and is excellent in welding as a feature.
SUS316: Similar to SUS304, it is a non-magnetic austenitic stainless steel grade. Its characteristic is that it has better corrosion resistance than SUS304, and it is used in chloride environments such as seawater and salt-damaged areas. It is often used for corrosion resistance products, such as ship parts, chemical tanks, and chemical equipment.

Types Of Stainless Steel Parts Processing

Cutting/laser processing
Cutting processing is cutting square pipes and angle materials to the specified dimensions in the engineering drawing by laser.
Punching
Punching is the process of punching the material according to the die. We mainly use a machine called turret punch press.
Forming/Bending
Forming sheet metal is done by bending a metal plate (sheet metal) with two upper and lower dies. There are V-bending, L-bending, Z-bending, etc. We mainly use a machine called a press brake to bend.
Roll processing
This is the process of rolling a metal material into a cylinder using multiple rollers.

Welding
Welding is melting the joints of two or more members with heat and joining them together. We use argon welding and automatic fibre laser welding for joining.
Spot welding/Resistance spot welding
Put two pieces of the metal sheet together and use upper and lower electrodes to weld on the contact area.
Surface treatment
Surface treatment is performed after the sheet metal product is welded. There are various types of surface treatment, but the main ones are electrolytic polishing, sandblasting, passivation treatment, and electroless nickel plating.

Common Stainless Steel Parts Applications