Stainless steel tube alloy selection

304/304 L: The most common 300 stainless steel alloy in tubular shape. 304 has good corrosion resistance, cold working characteristics and relative cost-effectiveness, making this alloy our most popular choice. The "L" grade version has a lower carbon content to reduce carbide precipitation during secondary welding operations.

316/316 L / 316 LVM: The addition of molybdenum to the base metal can improve corrosion resistance, which is suitable for medical/food service and other demanding pipeline applications. The "L" grade is a low-carbon version used to reduce carbide precipitation during secondary welding operations. 316 LVM (LVM stands for L-class vacuum melt) is melted in a vacuum furnace before forming to reduce impurities introduced from the air and form a uniform chemical composition.

17-7: Adding aluminum to the alloy can increase the strength and hardness of the pipe while maintaining good corrosion resistance. It can be heat treated (CH-900 heat treatment) to achieve higher tensile strength than cold working alone. Better strength and weight characteristics than 304 hard tempered tubes of the same size.

302: Corrosion resistance similar to stainless steel 304, but with higher strength due to carbon content. Usually no pipes are provided, only sold in wire/solid rod form. It is generally cheaper than 304 wire of the same specification and hardness.

303: Due to the addition of elements that can reduce tool wear/cost, it is an ideal stainless steel alloy for machining parts. Only suitable for machined parts, not provided as pipes.

321: Increased strength and corrosion resistance at higher temperatures are the characteristics of this alloy, because titanium is a stable component of the base metal. Titanium combines with most of the carbon in the alloy, preventing carbon from combining with chromium in the form of chromium carbide. The result is that more chromium in the alloy "frees" to resist corrosion.

347: Features similar to 321, but has better corrosion resistance at higher temperatures. The addition of colium element enables the pipe to withstand high temperatures for a longer period of time without chromium carbide precipitation.

Finally, Manners can provide other special stainless steel alloys upon request. Although the delivery time for special alloys may be relatively long, our manufacturing capabilities enable us to manufacture tube products required by customers within a reasonable delivery time.

Please contact us if you need: zhang@sz-manners.com.