Stainless steel
Due to the steadily increasing appearance of stainless steel in structural applications but also to the significantly different properties of the material vis-à-vis the common steel, it was deliberately chosen to make a brief reference to its characteristics and properties below.
General elements
It is a steel alloy with chromium (at least 10.50%) and manganese. With small variations in the chemical composition, 120 different types of stainless steel are currently produced. Several types of stainless steel are available on the market depending on the metallurgical structure of the material: austenitic, ferritic, double and precipitated. For structural uses, austenitic steels are generally used which provide an excellent combination of corrosion resistance and easy molding, and double steels, which provide high strength and very good corrosion resistance.
The corrosion resistance of stainless steels is due to a superficial oxide layer that immediately develops exposure to atmospheric agents and has the ability to self-heal when damaged. Its resistance to corrosion is the advantage of its use in structural applications. Even after continuous exposure to the marine environment or industrial with particularly aggressive agents, there is no reduction in the bearing capacity of the stainless steel building blocks.
Nomenclature
The trade name of stainless steel consists of a three-digit number related to the chemical composition of steel, and often the symbol is supplemented with the Latin letter L, which indicates that the steel is stabilized (result of a special treatment). The stainless steel nomenclature is defined by the European standard EN 10088, in which each type of stainless steel is characterized by an alphanumeric symbolism. With these two elements it is possible to determine the chemical composition of the material, the group and the category to which the material belongs. It is reported that there is no exact match of the notations in the European standard and in the corresponding German (DIN).
Mechanical Features
The law of deformation stress of stainless steels differs from that of common steel. While the common steel exhibits a linear elastic behavior up to the leak limit and then shows a horizontal branch to the point where the cracking occurs, the stainless steel has a completely different response since its response curve is a continuous curve without clearly identifying the a leakage limit conventionally theoretically assumed to be the voltage value for 0.20% permanent deformation (conventional leakage limit). Also, the curve does not display the characteristic horizontal branch, as the material can receive increasing stresses with increased strains (strain)
General elements
It is a steel alloy with chromium (at least 10.50%) and manganese. With small variations in the chemical composition, 120 different types of stainless steel are currently produced. Several types of stainless steel are available on the market depending on the metallurgical structure of the material: austenitic, ferritic, double and precipitated. For structural uses, austenitic steels are generally used which provide an excellent combination of corrosion resistance and easy molding, and double steels, which provide high strength and very good corrosion resistance.
The corrosion resistance of stainless steels is due to a superficial oxide layer that immediately develops exposure to atmospheric agents and has the ability to self-heal when damaged. Its resistance to corrosion is the advantage of its use in structural applications. Even after continuous exposure to the marine environment or industrial with particularly aggressive agents, there is no reduction in the bearing capacity of the stainless steel building blocks.
Nomenclature
The trade name of stainless steel consists of a three-digit number related to the chemical composition of steel, and often the symbol is supplemented with the Latin letter L, which indicates that the steel is stabilized (result of a special treatment). The stainless steel nomenclature is defined by the European standard EN 10088, in which each type of stainless steel is characterized by an alphanumeric symbolism. With these two elements it is possible to determine the chemical composition of the material, the group and the category to which the material belongs. It is reported that there is no exact match of the notations in the European standard and in the corresponding German (DIN).
Mechanical Features
The law of deformation stress of stainless steels differs from that of common steel. While the common steel exhibits a linear elastic behavior up to the leak limit and then shows a horizontal branch to the point where the cracking occurs, the stainless steel has a completely different response since its response curve is a continuous curve without clearly identifying the a leakage limit conventionally theoretically assumed to be the voltage value for 0.20% permanent deformation (conventional leakage limit). Also, the curve does not display the characteristic horizontal branch, as the material can receive increasing stresses with increased strains (strain)
