Stainless steel is the name for a range of steels used primarily because of its
corrosion resistance. It is made up of chromium, iron and (in some cases) nickel, molybdenum and other metals. For a metal alloy (a metal made by combining
two or more metallic elements) to be considered stainless steel, it should consist
of at least 10.5% of Chromium; this composition prevents the iron in stainless
steel rusting and provides heat-resistant properties.
As this is to be deemed stainless steel, a huge number of metal alloys fall into
this category. These have been split into five groups (or families) of stainless steel:
1) Austenitic
2) Ferritic
3) Duplex
4) Martensitic
5) Precipitation hardening steelsOf the five families, austenitic stainless steel is the largest. This family comprises
of two sub-groups, the 200 and 300 series – with the 300 series alone accounting