Stainless steel is the abbreviation of stainless steel and acid resistant steel. In the field of metallurgy and materials science, according to the main performance characteristics of steel, a series of iron-based alloys with chromium content more than 10.5% and corrosion resistance and rust resistance as the main performance are called stainless steel. Generally speaking, one part of stainless steel is called corrosion-resistant steel because of the corrosion-resistant performance in less corrosive media such as atmosphere, water vapor and fresh water. And another part of stainless steel is called acid-resistant steel because of the acid-resistant performance in highly corrosive environment such as acid, alkali and salt. The two steels have different corrosion resistance because of the difference in composition. The former has low degree of alloying and is generally not acid resistant; the latter has high degree of alloying, both acid resistance and rust resistance.
Definition of stainless steel: the iron-based alloy containing more than 10.5% chromium is called stainless steel.
The most basic characteristics of stainless steel are its rust resistance under atmospheric conditions and corrosion resistance in various liquid media.
This property is directly related to the chromium content in steel, which increases with the increase of chromium content. When the chromium content is more than 10.5%, the steel has a sudden change in this feature, from easy to rust to non rust, from non corrosion resistance to corrosion resistance. Moreover, with the increase of chromium content from 10.5%, the rust resistance and corrosion resistance are also improved. In general, the maximum chromium content of stainless steel is 26%, and higher chromium content is unnecessary.