Stainless steel, from a century to the next

Abstract

Stainless steels have sustained a continuous growth for these 50 years, based on their outstanding corrosion resistance properties. Their corrosion performance has been ever improved for a large range of environments. New grades with higher static or dynamic mechanical properties afford high quality parts at lower cost with modern fabrication technology. In the future, stainless steel should find further application in the transportation and in the water distribution industries. This growth might be impeded by the EU classification of alloys with over 1% nickel. Attention that is focused nowadays on nickel, may later on be drawn upon all metallic alloys, whose distinctive features should rather be acknowledged and which should benefit from the support of a common strategy to be agreed upon by all stakeholders.