Austenitic stainless steel

Austenitic stainless steel is one of the five classes of stainless steel by crystalline structure (along with ferritic, martensitic, duplex and precipitation hardened). Its primary crystalline structure is austenite (face-centered cubic) and it prevents steels from being hardenable by heat treatment and makes them essentially non-magnetic. This structure is achieved by adding enough austenite-stabilizing elements such as nickel, manganese and nitrogen. The Incoloy family of alloys belong to the category of super austenitic stainless steels. There are two subgroups of austenitic stainless steel. 300 series stainless steels achieve their austenitic structure primarily by a nickel addition while 200 series stainless steels substitute manganese and nitrogen for nickel, though there is still a small nickel content, making 200 series a cost-effective nickel-chromium austenitic type stainless steel. 300 series stainless steels are the larger subgroup. The most common austenitic stainless steel and most common of all stainless steel is Type 304, also known as 18/8 or A2. Type 304 is extensively used in such items as cookware, cutlery, and kitchen equipment. Type 316 is the next most common austenitic stainless steel. Some 300 series, such as Type 316, also contain some molybdenum to promote resistance to acids and increase resistance to localized attack (e.g. pitting and crevice corrosion). The higher nitrogen addition in 200 series gives them higher mechanical strength than 300 series. Alloy 20 (Carpenter 20) is an austenitic stainless steel possessing excellent resistance to hot sulfuric acid and many other aggressive environments which would readily attack type 316 stainless. This alloy exhibits superior resistance to stress-corrosion cracking in boiling 20–40% sulfuric acid. Alloy 20 has excellent mechanical properties and the presence of niobium in the alloy minimizes the precipitation of carbides during welding. Heat resisting grades can be used at elevated temperatures, usually above .