Views: 7 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2023-03-20 Origin: Site
It is hard to miss the outstanding characteristics of stainless steel, which are in line with modern-day requirements, and the wide range of available grades, which all have distinct features that make them unique.
From the different grades available, these two highly sought-after ones, the 304 and 316 stainless steel have similar characteristics and are often compared.
Kaiao's article highlights these metals' similarities, differences, and advantages so that you can effectively pick the best one for your business.
Let's get started:
The 304 stainless steel or SS 304 comprises 18-20% chromium, 10.15% nickel, and reasonable amounts of silicon, manganese, and carbon.
With these elements making up the SS 304 grade, it results in a highly corrosive and heat-resistant metal.
The SS 304 is widely applicable because of its heat and corrosion resistance standard. Plus, engineers can easily handle it because of its weldability and formability.
It also has a relatively fine aesthetic appeal, and you can see its application in related conditions.
One of the most used materials among the stainless steel grades and amongst metals for metal fabrication or CNC machining is SS 304.
The material composition of the 316 stainless steel is a combination of 10% nickel, 16% chromium, 0.0% carbon, and 3% molybdenum. Similar to the SS 304, this grade also has high heat resistance, excellent tensile strength, and high weldability and machinability.
When talking about corrosion resistance, the SS 316 can withstand corrosion in freshwater and saline solution or environments of high chloride. This gives it an edge over other grades in terms of corrosion endurance. The molybdenum and high level of nickel give it this particular feature.
Although it has a hard surface that can prevent microbes from living on it, its flexibility and machinability are superb.
The striking differences between these two stainless steel are stated below. Having a clear idea of their differences will help you better decide the most suitable for a particular operation.
When looking at mechanical properties, a breakdown of the different mechanical aspects of the material will explain their difference better.
The tensile strength of a material is determined by the rate a material can stretch before breaking or how much stress or force will break it.
If an SS 304 is of 8mm thickness, the tensile strength will be around 520-720 MPa.
A thickness range of 8-75 mm will have 540-750 MPa tensile strength. An SS 304 of 160 mm thickness has a tensile strength of 500-700 MPa.
For the SS 316, the material with 8mm thickness has a tensile strength of 530-680 MPa. Relatively, an 8-75mm thick one has 520-680 MPa, and one with 160mm thickness has a tensile strength of 500-700MPa.
Every material has a point where when force is applied to it, it changes shape and does not return to its initial state.
The maximum force before a metal takes up the permanent position is the yield strength.
The most durable or robust in this aspect is the stainless steel 316 due to its higher yield strength of 290MPa. Stainless steel 304 has a yield strength of 215MPa, which is lesser.
The hardness of a material tells how hard it is to penetrate, indent, bore, abrase, or deform that particular material.
Both metals have a reasonable amount of hardness. But in numbers, the SS 316 has a hardness of about 79 Rockwell B, which is higher than that of SS 304, which has 70 Rockwell B.
SS 316 is the most suitable for hard operations.
This refers to the response to the deformation of materials.
SS 304 boasts an elasticity modulus of 193-200 GPa. Stainless steel 316, on the other hand, has a lesser elasticity of 164 GPa.
Stainless steel 304 will serve better when responding to deformation.
As stated earlier, the chemical composition of both metals varies. Stainless steel 304 contains 18-20% chromium and 18% nickel, while stainless steel 316 contains 16% chromium and 10.10% nickel.
SS 316 also contains 2-3% molybdenum which is absent in SS 304.
The chemical composition of the metals is the primary factor that sets them apart because it is responsible for their distinct behaviors and features.
One thing to understand is that both metals possess excellent corrosion resistance. But the stainless steel 316 has the edge over stainless steel 304 due to the 2-3% molybdenum present in its chemical composition.
As a result of this, SS 316 will withstand higher corrosive components like alkalis and acids, and even chloride solutions.
In times of temperature resistance, the SS 304 can resist a higher degree of temperature, about 50 to 100 Fahrenheit.
However, a constant high temperature of the range 425-860°c (797-1580F) will cause the metal to rust.
Both metals are adequately weldable using arc welding processes.
The determinant of formability or weldability of a material is usually carbon, where a significant amount reduces weldability. As for both metals, this is not an issue as the max carbon content is 0.8%.
You can put your confidence in the durability of both metals. Nevertheless, SS 316 comes out top because of its high corrosion resistance.
Maybe the higher cost of the SS 316 can be justified due to its high value in chemical composition. But the manufacturing might also be more complex while the amount racks up a 75% more cost than SS 304.
SS 304 and 316 are applicable in various industries because of their essential quality boost.
The equipment made from them and the areas they are applied are:
● Household industries
● Container for edible items like flasks, jugs, etc
● Aerospace industries,e g., fasteners, etc
● Medical industries for products like implants, etc.
There's no sure answer for the best one. But, you should not just jump into one you feel has more beneficial characteristics. The following questions will set you on the right track to picking the most suitable for your business.
Any metals can serve well in any corrosive area unless the product is subjected to acid or chlorine environments.
If you are operating under constant high temperatures, SS 316 will be most suitable.
Saving costs should be something to consider. But only if the above requirements can be ignored. SS 304 is less expensive and cost-effective.
These two metals are very similar and possess essential qualities. This makes picking one over the other more difficult.
To decide the most suitable, you need to understand their differences and advantages, just like we have tried to bring out in this article.
Regardless, choosing the right one might still get challenging, and at Kaiao, we are ready to help.
The road to deciding the appropriate material has been made shorter for you as our experienced workers are 24 hours standby to reply to custom questions about your project.
We also possess high-quality machines for CNC machining or metal fabrication for whichever material you choose.
Contact us now for quality service.