SAE 304 stainless steel SAE 304 stainless steel SAE 304 stainless steel is the most common stainless steel. The steel contains both chromium (between 18–20%) and nickel (between 8–10.5%) metals as the main non-iron constituents. It is an austenitic stainless steel. It is less electrically and thermally conductive than carbon steel and is essentially non-magnetic. It has a higher corrosion resistance than regular steel and is widely used because of the ease in which it is formed into various shapes. The composition was developed by W. H. Hatfield at Firth-Vickers in 1924 and was marketed under the trade name “Staybrite 18/8”. It is specified
Stainless steel about 0.4%) are mostly used for cutting tools: Cutlery, Razor blade steel, Blender blades, etc. Replacing some of the Carbon in martensitic stainless steels by Nitrogen is a fairly recent development. The limited solubility of Nitrogen has been increased by the PESR process (Pressure Electroslag Refining) in which melting is carried out under a high nitrogen pressure. Up to 0.4% N contents have been achieved leading to higher hardness/strength and higher corrosion resistance. As the PESR is expensive, lower but significant N contents have been achieved using the standard AOD process. They are magnetic. They are not as corrosion resistant