Stainless steel castings

DIFFERENT TYPES OF STAINLESS STEEL

DeZe composes her own stainless steel alloys, so nearly any type can be cast. Depending on the different amount of unique elements and the quantity (%) of elements contained within the stainless steel, a unique stainless steel alloy can be created. Thanks to the large variation in compositions, countless stainless steel castings are possible. Below you will find a short overview of the stainless steel types that we cast most often at DeZe:

STAINLESS STEEL CASTING PROCESS

How does ‘investment casting‘ (lost-wax) work? An overview of the steps and phases involved is given when you click on “read more”. DeZe is one of the largest lost wax foundries in the world. By means of the lost wax method, high quality investment castings are produced with complex shapes and high dimensional accuracy. Besides that, this process offers a great degree of freedom in design and material choice. Your specific wishes and demands can be incorporated into the castings. By our decades long experience with the lost wax method, we can assure you a very efficient production process and top quality castings.

CASTING STAINLESS STEEL

DeZe develops and produces high quality investment castings that can be cast in virtually any steel alloy. Steel is an alloy consisting of iron (Fe) and carbon (C), where the term ‘steel’ is used for iron alloys with a limited amount of carbon (less than 1,9%). When the iron contains more than 2% carbon, we talk about ‘cast iron’ instead of steel.

Stainless steel, also called INOX, is a type of steel known for its corrosion resistance after contact with water. Next to the basic elements iron (Fe) and carbon (C), stainless steel also contains chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni). Before it can be classified as stainless steel, at least 12% chromium has to be present in the steel alloy. Next to the basic elements, many different types of stainless steel also contain the elements molybdenum, nitrogen, manganese or silicon.

But exactly, what are the influences of the elements chromium and nickel in stainless steel? When chromium comes in contact with oxygen, a chemical reaction takes place whereby an invisible layer of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) is formed. This is also known as “oxide skin”. This layer protects the underlying metal against rust (oxidation). Whenever the oxide skin gets damaged, a new layer has to be built up. In that case, rust might occur on the surface when a damaged layer comes in contact with water. This rust will never push through, because a new oxide layer builds up again in the meantime.

Stainless steel types with 6% to 26% nickel are austenitic and non-magnetic. Indirectly, the nickel in stainless steel will neutralise the magnetic effects of the chromium. When a relatively large amount of chromium is present in stainless steel alongside a limited amount of nickel, the stainless steel can be magnetic. As such, stainless steel is not non-magnetic by default. There are also types of stainless steel with a ferritic structure which only contains chromium and not nickel. That’s why they don’t have magnetic properties.