Basic Knowledge of Stainless Steel Sheet, Plate and Strip

1. Introduction to Stainless Steel Sheet, Plate, Strip and Coil

A stainless steel sheet / plate is a typical sheet metal formed by an industrial process into thin, flat pieces. They are widely used in building construction, medical table, decoration, home appliance, auto mobile and air conditioning systems, etc. In fact, the terms "sheet" and "plate" are confusing. Both of them are flat-rolled metal products of some minimum thickness and width arbitrarily dependent on the type of metal. The thicknesses of stainless steel plates are commonly equal to or larger than 5 mm(3/16") with widths larger than 250 mm(10"). A stainless steel sheet has a thickness under 5 mm(3/16") while its width is equal to or larger than 600 mm(24"). The flat piece with thickness under 5 mm(3/16") while its width is under 600 mm(24") is considered as stainless steel strip. Stainless steel sheet can be supplied in flat pieces or coiled types. The stainless steel coils are formed by running a continuous stainless steel sheet or strip through a roll slitter.

Stainless steel sheet possesses untarnished surface appearance and corrosion resistance as its main advantages. It can be welded and cut without damaging its corrosion resistance. Compared with galvanized steel sheet, stainless steel sheet is very tough, but it can still be readily worked in sheet metal workshop.

2. Gauge Standards for Stainless Steel Sheet, Plate and Strip

There are several different gauge standards for stainless steel sheet such as Manufacturers' Standard Gauge, Standard Decimal Gauge, US Standard Gauge, Birmingham Gage, British Standard Gauge. Gauge sizes, which were developed based on the weight of the sheet, are numbers that indicate the thickness of a stainless steel sheet, with a higher number referring to a thinner sheet. However, the use of Gauge is discouraged by ISO. The metric unit mm is recommended in practice.

3. Fabrication Process of Stainless Steel Sheet, Plate & Strip

Nowadays, there two major way to produce stainless steel sheet / plate: Hot Rolling and Cold Rolling. Click to see the production flow charts of hot-rolled & cold rolled stainless steel sheet.

4. Material Selection of Stainless Steel Sheet, Plate and Strip

HBmetals supplies a wide material selection of stainless steel sheets / plates including: SS 201, SS 202, SS 301, SS 304, SS 304L, SS 310S, SS316, SS316L, SS 316Ti, SS 317, SS 317L, SS 321, SS 347, SS 409, SS409M, SS 410, SS 410S, SS 420, SS 430, SS 904L, UNS S31803, UNS S32205, UNS S32550, UNS S32750, etc. Of all the listed materials, Click to see the chemical and mechanical properties of these stainless steel materials.

5. Surface Finishes of Stainless Steel Sheet, Strip and Plate

Surface finish plays an important role in any specification of stainless steel. The surface finishes can be categorized as per two standards: ASTM A480/A480M and EN 10088-2.

According to ASME A480/A480M, stainless steel sheet, strip and plate have several types of surface finish:

No.1 Finish: Hot-rolled, annealed and descaled.

No.2D Finish: Cold-rolled,dull ﬁnish.

No.2B Finish: Cold-rolled,bright ﬁnish.

Bright Annealed Finish: A bright cold-rolled ﬁnish retained by ﬁnal annealing in a

controlled atmosphere furnace.

No.3 Finish: Intermediate polished ﬁnish, one or both sides.

No.4 Finish: General purpose polished ﬁnish, one or both sides.

No.6 Finish: Dull satin ﬁnish, tampico brushed, one or both sides.

No.7 Finish: High luster finish.

No.8 Finish: Mirror finish.

TR Finish: Cold-worked to obtain specified properties.

According to EN 10088-2, surface finish of stainless steel sheet/strip/plate can be divided as per its fabrication process:

Hot rolled: 1U, 1C, 1E, 1D

Cold rolled: 2H, 2C, 2E, 2D, 2B, 2R, 2Q

Special finishes: 1G or 2G, 1J or 2J, 1K or 2K, 1P or 2P, 2F, 1M, 2M, 2W, 2L, 1S or 2S

Related articles: dimensional specifications and tolerances of stainless steel sheets.

Views: Author：hbmetals Date:15/07/01