Definitions
Steel castings are the metal castings with a combination of iron and carbon. Usually, about one and a half percent carbon is used with iron to make a strong and malleable metal castings that we call steel castings. Steel dates back to about 1400 BC and is very common used in casting process for varions industries. Nowadays, investment casting process has enabled manufacturers to use other elements such as tungsten, vanadium, manganese and chromium to make steel castings that has broad mechanical advantages for specific applications in industry.
Stainless steel castings are the metal castings with a combination of iron and chromium. Chromium forms about ten to thirty percent of stainless steel castings. In most cases, other elements such as copper, aluminum, molybdenum, niobium, titanium, nitrogen and nickel are added to achieve specific properties of stainless steel castings. Stainless steel castings is very popular because of its anti-corrosiveness and complex shapes. It does not stain or corrode easily, making it very suitable for use in environments where there is moisture. The chromium content in stainless steel castings is the one responsible for its anti-corrosiveness. It reacts with oxygen to form an oxide film on the metal’s surface that makes it impassive to corrosiveness.
Stainless Steel Castings vs Steel Castings
The most basic difference between stainless steel castings and steel castings is in their composition. Steel castings are castings made from a combination of iron and carbon. This combination produces a strong and malleable metal casting that is most suitable in the construction industry and for making heavy equipments. Stainless steel castings, on the other hand, are made from a combination of chromium and iron. The resultant metal is anti-corrosive and resistant to rusting. Stainless steel casting is easy to fabricate and has a pleasing, aesthetic appeal. These properties, coupled by the fact that it has hygienic properties, makes it common in making food machinery components, valve components, marion parts, pipe fittings, ect.
When steel castings are subjected to air, the iron in it reacts with oxygen to form oxide of iron (rust). In contrast, stainless steel castings do not rust when exposed to air. The chromium present in the stainless steel castings reacts with oxygen to form a chromium oxide film on the casting’s surface which acts as a protective layer against rusting or corrosiveness.
Due to the differences between these two materials, the casting processes are also different. For steel castings, we can select water glass investment casting process to make small steel castings, for larger steel castings, sand casting process is suggested. But for stainless steel castings, widely used production process is silica sol investment casting. This casting process allows for almost all the stainless steel grades.
CFS stainless steel foundry is the professional stainless steel casting manufacturer in China. With various surface finish capabilities, we can supply stainless steel castings with different surface finish requirements including mirror polishing, pickling & passivation, etc. If you have any project and need cast stainless steel parts, pls contact us!
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