What is the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel?

Stainless steel is an alloy that is resistant to corrosion by weakly corrosive media such as air, steam and water and chemically aggressive media such as acids, alkalis and salts. And this function is mainly attributed to the addition of the stainless element - chromium. When the chromium content is greater than 12%, the surface of stainless steel will form a layer of oxidized film, commonly known as passivation film, with this layer of oxidized film will not be easy to dissolve in certain media, plays a good isolation role, has a strong corrosion resistance. Carbon steel refers to the carbon content of less than 2.11% of the iron-carbon alloy, also known as carbon steel, its hardness is much higher than stainless steel, but the weight is greater, the plasticity is lower, the typical "too rigid and easy to fold", easy to rust.

What is the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel?

We use a lot of precision parts are stainless steel material. it has a high hardness, strength and corrosion resistance, and shiny very good-looking. In fact, in addition to stainless steel, carbon steel is also very widely used in industry. So do you know the difference?

Stainless steel is an alloy that is resistant to corrosion by weakly corrosive media such as air, steam and water and chemically aggressive media such as acids, alkalis and salts. And this function is mainly attributed to the addition of the stainless element - chromium. When the chromium content is greater than 12%, the surface of stainless steel will form a layer of oxidized film, commonly known as passivation film, with this layer of oxidized film will not be easy to dissolve in certain media, plays a good isolation role, has a strong corrosion resistance.Carbon steel refers to the carbon content of less than 2.11% of the iron-carbon alloy, also known as carbon steel, its hardness is much higher than stainless steel, but the weight is greater, the plasticity is lower, the typical "too rigid and easy to fold", easy to rust.

The difference between the stainless steel and carbon steel

(1) Corrosion and wear resistance

Stainless steel is an alloy that is resistant to corrosion by weakly corrosive media such as air, steam and water and chemically aggressive media such as acids, alkalis and salts. And this function is mainly attributed to the addition of the stainless element – chromium. When the chromium content is greater than 12%, the surface of stainless steel will form a layer of oxidized film, commonly known as passivation film, with this layer of oxidized film will not be easy to dissolve in certain media, plays a good isolation role, has a strong corrosion resistance.

Carbon steel refers to the carbon content of less than 2.11% of the iron-carbon alloy, also known as carbon steel, its hardness is much higher than stainless steel, but the weight is greater, the plasticity is lower, the typical “too rigid and easy to fold”, easy to rust.

(2) different composition

Stainless steel (Stainless Steel) is the abbreviation of stainless acid-resistant steel, air, steam, water and other weak corrosive media. And will be resistant to chemical corrosive media (acids, alkalis, salts and other chemical impregnation) corrosion of the steel is called acid-resistant steel.

Carbon steel is an iron-carbon alloy with a carbon content of 0.0218% to 2.11%. Also called carbon steel. It also generally contains small amounts of silicon, manganese, sulfur, and phosphorus.

(3) Cost

Another important consideration is the cost.
Although different steels have different costs, stainless steel is generally more expensive than carbon steel. Largely due to the addition of various alloying elements, such as chromium, nickel, and manganese, to stainless steel.

Compared to carbon steel, stainless steel has a large number of other alloys mixed in and more expensive . On the other hand, carbon steel mainly consists of relatively cheap elements of iron and carbon.
If you are on a tight budget for your project, then carbon steel may be the best option.

 

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