Latest stainless steel production process 2025
Did you know that stainless steel, also known as stainless steel, is becoming one of the most popular materials in the manufacturing industry today? With excellent aesthetics and outstanding durability, stainless steel has conquered even the most demanding consumers.
With stainless steel, not only does it ensure high aesthetics, but it also brings durability and stability that few materials can match. This makes stainless steel the top choice in most industrial and civil production sectors. But have you ever learned about the stainless steel production process? Let’s explore this special process together to understand more about this unique material.
What is Stainless Steel?
Stainless steel, also known as stainless steel, is an alloy that mainly contains components such as iron, chromium and other elements such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, copper, etc. Stainless steel is created to have higher oxidation and abrasion resistance than ordinary steel. It also has high aesthetic value and is widely used in many industries, including construction, furniture, household appliances, medical industry and many other manufacturing industries. Stainless steel is often used to create products such as pipes, plates, household utensils, kitchen equipment, and many other products.
Stainless steel production process
Preparation of raw materials:
Stainless steel is not only a widely used material but also one of the most recycled materials globally. It is estimated that about 82% of stainless steel in use can be recycled and converted into new stainless steel, with properties and quality equivalent to the original steel.
Before the recycled material is put into the next processing process, the quality testing of the billet is extremely important. This testing process ensures that no harmful radioactive components remain on the recycled material. At the same time, this is also the stage where the manufacturer can accurately determine the alloying element content to classify and arrange according to the appropriate stainless steel type/grade.
Recycling stainless steel not only helps protect the environment, reduce waste and save resources, but also ensures that the reused material will meet the right quality standards. That is why stainless steel recycling is becoming an important trend in the industry and contributing to our sustainability.
Smelting process in stainless steel production
Step 1: Refining raw materials in the light electrode furnace
Raw materials or scrap are fed into the light electrode furnace, where carbon electrodes come into contact with stainless steel scrap and alloys. The electric current running through it creates extremely high temperatures of up to 3500 degrees Celsius, enough to melt the raw materials. The molten steel reaches temperatures of up to 1800 degrees Celsius. Manufacturers can add carbon, ferrosilicon, oxygen or a gas mixture to speed up the melting process.
Step 2: Removing nitrogen, carbon, sulfur
Once the raw materials are completely melted, they are transferred to the AOD (Argon Oxygen Decarburization) stage – the stage of reducing the carbon content by injecting an oxy-argon mixture and adding alloys. In this stage, the iron-rich and low alloying alloys are melted in the electrode furnace. Nickel, Molybdenum, Ferrochrome are also added in this process.
Step 3: Adjusting the temperature and composition of the stainless steel
This is the final important step to adjust the chemical composition of the material. The proportion of the components will determine the properties and classification of the stainless steel. In this stage, impurities are removed and the temperature and chemistry of the stainless steel are precisely adjusted.
Step 4: Casting into slabs or bars
After the melting process is completed, the liquid stainless steel is transferred to the casting area to form slabs or bars of specific dimensions. This casting process ensures that the stainless steel will have the correct shape and achieve the desired dimensions.
With a sophisticated and quality manufacturing process, stainless steel is created to meet the high requirements for durability, oxidation resistance and wear resistance, along with flexibility and formability.
Hot Rolling – Cold Rolling of Stainless Steel
When using raw materials that have become semi-finished products such as plates, flowers, steel billets or slabs to process metal at temperatures exceeding the recrystallization temperature of the material, we call it hot rolling. During this stage, the recrystallized grains undergo deformation and maintain a stable structure, helping the grains to have almost uniform sizes. This ensures that the steel does not become too hard. Some raw materials are further processed to reduce the thickness of the sheet wall or to draw it into stainless steel pipes or wires, this process is called cold rolling. Using machines with small or very small diameter working rolls, we can flexibly cold roll stainless steel sheets into products with diverse sizes.
With the ingenuity in the processing process, we can create metal products with precise shapes and meet diverse needs in size. The hot rolling process not only gives softness and flexibility to metal products, but also ensures their stability and quality.
Annealing – Pickling of Stainless Steel
After the cold rolling process, the next step is to restore the properties of the material that has been deformed or misaligned. This is done through a heat treatment process, which stabilizes the crystalline structure of the steel.
Next, the product is put through a pickling process using an acid mixture and then cleaned with high pressure water, to remove any remaining rust on the surface. This step helps to remove defects and bring perfect mechanical properties to the product. At the same time, this step also creates a thin protective layer of chromium oxide on the surface of the product.
Through the treatment and pickling process, the metal product is brought to a perfect state, not only in terms of estetik but also in mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. This ensures that the product meets high standards of quality and is ready to serve in a variety of applications.
Stainless steel finishing process
After the processes mentioned, stainless steel is cut into specific and diverse shapes, to suit many different applications in life. In particular, stainless steel sheets are often protected by a layer of plastic film on the surface, helping to ensure safety during transportation and avoid unwanted scratches.
However, the finishing stage is an indispensable step in the stainless steel production process. This has a significant impact on the flatness, smoothness and hygiene of the product. Through the finishing processes, the surface of the stainless steel is treated to reach a perfect state, bringing smoothness and easy cleaning. This not only creates beauty for the product, but also ensures anti-corrosion properties and is ready to serve in diverse applications.
With reliable finishing, stainless steel not only meets the requirements of technical features but also shows class and professionalism in its applications.
Above is the detailed process for producing stainless steel. Hopefully the above article will be useful to you and help you better understand this process.