4 Common Uses for Stainless Steel
Stainless steel has become a metal that we can find being used in many different things we encounter in our daily life.Steel is a metal alloy that combines iron and carbon. Stainless steel is a steel alloy that adds chromium metal into the alloy and limits the use of carbonto produce not only a metal incredibly resistant to corrosion, but one that is greener too because it’s fully recyclable. Let’s take a look at some of the more common uses of this incredible metal.
Car Manufacturing
Stainless steel provides an important material in the building and manufacturing of cars and other forms of transport, particularly those powered by internal combustion engines. In the past, stainless steel was reserved mostly for the construction of specific parts, like the exhaust system and some of the detailing trims. As the need for more environmentally friendly components and sustainable parts takes centre stage, however, more manufacturers are choosing to make some of the structural parts and bodywork of the car out of stainless steel. Perhaps it won’t be too long until we see cars like the DMC DeLorean again.
Transportation Uses
You’ll also find stainless steel used very commonly in the transportation sector. Its use in the construction of shipping containers, petrol and liquid tankers on road transport vehicles, and even in trash collecting trucks is becoming widespread, and for good reason. The use of stainless steel in these transportation vehicles and containers offers fuel saving costs thanks to the lighter weight and higher strength of stainless steel compared to other materials. And, because it’s stainless, it makes for easier cleaning and maintenance too. As is shown at https://fastmetals.com/pages/stainless_steel, stainless steel is made available in many different shapes and pre-cut and measured pieces, making the building of transportation tanks and containers quick and efficient.
Medical Uses
In the medical industry, stainless steel is prized because it is easy to sterilize and offers high resistance to corrosion and thus many surgical and medical instruments are made from it. An operating theatre is filled with tools like scalpels, trays and other instruments made from stainless steel. You’ll also find surgical implants like plates and pins made from stainless steel being used to mend broken bones and hold them in place.
Food and Catering Equipment
Because of the stainless nature of stainless steel and the fact that food and catering equipment is exposed to a lot of water and moisture, either by the food or by washing and cleaning, it has found perhaps its most well-known use in the food and catering equipment realm. Eating utensils like knives and forks and cookware like pots and pans are very often made from stainless steel. In professional kitchens it’s not uncommon to see stainless steel being used for countertops and appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers too.
Stainless steel is an important metal to our modern civilization and has a great many uses, beyond even those listed here. Because of its recyclability, it represents an important metal for the sustainability of our modern infrastructure too.