Chromium passive films that keep kitchens, chemical plant and façades from rusting like carbon steel.
Also called: inox · 18/8 · austenitic stainless
Stainless steel is one of 32 materials in this atlas, grouped under metals: history, structure, measured properties, process routes, uses, safety and market — not a product catalogue.
Scores compare Stainless steel with the rest of the atlas on strength, heat, fire behaviour, insulation, workability and circularity. They are editorial, not certificates.
Seven chapters follow. Fire and insulation claims name test families (Euroclass, ASTM E84, ISO 5660, KS F) rather than inventing a single safety number.
Deep introduction
Stainless steel (Fe–Cr–Ni (±Mo, N, C)) is a family of grades whose density ~8.0 g/cm³, heat band ~1400–1450 °C, and fire letter A1 metal.
Stainless steel is sold as grades, not as a single substance. Chemistry Fe–Cr–Ni (±Mo, N, C), density ~8.0 g/cm³, heat band ~1400–1450 °C.
This atlas treats Stainless steel as a system: mill route, coatings, tests and the cavity it sits in.
Conductivity note: ~15 W/m·K (austenitic). Insulation score 10/100 is relative to 32 entries — metals lose, VIPs and aerogels win.
Fire letter in editorial use: A1 metal. Do not equate A1 with “safe in a blaze” or E with “illegal”. Assemblies decide.
Origin: 1913 Brearley / Strauss, Sheffield / Essen. The process chapter follows feedstock → conversion → forming → finish → install.
Uses span buildings to defence / safety. Pairings matter: steel.
Producers below are landmarks, not an endorsement ranking. Prices are bands, not live quotes.
Circularity mark 68/100. Ask which scrap, which certificate, which year.
United Kingdom · 1913
Harry Brearley is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
United States · 1930
Chrysler Building crown is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
United States · 1965
Gateway Arch is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
Global · postwar
304 sink is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
North Sea · 1980s–
Duplex riser is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
Japan · 1964–
Shinkansen skin bits is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
Global · 20th c.–
Surgical 316L is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
Germany · 1912
Krupp V2A is a reference point in the public image of Stainless steel.
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Same family or rival physics — pick a duel.
Closest neighbours on the six atlas axes — strength, heat, fire, insulation, workability and circularity.
The iron–carbon workhorse of buildings, ships, rails and tools — endlessly recast.
Overall 66 ✈️High specific strength and chloride-tolerant films — airframes, implants and seawater.
Overall 58 🪟Frozen silicate liquid — windows, bottles, fibres and a Euroclass A1 skin that still shatters and melts in fire.
Overall 58 🥫Light structural metal from Hall–Héroult cells — aircraft skins, cans and façades.
Overall 59The iron–carbon workhorse of buildings, ships, rails and tools — endlessly recast.
Overall 66 🥫Light structural metal from Hall–Héroult cells — aircraft skins, cans and façades.
Overall 59 ✈️High specific strength and chloride-tolerant films — airframes, implants and seawater.
Overall 58 🔶The first industrial conductor — wiring, heat exchangers, roofs that go green.
Overall 57