Knowledge Center

What Is Stainless Steel and How Is It Made?

Due to its excellent corrosion resistance, high strength and attractive appearance, stainless steel sees a wide range of uses across both industr...

Stainless Steel Grades and Families: Explained

While stainless steels will share some characteristics, understanding the different types available is essential to finding the optimal traits an...

Understanding Stainless Steel’s Corrosion-Resistant Properties

Whether for the consumer market or industrial use, one of the most popular reasons for choosing stainless steel is its corrosion-resistant proper...

7 Questions to Ask When Picking the Perfect Stainless Steel Grade

From composition to form, a range of factors impact the characteristics of stainless steel products. One of the most important considerations is ...

304 vs 316 Stainless Steel: What You Need to Know

While the two most popular grades of stainless steel might seem identical at a glance, they hold important differences that can lead to substanti...

An Introduction to Duplex Stainless Steels

Duplex stainless steels combine characteristics of the austenitic and ferritic family of alloys to offer benefits from both with fewer downsides ...

Stainless vs. Carbon Steel: What’s the Difference?

While all types of steel technically contain some amount of carbon, there are drastic differences in terms of performance, appearance, and recomm...

Stainless Steel Finishes

Apart from the grade and forms of steel used in a project, the finish is most likely to impact both visual appearance and performance. In most ca...

What is A Pitting Resistance Equivalent Number (PREN)?

PRENs offer a simple way to compare the pitting corrosion resistance of various alloys. Let's look at how PRENs are determined and what they mean.

Glossary of Stainless Steel Terms (A-Z)

Introduction to Valves: What Are Valves & How Do They Work? 

What Are Valves and How Do They Work?  At their most basic, valves are devices that work to control, regulate or direct flow within a system...

Flange Basics: Functions, Designs, and Other Considerations

What Are Pipe Flanges and How Do They Work? Offering a reliable way to connect pipe systems with the various equipment, valves, and other compone...

Pipe Bends: A Quick Primer

Process piping systems rarely travel in a straight line from process to process. Modern processing systems are often a complex network of turns, ...

Pipe Ends: Explained

While size is an important factor when choosing flanges, elbows, and other components of your piping process, pipe ends are a critical considerat...

Bleed Rings: Where and Why You Should Use Them

While stainless steel valves and flanges are popular options to meet the needs of complex piping systems, bleed rings — also known as drip ...

Branch Connections: A Guide to Choosing and Using Olet Style Connections

Combining a self-reinforcing design with a range of different formats and sizes, olet style branch connections are an ideal alternative to reinfo...

Stainless Steel Thermowells: Functions and Types Explained

Thermowells are an excellent option for improving the service life of sensors used to monitor piping processes. However, like most piping compone...

Spectacle Blinds: Flow Control and Assurance Made Simple

Blinds and spacers offer an effective way to block flow to piping systems to prevent contamination, ease maintenance, or control flows. Spectacle...

Stainless Steel Pipe vs Instrumentation Tubing

While you might see pipe and tube used interchangeably when talking about stainless steel products, they’re actually different items — bo...

Lap Joint Flanges Explained

As covered in our guide to flange basics, flanges both connect pipe systems to various equipment and components while also providing added flexib...

Ball Valves vs. Needle Valves for Flow Control

Whether you’re implementing a simple piping system to assist with transporting materials through your processes or designing a complex multi-st...

Butterfly Valves vs Gate Valves vs Plug Valves: Shutoff Valves Compared

Shutoff valves provide an effective means of routing flows or isolating parts of your piping process for monitoring or maintenance. But much like...

The Importance of Stainless Steel Maintenance

When choosing a metal product, durability is a critical concern. This aspect alone makes stainless steel a popular choice for a wide range of app...

Passivation: An Important Factor in Improving Stainless Steel Corrosion Resistance

Outside of basic maintenance, there are advanced treatments and procedures available to enhance the corrosion resistance of stainless steel—par...

Pickling Treatments: Healing the Damage of Heat Exposure with Chemical Means

Basic maintenance can improve the appearance and life of your stainless steel. However, there are specialized cleaning and maintenance routines t...

Electropolishing: A Flexible, Effective Alternative to Passivation and Pickling

Our previous guides on stainless steel passivation and stainless pickling treatments covered two of the most common forms of improving the corros...

Welding Stainless Steel

Known for its corrosion resistance and outstanding durability, stainless steel can withstand harsh conditions few metals can match. This makes it...

Rust Prevention and Removal: A Quick Primer

One of the most common misconceptions about stainless steel is that it is impervious to rust. While most grades are offer exceptional resistant, ...

Recycling Stainless Steel

As one of the most popular construction and manufacturing materials around, stainless steel is common in a range of industries. It’s unique sta...

Galvanic Corrosion: Avoidance and Risk Mitigation Explained

Corrosion is a critical concern when choosing piping materials and designing piping processes. While stainless steel is highly resistant to many ...

Crevice Corrosion: Causes and Avoidance Tips

While many forms of corrosion are obvious with large areas of deterioration and discoloration, crevice corrosion can start with a very small surf...

Mitigating the Risk Factors for Stress Corrosion Cracking

Many forms of corrosion progress in an easy-to-detect manner, causing visual distortion, discoloration, cracking, and more.  This means that...

How Tiny Bacteria can Create Big Problems: Microbial Corrosion Explained

Microbial corrosion does not refer to a single type of corrosion but instead describes a process that encourages and accelerates other forms of c...

Intergranular Corrosion: An Invisible Attack on Stainless Steel

Unlike many forms of stainless steel corrosion, intergranular corrosion occurs at a microscopic level — impacting the very structure of the...

Effective Stainless Steel Usage in Medical Environments

The healthcare industry has very specific requirements when it comes to the materials used to create tools, equipment, storage, piping, and other...

Stainless Steel Use in the Oil & Gas Industry

Refining oil and gas is an extensive process with many byproducts and cyclical processes designed to optimize efficiency and make use of as many ...

Stainless Steel Use in the Food Service Industry

Since the earliest days of its existence, people have seen stainless steel’s potential to help make food preparation safer and easier. From hig...

Why Stainless Steel is an Essential Part of the Pulp and Paper Industry

Many industries turn to stainless steel to help improve the service life of their equipment and processing systems. The pulp and paper industry i...

Effective Use of ASME B16.5 Standards for Flange Pressure Ratings

Engineers rely on ASME/ANSI standards and codes throughout the design and construction of piping systems to ensure they meet prescribed pressure-...