The Nickel Institute has launched a new online training module designed to assist English and Chinese-speaking engineers, designers and those who specify materials to select an appropriate type and grade of stainless steel for their particular needs. The new module is called “An Introduction to the Selection of Stainless Steel for Corrosion Resistance”. Consisting of 94 slides, which are accompanied by audio narration and various interactive diagrams and illustrations, the module provides a total of about two hours of instruction. In general, the module presents basic background information on what stainless steel is and how it works, what alloy additions are made to stainless steel and why they are added. The effects of the various alloy additions (chromium, nickel, molybdenum, nitrogen and carbon) are discussed in terms of corrosion resistance and crystal structure. This leads to a discussion of the families of stainless steels (ferritic, austenitic, duplex and martensitic). This brings the user to the topic of how to select a stainless steel to meet particular technical needs. Typical compositions of a few grades in each stainless steel family are presented and examples of their application in various industries are illustrated. The topic of corrosion follows, with a brief description of the various types (general, localized, pitting, crevice and chloride stress corrosion cracking). This leads to a description of the high performance stainless steels and their applications. At the end of the presentation, links are provided for students to give feedback.
