Lower-chromium Outokumpu ferritic steel grades are widely used in applications such as automotive exhaust systems, while our intermediate-chromium grades are popular among the world's leading household goods manufacturers.
In containing little or no nickel, our ferritics are very attractive from the price stability point of view.
Our latest innovation in ferritic steel grades is new high-chromium ferritic steel grade, Core 4622 (EN 1.4622). The grade is particularly suitable for façades, elevators catering and automotive industry.
There are also high temperature ferritic grades with increased resistance to high temperatures. These are mainly used in applications with sulfurous atmospheres (as sulfur may react with nickel in austenitic stainless steel grades) and / or at low tensile loads. These grades are typically alloyed with more carbon compared to standard ferritic grades in order to increase the creep strength, and with silicon and aluminum to improve the resistance to oxidation.
What is ferritic stainless steel?
Ferritic stainless steel grades have good mechanical properties, sitting broadly in the middle between the other stainless steel families. They typically have higher yield strength than austenitic stainless steels. The elongation and forming properties of ferritic steel grades are equivalent to those of high-strength carbon steels.
Easy weldability
Modern ferritic stainless steels are readily weldable with conventional welding methods, including:
- Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW, MMA)
- Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW, TIG)
- Gas metal arc welding (GMAW, MIG/MAG)
- Plasma arc welding (PAW)
- Laser welding
- Resistance welding
- High frequency welding (HF)
Versatile corrosion resistance properties
Ferritic steel grades offer a wide range of corrosion resistance properties from non-severe conditions inside the home to rough outdoor conditions. At the high-end, ferritics surpass even some austenitic grades in corrosion resistance.
The corrosion resistance of stainless steel is determined more by chemical composition than by austenitic or ferritic microstructure. Hence chromium content is the key ingredient also in the corrosion resistance of ferritic stainless steels.