What is Marine Grade Stainless Steel Wire?
Stainless steel wire can be produced in a number of different grades, each of which is suitable to meet differing requirements. You will often hear of wire being produced in 'marine grade' but what exactly does this mean? This edition of the BS Stainless blog will tell you all you need to know.
The marine environment is extremely demanding, most notably due to the fact that components used must be strongly resistant to the damaging effects of salt water. Stainless steel, with its natural resistance to corrosion, is ideal for many marine applications.
Stainless steel wire of marine grade contains elevated levels of nickel and chromium as compared to other grades. This combination helps to protect the wire from the corrosion that can be caused by water which contains the high levels of salt and other corrosive elements commonly found in the marine environment.
The most common grades referred to as 'marine grade' are 304/304L and 316/316L. Those from the 304 family provide a good level of resistance to corrosion and display good weldability and formability. That said, they are not as corrosion resistant as those from the 316 family and so are generally used in environments where exposure to seawater is light and/or infrequent.
Grades 316 and 316L offer exceptional resistance to corrosion in the marine environments, most notably against crevice and pitting corrosion. With higher levels of molybdenum and nickel than 304 grades, those from the 316 series are especially resistant to stress corrosion cracking caused by chloride ions.
Marine grade stainless steel wire has numberous applications in the marine sector, such as:
- Construction. The component is widely used in shipbuilding in everything from the construction of decks and hulls to entire superstructures.
- Hardware. Deck hardware is continually exposed to seawater and so marine grade stainless steel wire can be used to create all sorts of hardware items including bollards, chocks and cleats.
- Rigging. Elements such as chains and cables must be extremely strong as well as resistant to corrosion and stainless steel wire fulfills both of these crucial requirements.
- Electrical Equipment. As it is both corrosion resistant and an electrical conductor, stainless steel wire is ideal for use in electrical equipment.
BS Stainless can supply all kinds of stainless steel wire in a comprehensive array of different grades, including marine grades. For further information about the products we supply and the applications they are used to facilitate, please browse our website or get in touch with a member of our expert technical team.