GCX BlogPhysical metals trading

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Grades and materials

Steel and metal grades: composition, GOST equivalents and how they differ in practice.

17 articles

  • Heat-resistant and heat-strength grades: 310S, 20Х23Н18

    How heat resistance differs from heat strength, what the composition of 310S and 20Х23Н18 is, which temperatures they withstand and where they are used.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • Is stainless steel harmful? Cookware, coatings and health

    Is stainless steel harmful to health and what matters in contact with food. Why 304 and 316 are used for food media and why the surface matters more than the grade.

    • Grades and materials
    • 7 min read

  • Stainless angle: where it is used and how to choose

    Stainless angle: sizes 40×40×4 and 50×50×5, grade 304, hot-rolled profile, weight calculation, applications and what to write in the order.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • Coil, flat bar and strip: how they differ

    Stainless steel coil, flat bar and strip: how they differ in delivery form, edge and thickness, what skelp is, and which format is ordered most often.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • Why stainless steel rusts and what to do about it

    Stainless steel rusts when the passive film is destroyed: chlorides, stagnation, welding, foreign iron. Causes, what to do and when another grade is needed.

    • Grades and materials
    • 7 min read

  • Stainless steel — ferrous or non-ferrous metal

    Stainless steel belongs to the ferrous metals: its base is iron. We examine the classification, why the confusion arises and what this changes when purchasing.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • Stainless steel grades: AISI and ГОСТ table with analogues

    How to read a stainless steel grade, how AISI differs from ГОСТ and which analogues are interchangeable. Correspondence table, PREN, common grades and substitution mistakes.

    • Grades and materials
    • 10 min read

  • Is stainless steel magnetic and how to identify the grade

    12Х18Н10Т and 304 are weakly magnetic after annealing, while 430 and martensitic grades always are. How magnetism relates to structure and what it does not prove.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • Stainless round bar: calibrated or hot-rolled

    Stainless round bar: how calibrated bar differs from hot-rolled, accuracy, where each is needed, grades 201, 304, 316L and weight calculation.

    • Grades and materials
    • 6 min read

  • How to choose a stainless steel pipe

    How to choose a stainless steel pipe: round ⌀16–108 mm or profile 20×20–60×40, wall 1.5–3 mm, finishes and grades 201, 304, 316L.

    • Grades and materials
    • 5 min read

What we write about

Ten sections. Each one is where a question actually comes up in a deal or in working with metal, not where a keyword happens to sit.