3. Conclusion

With an industrial history dating back some 70 years, stainless steels have developed steadily in areas where corrosion resistance is the key quality requirement. Thanks to almost constant improvements, their performance in terms of this fundamental property has been enhanced in a wide variety of environments.

In addition, new grades have been developed to achieve high mechanical properties under both static and dynamic stress. These characteristics, combined with corrosion resistance, make stainless steels high-performance structural materials that require no protective coating to ensure their longevity.

In parallel with the technical and economic improvements made to the base metal, new processing techniques have emerged that reduce the cost of finished assemblies and increase their reliability. This can be quantified using the LCC method....