201 stainless steel is the most cost-effective stainless steel material with good price, but easy to rust. 304 stainless steel is also widely used stainless steel material, not easy to rust with good quality and relatively high price. 316 stainless steel is an imported material, used in some high-end equipment, such as aerospace, food machinery fields, the price is high. Here we have detailed understandings of the differences of these common stainless steel materials for sculptures.

What is the difference between stainless steel 304 and 201? Specification: 304 is imported stainless steel plate, composed of 18 Cr-9Ni, which is the most widely used stainless steel, heat-resistant steel used for food production equipment,chemical equipment and nuclear energy. 201 is domestic stainless steel plate,consists of 17Cr-4.5Ni-6Mn-N, which is the alternative steel of 301 steel. After cold processing, the 201 materials have magnetic property, used for railway vehicles.201 contains high manganese, the surface is dark bright and easy to rust. 304 contains more chromium, the surface is matte, do not rust. Their corrosion resistances are different, the 201 is much cheaper than 304.

The difference between 304 and 316 stainless steel: first of all, 316 stainless steel contains Mo, which is better than 304 stainless steel in high temperature environment, so engineers will generally choose the parts of 316 materials for high temperature situations. Secondly, 304 stainless steel corresponds to the grade 0Cr18Ni9; 316 stainless steel corresponds to the grade 0Cr17Ni12Mo2. Third, 316 decreased the Cr content and increased Mo by 2% to 3%. Thus, its corrosion resistance is better than 304, suitable for chemical industry, seawater and other environments. Similarly, the cost of 316 is also higher than 304.

The differences of 304 and 321 stainless steels: Compared with 321, 304 does not contain Ti, Ti can prevent stainless steel sensitization, generally speaking is to improve the high temperature service life of stainless steel, so under high temperature environment, 321 stainless steel plate is more suitable than 304 stainless steel plate. The clients can choose according to their properties for custom statue and art sculpture.