Lightweight stainless steels

South Korea has developed lightweight stainless steel. The ultra-lightweight steel is made by adding light alloy element aluminum to the steel to achieve a lightweight effect. Excessive aluminum will produce brittleness, which will cause brittleness, so the content of aluminum cannot exceed 10%. In order to overcome this problem, the research team optimized the addition of carbon, manganese, chromium and other alloy elements to reduce the brittleness of steel while adding 12% aluminum. In addition, the addition of chromium promotes the formation of a dense oxide layer with a high content of aluminum and chromium on the surface of the steel, thereby ensuring that the corrosion resistance is equivalent to that of 400 series stainless steel. Traditional stainless steel has a density of 7.9-8.0g/cm3 and is heavy. Ultra-lightweight stainless steel is added with 12% aluminum, and the density is reduced to 6.3-6.5g/cm3, which is about 20% lighter. No high-priced nickel alloy is added, thus ensuring price competitiveness. This kind of ultra-lightweight stainless steel, if it is applied first in industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding, is expected to improve fuel efficiency while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The application prospect of ultra-lightweight stainless steel is broad.