Tufcon

Why Nickel is important to the Stainless Steel Industry?

First identified in the 1700s, nickel was first known as ‘‘ kupnickel” because it was found in a rock that looked like copper ore. The mining workers once thought that this element makes it difficult for them to extract copper from rocks. They don’t have any idea on how nickel would soon become one of the most essential industrial metals in the world.

Four primary reasons to use Nickel in the stainless steel industry-

For a stainless steel industry there are many advantages that come from utilizing nickel-

  1. The austenitic structure provides stainless steels with good ductility and formability. The common 18% chromium/ 8% nickel Type 304 in particular shows good stretch-forming characteristics. A slightly higher nickel content further increases the stability of the austenite increasing suitability for deep drawing.
  2. Nickel also helps in countering this problem of ferromagnetism in steel due to the chromium which is not desired in some of the applications.
  3. Chromium is what makes stainless steel stainless. Nickel enhances corrosion resistance at high temperatures.
  4. With environmental degradation, more and more industries are embracing sustainable practices and stainless steel is one of them. As the material that contains nickel is considered to fully recyclable, stainless steel products that reach the end of their lifecycle can be recycled to create new stainless steel products.
    This decreases the demand for naturally occurring metals drastically and also
    ensures that the stainless steel industry can sustain itself for the foreseeable future.

Tufcon Steel is one of the leading Manufacturers and Exporters of stainless steel products in India. Contact us for high quality TMT products in India.