Stainless steel BA
Stainless steel BA
As already described in detail on some of our other pages, the two most frequently used grades of stainless steel are the materials AISI 304 and AISI 316/316L.
mirrorINOX and a large number of renowned manufacturers and fabricators of cold-rolled stainless steel products are using these grades in the BA or 2B finishes.
We would like to take a closer look at the surface finish BA in the following paragraphs.
What is stainless steel BA?
BA (Bright annealed), is a specific surface finish which is produces by the mills for cold-rolled stainless steels, mainly for the grades AISI 304 and AISI 316 and in thicknesses up to a maximum of 3.0 mm.
During its production, the stainless steel is annealed in an inert gas atmosphere after cold rolling. This produces a reflective, shiny, smooth surface structure which, depending on the manufacturer and batch, can be close to a mirror-polished stainless steel of the lower quality grades.
However, stainless steel mills do not give any guarantees, standards or tolerances on the finish of the BA and the quality of the surface or its gloss and reflection can vary greatly from production batch to production batch.
Stainless steel cold rolled/BA bright annealed – where can it be used?
One field where stainless steel BA surfaces are often used is where an attractive appearance is highly crucial, i. e. all decorative applications for:
- yacht- and shipbuilding,
- machinery construction,
- sanitary industry,
- gastronomy- and catering industry,
- swimming pool and spa building
- medical appliances
- and others.
In addition to visual demands, the smooth, shiny surface of stainless steel 2R also fulfils functional requirements. For example, in technical applications that require the surfaces to have the lowest possible roughness (Ra value). This is particularly important in the container- and vessel construction, mechanical engineering, food, pharmaceutical and medical technology industries, where a maximum of smoothness is required to prevent adhesion to the surfaces of the stainless steel.
Especially in the industry of construction of tanks, vessels, silos and containers, where those stainless sheets with properties such as good corrosion resistance and low Ra values are highly sought, the material must often enough possess a thickness of 3.0 mm and higher.
However, especially those thicker sheets are not available in a 2R version from the stainless steel mills.
If such stainless steel sheets cannot be obtained in a smooth 2R finish, the user must use either a mechanically grit-polished, grinded, brushed or mirror-polished surface.
Here mirrorINOX can offer you highly interesting, alternative solutions, even for smaller requirements and quantities.
You can find out more about the use of our products in this field of industry at Tank/Container Construction.
mirrorINOX: Stainless steel is our business. And yours too
As a leading manufacturer of surface-treated stainless steel and other metals, mirrorINOX is your ideal partner and supplier, particularly for all topics regarding stainless steel BA.
If, for example, there is a sudden shortage and massive supply bottlenecks of stainless steel 2R on the markets, as it happened in 2020 and 2021, then mirrorINOX can offer you alternative solutions:
Using our state-of-the-art, extremely efficient polishing lines, mirrorINOX is able to treat any mill surface of stainless steel all the way to polished qualities, which range from that of a high-quality BA, to those of Mirror No. 7, Super Mirror No. 8, Marine Mirror No. 9 and Perfect Mirror No. 10®.
With an outstanding wide range of grades such as AISI 430, AISI 304, AISI 316Ti, AISI 316L and even AISI 318LN ("Duplex") and more, with dimensions (up to 16,000 mm length x 4,000 mm width) and with thicknesses up to 30 mm, the performance of mirrorINOX is up-most impressive and unique worldwide.
More information on alternative products to stainless steel BA can be found at Mirrorpolished Finishes.
For a vast variety of surface treatments of stainless steel and other metals such as:
- PVD/TiN and nanoINOX®-coatings,
- fluid forming,
- pattern rolling
- and more
mirrorINOX is your leading expert, advising and supporting you with its products and services.