What is stainless steel?
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel,[1][2] also known as inox steel or inox from French inoxydable (inoxidizable), is a steel alloy, with highest percentage contents of iron, chromium, and nickel, with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass and a maximum of 1.2% carbon by mass.[3][4]
Austenitic stainless steel
Austenitic stainless steel is a specific type of stainless steel alloy. Stainless steels may be classified by their crystalline structure into four main types: "austenitic", "ferritic," "martensitic and duplex." These stainless steels possess austenite as their primary crystalline structure (face centered cubic). This austenite crystalline structure is achieved by sufficient additions of the austenite stabilizing elements nickel, manganese and nitrogen. Due to their crystalline structure austenitic steels are not hardenable by heat treatment and are essentially non-magnetic.