The use of stainless steel for fabricating large structures is costly and economically not viable. Stainless steel cladding provides a solution to this problem. The practice is to use carbon steel for manufacturing the equipment or appliances and clad it with a thin layer (3mm) of Stainless steel.
Basically, cladding is the technique in which two dissimilar metals are bonded together by pressing, extruding two metals through a die, or rolling sheets under high pressure.
The stainless steel cladding is very durable and resistant to environmental effects. The stainless steel contains a good proportion of chromium (minimum 10%) which reacts with oxygen to form a passive layer of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) which is non-porous and restricts further corrosion. Stainless steel cladding can be used on carbon steels and low alloy steels.
Carbon Steel Material with Stainless Steel Cladding
The Carbon steel plate, bonded with the stainless steel plate on one or both sides produces a clad steel plate composite. The bonding of stainless steel with carbon steel provides corrosion resistance to the metal.
The standard method of producing clad steel is by the rolling-press cladding method. A metallurgical bond between the carbon steel and stainless steel during heating and rolling is vital.
Stainless steel cladding process & Application
There are various processes available for carbon steel cladding such as hot roll bonding, cold roll bonding, explosive bonding, brazing, weld cladding, weld overlays, and centrifugal casting.
Hot roll bonding is the general process used. In this process, the clean plates of carbon steel and stainless steel are placed on each other, (single side cladding), or sandwiched between two stainless steel plates (double side cladding). The composite plates are hot rolled together.
The stainless steel cladding process results in bonding between the two metals. Another method of manufacturing includes explosive bonding. The bonding is produced by plastic deformation of metals because of intense collision during explosive bonding. Sometimes explosive bonding is followed by the hot rolling process to improve the bond between carbon steel and stainless steel.
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