Stainless steel has been used widely in many areas and industries due to its unique properties and advantages. One of the biggest advantages with stainless steel is excellent corrosion-resistant properties. The reason why items like kitchen sinks, razor blades are made of stainless steel is that they will not corrode when exposed to moisture, heat and other external elements. Most people strongly believe that stainless steel will not corrode. But the fact is that, generally, stainless steel is not 100% corrosion free or corrosion-proof and they can corrode in highly aggressive conditions. Now let us see what are the factors that can cause steel to corrode.
Pitting corrosion is a type of corrosion that happens when the stainless steel is exposed to certain environment, most particularly chlorides. This type of corrosion is not so dangerous and the damages are usually negligible.
Crevice corrosion is a type of corrosion that is caused due to extremely low oxygen level in the environment. The extend of the damage depends on the angle and size of the crevice.
Bimetallic corrosion is a type of corrosion that happens when the two different metals come in contact in a common electrolyte (such as condensation, rain). This type of corrosion is hard to predict as such situation is caused by various factors.
In order to prevent the risk due to corrosion of stainless steel, one can use the highly alloyed stainless steel. There are many types of steel available and you should according to the condition.