Mar. 17, 2025
Cold-formed steel was first used in framing and construction around the s, both domestically in the United States and abroad in Great Britain. One of the first documented uses of cold-formed steel was the Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia that was built around .
Link to Hunter Special Steel Co., Ltd
Due to lack of design standards and little to no information on the product, acceptance of the material was limited until the 's when Lustron Homes built and sold almost 2,500 steel-frames homes, with the framing, finishes, cabinets and furniture made from cold-formed steel.
Cold-formed steel framed construction and homes are known for their longevity, strength, and resistance to harsh elements. This makes them ideal for even the most extreme environments and a notable sign of quality construction.
The first and most important rule of reading and understanding a steel gauge chart is using the right one. Meaning coated steel gauges like galvanized are vastly different from uncoated steel like hot rolled and cold rolled gauges.
Standard gauge numbers and sizes were developed based on the weight of the sheet for a given material and coating. The equivalent thicknesses differ for each gauge number. You must use the specific gauge chart for each material to learn the right thickness.
So, in this case, you'll need the Cold Rolled Gauge Chart.
Now that you have the right chart, it's time to understand how it's measured. Gauges are different from other measurement units such as inches or centimeters. That's due to there being no universal thickness measurement for metal during the 19th century.
The British iron wire industry adopted metal gauges over other traditional units like inches as the primary unit of measurement, and thus it's become the standard for the steel industry, being used across sheet metals.
When looking at a gauge chart, the key to understanding it, including our cold rolled chart, is to look at the number. Gauges range from 3-31, each has a specific thickness assigned to it for the material based upon its weight.
The general rule across all gauge charts is the larger the number, the thinner the steel. The inverse is also true, as the gauge number gets lower, the thicker the steel gets. But, those numbers do not give you specific dimensional values. Follow the chart for the exact numbers you need.
If you're looking for an even simpler solution to understanding the correct gauge, weight, width, and measurement conversions of any steel product, use our steel calculator Unravel.
Whether calculating gauges for cold rolled, hot rolled, and coated materials, looking for sheet metal or coil measurements, or just looking for unit conversion to inches and pounds, Unravel does the work for you.
Here are the key factors when considering to buy stainless steel coils according to your need:
For stainless steel products, the installation environment is a key factor.
When choosing stainless steel, we mainly consider the atmospheric conditions, the concentration levels of particular chemicals, and the acid.
If the installation environment is less corrosive, an austenitic stainless steel grade for general purpose is suitable. While, for a highly acidic environment, you need to choose a stainless steel grade like 316, 904L, or .
The temperature of the environment is also an important factor.
In the furnace environment(900-C), the high temperatures will speed up the corrosion of stainless steel.
Also, it puts extra pressure on stainless steel products.
So, if the temperature is always high, you need the well heat-resistant stainless steel, such as 321 and 253MA.
Very low temperature is another factor. Austenitic stainless steels are effective at very low temperatures.
They maintain a higher tensile strength at low temperatures than at ambient temperatures.
Despite a slight degrading of toughness, these steels work well in temperatures as low as -161°C.
Austenitic grades have a low magnetic response.
Those with higher nickel content are not magnetic under any conditions, such as the 316 or 310 grades.
And the ferritic and martensitic stainless steel grades (400 series) are highly permeable.
Moreover, duplex grades like and are also ferromagnetic.
Steel strength is an important factor to consider before you choose the grade, but it is a complex one.
Your requirements for stainless steel depending on the purpose and the installation environment.
In some cases, high strength stainless steels, like austenitic and duplex, are suitable. But in some cases, their disadvantages are also obvious and do not meet your requirements.
For example, high strength austenitic steels produced by work hardening are not suitable for welding. It makes the steels soft.
Stainless steel products come in many forms, such as sheets, bars, and tubes.
The form will affect the grade you need.
Not all grades have all product forms and sizes. Austenitic stainless steels are very versatile.
You can find products in a wide variety of forms and sizes for different purposes. Ferritic steels generally appear in sheet form. And martensitic steels are common in solid bar form.
When installing stainless steel products, there may be some special requirements.
As a result, you may need to change the grade of steel.
For example, you may want non-magnetic steel, need products that are suitable for welding or products with a high degree of forming. Or simply you just want a good-looking product.
Cost is always a factor when choosing to buy stainless steel coil.
And you need to balance it with all the other considerations. Sometimes the best technical steel is too expensive.
Are you interested in learning more about cold rolled stainless steel coils? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
But please remember to assess the cost on a life cycle basis.
Do not look at the initial price only then overlook the life cycle. Stainless steel products have a long life, so a high cost for high-quality steel is reasonable.
As long as the quality is good enough, stainless steel is one of the safest materials.
But remember, the quality matters.
So, how do you know if the stainless steel coil you've got is good or not? Try out the below methods.
The theory of the 'magnet test' is a rumour.
It tells you that you can test the quality of stainless steel with a magnet.
But the fact is that the magnet is to test whether the steel is austenitic, or whether the steel contains chromium and nickel.
There are three main types of structures in stainless steel: austenite, ferrite, and martensite.
When you see stainless steel with 18/8 or 18/10 marks, it tells you the amount of chromium and nickel.
So, both 18/8 and 18/10 are austenitic.
The 'magnet test' is useful when you use it in the right way. And it's easy to do by simply taking a magnet to your stainless steel coil.
If the magnet sticks, the coil is safe because it indicates no nickel in the steel. But if the magnet doesn't stick, it means the steel contains nickel, so the coil is not safe for food usage.
This test is credible.
If a magnet is to stick to steel, it is not a nickel (austenitic) alloy.
There is a problem with this theory, however.
First of all, there are no stainless steel pans with magnetic inside and outside. It's very difficult to find a fully magnetic stainless steel coil on the market.
That's not surprising. The reason is that austenitic stainless steel which contains nickel is highly resistant to corrosion.
Corrosion resistance is very important to buy stainless steel coil, isn't it?
If the coil is fully magnetic stainless steel, it would corrode and not last very long. Without nickel, the metal is not stable.
For this reason, it's not necessary to buy stainless steel coils that are magnetic, nickel-free.
You will find magnetic stainless steel in the outer layer of some quality stainless steel.
It's to make the coil compatible with induction stovetops in case you need it for cookware. The reason is, induction stovetops use an electromagnetic field to heat the cookware.
So, high-quality stainless steel cookware usually has three layers of metal. The interior is austenite stainless steel. The exterior is ferrite stainless steel. And the middle layer is aluminium.
It's for good heat conductivity because steel itself does not conduct heat evenly. Stainless steel of poor quality usually has only one austenitic layer.
But there is still a difference in quality between different types of austenitic stainless steel.
Sometimes you will find that austenitic stainless steel is less magnetic. That's because, during manufacturing, the steel is cold-processed to form ferrite and martensite.
This process makes it easier to corrode and leach.
The formulation of austenitic stainless steel cookware is careful to avoid this. And the result is a very stable austenitic alloy that resists corrosion and leaching of the metal.
So, A carefully-formed, highly-stable, non-corrosive, and nickel-containing stainless steel is safer than a pure magnetic stainless steel.
Pure magnetic stainless steel will break down and corrode over time. And it doesn't even exist in the market!
To be honest, it's hard to know whether your stainless steel is of the best quality unless you are a metal expert. Or unless you go to the factory and see how it's made. Otherwise, you won't know whether your stainless steel has corrosive materials.
Your best choice is to buy high-quality stainless steel from the start, choose a brand with a good reputation for quality, such as WJH premium stainless steel.
But still, there's another way for you to determine whether the stainless steel coils you've got is potentially harmful.
What is all this stuff? They are the types/grades of stainless steel. No worries. We'll tell you in detail in the following section after this.
Now let's focus on how to make use of the tester.
Want more information on Hot Dipped Galvanized Steel Coils? Feel free to contact us.
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