Stainless steel is fast becoming one of the most architecturally significant and elegant materials used in construction today. Due to this wide usage, special profiles are often required.
While it is both functional and sustainable, stainless steel is also quite handsome and exciting to work with. Stainless steel profiles are gaining popularity with architects, engineers, interior designers, and artists due to production methods and finish options that produce clean lines and easy to maintain surfaces. Our manufacturing processes and customization abilities offer a wide variety of common shapes and special profiles for your exterior and interior design needs.
Applications for Stainless Steel Special Shapes and Sections
The use of stainless steel profiles spans many industries applications.
Stainless Steel in Architecture
For example, stainless is used in Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS) projects where the structure is the design feature. The strength, durability, and beauty of stainless profiles make them ideal products for buildings that are structurally expressive. This is especially true for buildings that allow for more natural daylight with light curtain wall systems and large open spans.
Special Profiles in Challenging Environments
Projects with highly specific design and product needs rely on special profiles to complete the vision of the designer and client. Health care facilities must have surfaces that are extremely hygienic. Industrial plants and off-shore oil rigs depend on components that can stand up to chemical and sea water abuse. Commercial kitchens have been using stainless steel for decades to ensure they meet current health codes.
Interior and Exterior Design
Stainless components, especially special profiles, are also appreciated in interior design, landscape design, and art installations. Interior designers integrate the varied finishes of stainless steel surfaces into retail display systems and furnishings. Landscape architects are fond of stainless components that can withstand the weather elements without suffering from corrosion, including rust. Artists on the other hand prefer stainless steel for its customization of shapes and its ability to retain the intended finish without much maintenance.
Production of Stainless Steel Special Profiles
We offer a variety of production methods and finishes for our stainless steel profiles. So we produce special shapes and sections using standard hot and cold rolling, similar to other ferrous metals. State-of-the-art technologies, such as laser fusion and hybrid profile construction, are also part of our capabilities. We also offer a variety of grades and alloys.
Hot Rolling Method
Our hot rolled stainless and alloy shapes are produced by forming wire rod in a continuous rolling process at a temperature of approximately 2012 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a very economical technology in the steel production industry. It results in stainless steel profiles that are suitable for general building and construction components. With this process we can produce special shapes, such as stainless steel beams, columns, channels, stainless steel angles, and flat bars sections. The method results in a cost savings to our customers.
Cold Rolling and Cold Drawing of Special Profiles
Cold rolled special shapes and sections are produced by forming round wire rod using a continuous rolling process at an ambient temperature. This is an extremely efficient method for producing smaller profiles. The cold process allows us to offer an excellent surface finish on strong, durable, and ductile pieces.
The cold drawn process incorporates a precision reduction of the cross sectional area of pre-rolled pro-files or wire rod that is drawn through a series of one or more dies at an ambient temperature. Cold drawn stainless steel sections offer special profiles required by our customers. Tolerances are tight with improved surface conditions. So they are reducing the need for more machining during finishing operations. Hence, special cold drawn profiles are ideal for gears, keyways, pumps parts, turbines, and many other industrial needs.
Laser Fused Special Profiles
Our laser fusion processing is very efficient. This method also has the advantage of being extremely versatile, offering nearly limitless design options and capabilities. The laser fusion production method precisely welds individual components together to make complete laser fused profiles. These include angles, beams, stainless steel channels, hollow shapes, and a variety of custom profiles. Finished edges have sharp lines. Welds are monolithic and very clean. Additionally, our laser equipment uses state-of-the-art technology. The finishes achieved on laser fused special profiles are typically of a finer quality than with other production methods.
Grades of Stainless Steel
Austenitic grades are likely the most popular. These commonly contain alloys of iron, chromium, nickel, and manganese. Austenitic stainless steel grades can be cold worked and are corrosion resistant.
Martensitic grades are also corrosion resistant stainless alloys. These are typically hardened with the use of heat. Furthermore, these stainless alloys do not contain nickel and have higher carbon levels. Due to that, martensitic stainless steel grades are ideal for projects requiring hardness and strength.
Ferritic grades on the other hand provide stainless steel profiles that resist oxidation and stress corrosion cracking. They are also lighter in weight. These contain chromium and have lower carbon content. One can often see ferritic stainless steel products in interior finishes and mechanical components. One can also use it in salt water when molybdenum is added.
Duplex stainless steel grades are newer to the steel market. The material is a combination of austenitic and ferritic materials. These possess higher strength and superior resistance to stress corrosion cracking.
Customizing Stainless Profiles for Your Project
At Stainless Structurals we recognize the growing demand for custom or special profiles for a variety of industries and applications. So we will work with you to provide the special shapes and stainless steel profiles required to meet your specific design needs.
Our popular standard stainless steel profiles include:
Our special profiles are nearly limitless, especially with our laser fusion technology. Hence, we are able to produce complex alloys suitable for almost any project condition. We can provide standard or custom finishes as well.
Bead Blasted and Pickled are standard finishes. To create it, we micro bead blast and pickle laser fused profiles. This finish creates a matte surface with low reflectivity.
Mirrored is a custom, polished, glass-like finish and is the most reflective surface.
Brushed stainless is another custom finish that has a satin sheen to it. It is a unique look with very fine, parallel, brushed lines.
Total Customization
As you can see with Stainless Structurals, many different options and types of special profiles are available. Our main production methods allow for all aspects of your special profiles. This is not only including shape and production method, but also alloy, finish and more to be fully customizable. We invite you to contact us here for more information on special profiles and to explore the varied global markets and industries served.
