Can stainless steel be used for construction instead of steel?

Question

Here is a question for you mechanical or construction engineers. Is there a type of stainless steel that can be used for building bridges or skeletons of skyscrapers instead of steel? If so, what is the type?

I know stainless steel is five to eight times more expensive than steel, so I am assuming stainless steel would not be used for that reason. However, is that the only reason – material costs?

Please respond in simple English with no email acronyms or abbreviations. Spell out your words.

Answer 1

Well, price of materials is certainly an important factor.

I suspect that an equally, if not more important, factor would be the difficulty of machining stainless steel. Conventional high-speed steel drill bits won't even make a dent in stainless.

The Delorean car was built with a stainless steel body, so it's not like it's never been done before.

Answer 2

To top it off, stainless steel typically has a lower tensil strenght.

Answer 3

For special applications where corrosion resistant properties of the material is the primary consideration, stainless steel is used in lieu of. carbon steel.Stainless steel is also used in lieu of carbon steel where non-magnetic property is needed.

Stainless steel comes in at least three different types; the authenitic, martensitic and ferritic stainless steel. The later two are preferred where high tensile strength and hardness are needed while the first one is desirable for high corrosion resistance and non- magnetic applications.