Guide to 301 Stainless Steel: Properties, Corrosion Resistance, Uses & Machining Tips

The cold-worked 301 stainless will gain the highest strength, so the full hard SS301 has a higher tensile strength and yield strength compared to other variants. 

Physical and Mechanical Properties of SS301

– Density: 7.8 g/cm^3

– Brinell Hardness: 190 to 440

– Elongation at Break: 7.4 to 46 %

– Fatigue Strength: 210 to 600 MPa

– Shear Strength: 410 to 860 MPa

– Ultimate Tensile Strength: 590 to 1460 MPa

– Yield Tensile Strength: 230 to 1080 MPa

Corrosion resistance of SS301

Stainless steel 301 offers good resistance in applications that include exterior exposure to slightly corrosive conditions at ambient temperatures. Additionally, stainless steel is resistant to corrosion in outdoor, industrial, marine, and mild chemical environments. The likelihood of carbide precipitation occurring during welding is high, which restricts its use in certain applications.

Typical uses of 301 Stainless Steel 

You can find stainless steel grade 301 in various industrial applications. Considering its cold rolled variants, the 1/2 hard stainless steel 301 is usually used in aircraft, rail car, and architectural industries, then 3/4 to full hard SS301 is ideal for applications that need high wear resistance and spring features. Other uses of 301 include automotive molding, wheel covers, roof draining systems, truck bodies, subway cards, etc.