COE on corres on ee Home » Services » Qualty, Engineering & Lab Services > Fastenal Enginearing > Articles » Magnetism in Stainless Steel Fasteners Magnetism in Stainless Steel Fasteners "The stainless stee fasteners I received stick 0 2 magnet.” Tis fs one of the mare frequently hate compints st Festena Engineering & Design Support HQ in Winona, MN, Stainless stee! Magnedem in Staliess Steel Fasteners Fasteners being nonmagnetic also ane ofthe largest misconceptions amongst fastener users. ‘This cocument wil exoiain why most stainless steei‘asteners are atleast sightW magnetic and why ‘many are so magnetic they are attacted to even weak household magness. There ar fe classes of stainless steel ferric, austenitic, martensite, duplex, and precpltate-rarcened) and only one fs nonmagnetie (austenite). However, the austentic loss just happens te include the Tost widely and universally used types of stainless steels in the merket. The Mest four lasses are cefined basea on the microstructure ofthe matalwlh the last class, PH, based on is heat treatment. Microstructure Ie important because this is what gives the stainless steel ts magnetic properties “The table below provides a brief overvaw ofthe classes of stainless steel as well as some properties ofthe mateias ‘Details on the Five Classes of Stainless Stee! css [Non/Magnetic | Crystalstructure | Common Examples Feritie Magnetic pce 405, 230, 442 ‘nustennie Nonmagnete | FOC 201, 301, 302, 303, 304, 316 Martensiie Magnetic scr 403, 410, 416 Duplex Magnetic Combination 2205, Alloy 255 Prepitatevordened | Magnetic Combination 17-4 H, PRATT How Does an Austenitic Stainless Steel Become Magnetic? ‘As stoted before, the mirostructare ofthe metel i whet gives the steel ts magnetic properties. I the stainless steel chosen was austenitic, €-9. type 316, and a portion of the micwst-ucture were changed to any ene of the other four classes then the material would have some magnetic permeabity, Le. magnetism, duit into the steel The mrostructure of austenitic staniess steel can be changed by # process called martensitic stress Induced transformation (MSIF) This Is & rerostracural change ‘ror austenite to martensite and the transformation en accur due to old working (the process by which many festeners 27e made) as well as slow cooling ram austenitzing temperatures. Ater cold working oF slow cooing an austenite stainless steel willhave an apprecable levelof martensite merestricure. Dus to martensite being agnetc, te ence nonmagnetic austenite stainless steel will AoW have 3 degree of magnetism, Cold Working ‘Though t may not seem ike tall festene’s can go through quite a bit af cold working porto Seeing service in the field. Cold working fasteners occurs inthe wire drawing, forming, ane thread reling processes. Each ofthese processes wil typical, create enough martensite to produce a measurable cegree of magnetism. S2e the Fastenal Engineerng & Design Support videos on thread rolling and cold heading for more information Susceptible Alloys Low alloy content stainless steel (particularly that of bw nickel, carbon, and/or nitrogen) are more susceplible to MSIT Uhen stainless steel with higher alloying elements. Type 304 is an example ofa stainkss steel tat s quite suscepzbe to forming martensite after colé wardng but in fact SUT affecsallaustenttc stainless steel to some degree or another. To help showcase these diferences fgure 1 & 2 have been provided to show permeability (magnetism) vs. percent cold working a= wellas magnetism vs. tensile strength of some common stainless steels.20 Permesbiny at 250 Onstce (15,000 Am) Panay ot 208 Onsinde (18.9004) or Tesi To) — abe) T1905; — ats — ‘mat Tensiestenn Pa) i ‘roeaung el ary Magnetism of stainless steel (old worked) vs, tensile strength o oC Cold reduction, par cost bbweraly steels veld» higher magnetism with the some emount of ok: working Source: Carpenter Stainless Stee}, Selection Aloy Date Fabrication, 1981, page 263. A visual representotion ofthe micostructurel changes thet stonless sive] has gone through some sort of old working can be seen in Sgures 3 tr 6. The figures gradually increase the amount of cols working done to a samle starting with 100% austente mirastructure and ending with nearly 100% martensite. Note: Agure 3 Is oftype 304 and the lttar three Ngures (4-6) are type 301; Rowever, the grain structure in igure 315 typical of allaustenite stainless stees steelwith austente steel. This sample nas steel. Cold worked to steal Cold rll to ecrostrcture. O% been cold workee to 25% hare, Martense 0% hard ‘old working. (250%) form martenste (8rk) has formed within the Austere nas (ight) mates, (200%) (250%) martensite in near all Source: ASM Hancbook, Metallography an¢ Microstructure, Vol.9, 1998, page 287. Controlling Magnetism in Stainless Steel to reduce the amount ef cola working done te a part @9.thread cuting vs. rolling, as wellas possibly annealing the part after allcolé working processes. Without 2 complte annealing treatmant ef the post coli worked part, til ever have zero magnetism. At ts, an addtional annealing process may not be possible due to materalpropertes, economic reasons, and ime constraints. A balance of allwable magnetism andeconomic requirements must be reached In accordance with the end user, Contact a Fastenal Enginesring & Design Support agent for more details. Customer Service Company Poca as vel YOU ARE, Cer} ey Associated Cee mK #) oj Fj] eae ce) Cree! Seer et