Mechanical Properties of Several Products From a Single Heat of Type 304 Stainless Steel

Tensile and stress-rupture tests were run on several products from a 90-ton (8.2 × 10⁴ Kg) heat of type 304 stainless steel. The yield stress of the products in the as-received condition varied from 26,500, to 57,200 psi (183 to 395 MPa) at 75 deg F (24 deg C). There were significant differences between the strengths of various products and considerable variation for a single product due to nonuniform residual cold work. Reannealing 0.5 hr (1.8 × 10³ sec) at 2000 deg F (1093 deg C) resulted in yield stresses in the 25,000 to 27,000 psi, (172 to 186 MPa) range; only the properties of the hot-reduced tubing fell below this range. At a test temperature of 1100 deg F (593 deg C), the as-received products had yield stresses from 14,800 to 35,500 psi (102 to 245 MPa). Reannealing caused the yield stresses to fall in the range 9,440 to 11,700 psi (65.1 to 80.7 MPa). Stress-rupture tests at 1100 deg F (593 deg C) on the reannealed products did not reveal significant variation in properties.