The causes of stainless steel rust and its daily maintenance methods

Most people think that "stainless steel does not rust. If it rusts, it is no longer stainless steel. There may be something wrong with the steel." This is a one-sided wrong view due to a lack of understanding of stainless steel.

Stainless steel can also rust under certain conditions. Stainless steel can resist atmospheric oxidation---that is, stainless steel, and also can resist corrosion in media containing acids, alkali, and salt---that is, corrosion resistance. However, its corrosion resistance changes with the chemical composition of the steel itself, its additive state, usage conditions, and environmental medium types. Like 304 steel pipes, in the atmosphere of dry cleansing, absolute good resistance to tarnishing ability is arranged. But if it is moved to Riviera, in contains the sea fog of a large amount of salts, will soon get rusty; 316 steel pipes show excellent corrosion resistance. good. Therefore, not any kind of stainless steel can resist corrosion and rust in any environment.

Stainless steel relies on the formation of an extremely thin, strong, fine, and stable chromium-rich oxide film (protective film) on its surface to prevent the continued penetration and oxidation of oxygen atoms, thereby obtaining the ability to resist rust. Once this film is continuously damaged for some reason, oxygen atoms in the air or liquid will continue to penetrate or iron atoms in the metal will continue to separate, forming loose iron oxide, and the metal surface will be continuously corroded. There are many ways in which this surface film is damaged, and the most common ones in daily life are as follows:

1. Dust containing other metal elements or attachments of heterogeneous metal particles accumulate on the surface of stainless steel. In humid air, the condensed water between the attachments and stainless steel connects the two into a micro-battery, triggering an electrochemical reaction. , the protective film is damaged, which is called electrochemical corrosion.

2. Organic juices (such as vegetables, noodle soup, phlegm, etc.) adhere to the surface of stainless steel. In the presence of water and oxygen, they form organic acids. For a long time, the organic acids will corrode the metal surface.