Stainless Steel vs. Tungsten: What Are the Key Differences?

Stainless steel and tungsten are distinct materials with differences in composition, properties, and applications. Stainless steel is an alloy made primarily of iron and chromium, with nickel and other elements added in some grades, and its properties vary depending on the grade. Tungsten is a chemical element with the symbol "W" on the periodic table. It is a transition metal with an exceptionally high melting point and density.

Stainless steel is extremely widely used across all industries, including construction, automotive, kitchenware, medical equipment, consumer goods, and outdoor furniture, due to its corrosion resistance and versatility. Tungsten, on the other hand, is used extensively in armor-piercing projectiles, penetrators, and counterweights because of its density and hardness.

This article will discuss the key differences between stainless steel and tungsten in terms of composition, types, and applications.

What Is Stainless Steel?

Stainless steel is a family of alloys, composed of iron, chromium, nickel, and varying amounts of elements like molybdenum, manganese, and silicon. Its remarkable corrosion resistance stems from the formation of a passive chromium oxide layer on its surface when exposed to oxygen. This protective layer prevents rust and deterioration, even in humid or chemically aggressive environments.

Stainless steel offers great durability at a relatively low cost, putting this family of alloys at the heart of products in construction, automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, healthcare, industrial processing, and many other sectors. With various grades and types available, stainless steel can be tuned to meet specific requirements, optimizing its value in various applications and more demanding conditions, by careful selection of alloying constituents and heat treatment.

To learn more, see our full guide on the Properties of Stainless Steel.

What Is Another Name for Stainless Steel?

Stainless steel is sometimes referred to as corrosion-resistant steel. It is also called inox, from the French inoxydable, meaning non-oxidizable.

What Is Stainless Steel Made Of?

Stainless steel’s constituent alloying elements include iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), manganese (Mn), and silicon (Si), with cobalt (Co) only rarely used in specialized grades.

The combination and ratios of these alloying agents, along with the manufacturing processes, determine the resulting grade and properties of stainless steel. The divergent grades of stainless steel exhibit alternate crystalline structures that significantly affect the material properties, the level of corrosion resistance, strength, ductility, temperature resistance, and other characteristics. This results in a large family of materials that offer characteristics suitable for a wide range of industrial and commercial applications.

How Is Stainless Steel Made?

Stainless steels are produced by melting iron with carefully selected alloying elements, primarily chromium, in a controlled furnace process to achieve the desired composition.

It begins with a careful selection of raw materials, including iron, scrap steel of known constituents, and selected additions from chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and others. The selection of metals defines the outcome of stainless steel grade and its properties. The selected raw materials are melted in an electric arc or induction furnace at extremely high temperatures. Strict control over temperature and composition is required to achieve precise alloying ratios. Alloying elements are introduced into the molten iron/scrap steel to attain the precise composition needed for the desired grade. These alloying elements are often added in the form of pre-prepared alloy or pure metal ingots. Deoxidizing and desulfurizing agents may be used during the melting process to remove impurities like oxygen and sulfur. Common deoxidizers include silicon, aluminum, and manganese. Sulfur is typically controlled with additives like calcium or rare-earth elements.

Samples are taken from the melt for spectroscopic analysis to ensure that the alloying elements are within the specified range. This QC measure guarantees that the final stainless steel product meets industry standards and customer requirements. Once properly alloyed and tested, the molten steel is cast into semi-finished forms such as slabs, billets, or ingots. This can be continuous or batch casting, depending on the scale of production.

What Are the Different Types of Stainless Steel?

Stainless steel can be classified into several main classes or types based on its microstructure and alloy composition, with fine degrees of differentiation in subcategories of alloys with highly tuned properties. Below are the different types of stainless steel:

• Austenitic Stainless Steel: These steels are the most common and widely used type of stainless steel. They have a face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal structure and are generally non-magnetic, although they can become slightly magnetic when cold-worked. Renowned for its excellent corrosion resistance, high ductility, and good formability, the common grades include 304 (18-8 stainless), 316 (sometimes called marine-grade), and 321.
• Ferritic Stainless Steel: They are formed from a body-centered cubic (BCC) crystalline structure. They are magnetic and offer good corrosion resistance, especially in environments with low chloride content. Common grades include 430 and 409.
• Martensitic Stainless Steel: They transform from austenite to martensite on quenching, giving them a body-centered tetragonal (BCT) crystal structure at room temperature.
• Duplex Stainless Steel: Duplex stainless steels combine the properties of both austenitic and ferritic stainless steels. They have a mixed microstructure of austenite and ferrite, which provides excellent corrosion resistance and high strength. Common grades include 2205 and 2507 (Super Duplex).

• Precipitation-Hardening Stainless Steel: Precipitation-hardening stainless steels can be heat-treated to achieve elevated levels of strength and hardness. They can be martensitic or austenitic. They are used in applications in which both corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties are critical. Grades include 17-4 PH (martensitic), 15-5 PH (martensitic), 17-7 PH (semi-austenitic), PH 15-7 Mo (semi-austenitic), and JBK-75 (austenitic). Some sources also list FV520, though it is less common.
• Specialty Stainless Steels: Various specialty grades have been developed for specific applications. Examples include high-temperature grades such as 310 or 446 stainless, low-carbon grades like 304L, and other corrosion-resistant alloys such as Inconel® (though Inconel is not stainless steel but a separate nickel-based superalloy family).

Each class of stainless steel has its own optimized properties. Grade selection is crucial to ensuring the resultant product performance and longevity in real-world use environments.

What Are the Advantages of Stainless Steel?

Stainless steels offer numerous advantages, varied by grade and allowing selection for particular properties that are advantageous for each application:

1. Has exceptional corrosion resistance, making it ideal for harsh environments. Each grade has particular environmental resilience and susceptibilities that can be closely identified.
2. Robust and generally tolerant of wear, impact, and moderately high temperatures, although extreme abrasion or very high temperatures require specialized grades.
3. Provides smooth, non-porous, and durable surfaces that are easy to clean, making stainless steel suitable for food, medical, and pharmaceutical applications.
4. Provide various degrees of mechanical properties, including good tensile strength, though most grades are not as hard as tool steels unless specially treated (e.g., martensitic or precipitation-hardening grades).
5. Adaptable to various industries, from construction and automotive to healthcare and aerospace.
6. Can deliver a sleek appearance and reflective surfaces, making them popular in architectural and decorative applications.
7. Highly recyclable and resistant to process degradation and material loss, promoting sustainability.

What Are the Disadvantages of Stainless Steel?

While stainless steel offers many advantages across many applications, it also has particular and more generalized disadvantages, such as:

1. It can be more expensive than other materials due to its complex alloy composition and increased difficulty in manufacturing processes.
2. Some grades, such as ferritic and martensitic stainless steels, can become embrittled at low temperatures, while austenitic stainless steels generally retain toughness even in cryogenic conditions.
3. It can be challenging to machine and may require specialized tools and processes. This is particularly true of the austenitic grades, which can demonstrate severe work hardening during cutting processes.
4. Its relatively high density compared to aluminum or titanium makes stainless steel less suitable for weight-sensitive applications.
5. Has lower thermal conductivity compared to other metals like aluminum or copper. Despite this, these materials are often used in heat-exchange applications in which the need for chemical resilience outweighs the thermal limitations.
6. Ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are magnetic, while austenitic grades are generally non-magnetic (though they can become slightly magnetic after cold working), which can affect their suitability for applications such as MRI machines and other sensitive instruments.
7. It can show fingerprints or water spots in a very pronounced way, although they can be easily cleaned.
8. The production of stainless steel can have a significant environmental footprint due to energy-intensive processes and environmentally degrading mining and refining processes. In particular, chromium mining and refining can produce toxic byproducts such as hexavalent chromium, which requires strict environmental controls.

Is Stainless Steel Better Than Tungsten?

It depends on the specific application. Stainless steel excels in corrosion resistance and versatility, but does not possess tungsten's extreme hardness and high-temperature resilience. Tungsten is ideal for certain high-wear and very high-temperature applications due to its hardness and high melting point, but it is also denser and significantly more expensive than stainless steel.

What Is Tungsten?

Tungsten is a chemical element (symbol W, atomic number 74) from the transition metals group. It is extremely dense and has the highest melting point of all metals (about 3420 °C). These properties make tungsten valuable in applications such as electrical wires and filaments, high-temperature jet and rocket parts, and as an alloying element in steel to improve hardness and durability. Tungsten is also used to create tungsten carbide, an extremely hard compound widely used in cutting tools, wear-resistant parts, and abrasives.

What Is Another Name for Tungsten?

Tungsten is known as “wolfram,” originating from German miners who observed tungsten minerals interfering with tin smelting, “devouring” the tin like a wolf. This gave rise to the symbol W on the periodic table. The name “tungsten” is derived from the Swedish words “tung sten,” meaning “heavy stone,” a reference to its density.

What Is Tungsten Made Of?

Tungsten is a chemical element and consists of an indivisible atomic structure. Tungsten's high atomic number informs of a heavy nucleus that gives it its unique properties, such as its exceptionally high melting point, hardness, and density.

How Is Tungsten Made?

Tungsten is produced from ores such as wolframite and scheelite through mining, ore concentration, chemical processing, and metallurgical purification.

Chemical processing transforms the ore into ammonium paratungstate (APT) or tungstic acid. A reduction process using hydrogen converts APT into tungsten metal powder, typically at high temperatures. Further purification removes impurities, and consolidation methods/smelting create solid forms. These are then machined and shaped into desired products.

What Are the Different Types of Tungsten?

Tungsten-containing materials encompass a wide range of products and compounds:

1. Tungsten-Bearing Alloys: Tungsten is often alloyed with other metals like nickel, copper, or iron to create high-density materials with enhanced properties. Common examples include tungsten-copper (for hard-wearing, arc-resistant electrical contacts) and tungsten-nickel-iron alloys (for radiation shielding).
2. Tungsten Carbide: Tungsten carbide is a hard and wear-resistant compound formed by combining tungsten and carbon, typically produced by sintering tungsten carbide powder with a metal binder such as cobalt. It's used extensively in cutting tools, drills, saw blades, and machining inserts.
3. Tungsten Filaments: Tungsten is used in the manufacturing of incandescent lightbulbs and electron-microscope filaments due to its high melting point and electrical conductivity.
4. Tungsten Compounds: Tungsten is found in various chemical compounds, such as tungstic acid (H2WO4) and ammonium paratungstate (APT), precursors in the refining of tungsten metal.
5. Tungsten-Based Superalloys: Tungsten is used as a strengthening element in some nickel- and cobalt-based superalloys, where it improves high-temperature strength and creep resistance for aerospace and power-generation applications such as turbine blades and combustion components.
6. Tungsten Target Materials: In the semiconductor industry, tungsten is used as a target material for sputtering to deposit thin films on semiconductor wafers. Its stability and high-temperature performance leave it unaffected by the sputtering process.
7. Tungsten Heavy Alloys: Typically, tungsten-nickel-iron or tungsten-nickel-copper are used where high density, strength, and radiation shielding are required.
8. Tungsten Wire and Rods: These are used in electrical and heating applications, including thermocouples and heating elements.

What Are the Advantages of Tungsten?

Tungsten offers some pronounced and unique advantages:

1. Has one of the highest melting points of any element, making it ideal for extreme-temperature applications in aerospace and metallurgy.
2. It is extremely hard, providing excellent wear resistance valued in cutting tools, drills, and abrasives.
3. Its density is close to that of gold (at a considerably lower cost), making it applicable for balancing, radiation shielding, and military-projectile applications.
4. Tungsten is moderately resistant to corrosion in many environments, but it oxidizes at relatively low temperatures in air and is less corrosion-resistant than stainless steels or noble metals.
5. Tungsten has moderate electrical conductivity, lower than copper or silver, but sufficient for applications such as lamp filaments, X-ray tubes, and electrical contacts.

What Are the Disadvantages of Tungsten?

While tungsten has many advantages, it also has some significant disadvantages that limit its applicability:

1. It is relatively expensive due to its scarcity and challenging extraction/refining process.
2. Tungsten exhibits a high ductile-to-brittle transition temperature, typically between 200 °C and 400 °C, which limits the use of pure tungsten at lower temperatures.
3. Its high density makes tungsten heavier than many other materials, which is a burden whenever it is a necessary material in weight-sensitive applications.
4. It is difficult to machine, requiring specialized tools and techniques.
5. Its compounds can be toxic, particularly when inhaled as dust or fumes during processing.
6. Tungsten mining and processing have a significant environmental footprint due to energy-intensive and toxic intermediate processes.
7. Certain tungsten alloys containing ferromagnetic elements such as iron or cobalt can be magnetic, which may affect their suitability for specific applications.

Is Tungsten Better Than Stainless Steel?

It depends on the specifics of the application. Tungsten excels in extreme hardness, very high melting point, and density. Stainless steel offers a balance of good strength, corrosion resistance, relatively lower cost compared to tungsten, and broad versatility across industries.

How To Choose Between Stainless Steel and Tungsten?

The selection between tungsten and stainless steel depends on the specific requirements of the application. Understand the key factors, such as service temperature, corrosion challenges, strength, and cost issues that are critical for your application. Choose tungsten if you need extreme hardness, a very high melting point, or maximum density. Choose stainless steel if corrosion resistance, versatility, and cost-effectiveness are priorities.

Assess the budget available for materials, as tungsten is far more expensive than stainless steel and is generally used only when its unique properties are essential. Based on your project requirements, evaluate the ease of machining and fabricating of each material. As a rule, higher production volumes and complex machining operations favor stainless steel since tungsten is very difficult and costly to machine.

What Are the Properties of Stainless Steel and Tungsten?

Table 1 below shows a comparison of the properties of stainless steel and tungsten:

How Can Xometry Assist You With Your Tungsten or Stainless Steel Needs?

Xometry has access to exceptional material sourcing capabilities and can rapidly assess your application needs to help define the ideal solution to optimize your parts, both in the wide material group and in the specifics of alloying and processing.

How To Identify Stainless Steel and Tungsten?

Various methods can be used to identify stainless steel and tungsten. Stainless steels are generally non-magnetic or less markedly magnetic than mild or carbon steels. If a magnet doesn't attract, it's likely stainless steel. They typically have a shiny, reflective surface, often with a brushed or polished finish. Check for manufacturer markings or labels on the material to identify the grade. Stainless steel is generally highly corrosion-resistant and won't rust easily when exposed to moisture in natural environments. Tungsten, on the other hand, remains stable in ambient air at room temperature but oxidizes at elevated temperatures (above about 400 °C), forming tungsten oxides.

Tungsten is exceptionally dense and heavy; it will feel much heavier than materials of similar size. It has a distinct metallic gray color with a high luster. The metal and most of its alloys are extremely hard and resistant to scratches. Tungsten has an exceptionally high melting point (3,422 °C), making it impossible to melt without highly specialized smelting equipment.

What Are the Applications of Stainless Steel and Tungsten?

Stainless steel applications include:

1. Architecture and construction
2. Aerospace, various high-strength parts
3. Automotive, exhaust components, finishing parts
4. Medical equipment
5. Food and beverage industry
6. Oil and gas extraction/refining
7. Marine industry fixtures, etc.
8. Chemical and pharmaceutical processing
9. Electronics enclosures
10. Cutlery and kitchenware

Tungsten applications include:

1. Aerospace combustion systems
2. Electronics wires, filaments, contacts
3. Medical device radiation shielding
4. Mining and drilling cutters
5. Nuclear industry radiation shielding
6. Lighting filaments in incandescent bulbs
7. High-temperature furnaces and heating elements
8. Ammunition in armor-piercing projectiles
9. Sintered with carbide to make cutting tools

Summary

This article presented stainless steel and tungsten, explained each of them, and discussed their key differences To learn more about both stainless steel and tungsten, contact a Xometry representative.

Xometry provides a wide range of manufacturing capabilities and other value-added services for all of your prototyping and production needs. Visit our website to learn more or to request a free, no-obligation quote.

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