Advantage of Stainless Steel Fasteners in Construction and the 316L construction fastener of the future

Why am I writing this article
After speaking to many people in the construction industry, I come to realize stainless steel was a dream of many but because of strength issues, many designers tend to shy away from the use of 316L or other similiar materials.  As many engineers are learning about Bufab Bulten Stainless BUMAX line is equivalent to SAE J429 Grade 5&8 fasterners.  This allows designers to utalize stainless steel fasteners in many application especially Curtain Walls. 

Why us stainless steel in contstruction 

Stainless steel has been used with success by the construction industry throughout the UK and Europe for over seventy years. Its use has increased rapidly in recent times as the benefits of stainless steel over traditional materials have become more widely recognized. Stainless steel offers many advantages to the specified:

•      Excellent corrosion resistance

•      High ductility and strength

•      Non-magnetic (Austenitic only)

•      Excellent high and low temperature properties

•      Resistance to unsightly staining

•      Life-cycle costing benefits

•      Aesthetic surface finish

•      60% recycled content

•      100% recyclable

 

Life-Cycle Costing

Life-cycle costing is increasingly recognized as the true way to establish the cost of building components. The use of stainless steel means no costly remedial or refurbishment measures are required during the life of the structure. As the trend to higher specification and longer service life continues, stainless steel will provide cost-effective long term solutions to customers problems.

The BIG word RECYCLING

Stainless steel is 100% recyclable. When a product finally reaches the end of its long service life, it remains a valuable source of its main alloying elements - chromium, nickel and molybdenum. These can be easily recovered and separated from the other materials and returned to the production process.

Stainless steel recycling is an economically viable, self-sustaining process. There are considerable savings in energy, and reduced CO2 emissions, in production methods which use recycled materials. The amount of recycled material in any stainless steel product is typically 60%, and as scrap availability is the limiting factor, this percentage will increase as the use of stainless steel continues to grow. The raw material produced today will not be recycled for many years. In addition to a product’s end-of-life recycling, any scrap material generated during its manufacture is recycled in the same way.

PROPERTIES AND WORKING STRESSES

The behavior of constructional stainless steels differs from mild steels in that these stainless steels do not exhibit a well defined yield point when representative test pieces are submitted to tensile load. A true yield point is obtained in mild steel when plastic deformation starts to occur without any increase in loading. The stress in the test piece at the yield point is known as the yield strength of the material. Constructional grades of stainless steel show early plastic deformation in test, but continue to sustain increasing load with increasing strain. In order to characterize the useful design strength of such  materials, proof strengths are used and are determined as the stress (Rp) at which plastic extension equals a specified strain. For stainless steels this is commonly at 0.2% strain and the proof strength for a particular grade of steel is based on the (Rp) 0.2% proof stress.

EFFECT OF COLD WORKING

The working of austenitic stainless steel significantly increases the proof strength. Localized cold working arises during the forming of angle and channel sections. The benefits of this cold working are not taken into account in Ancon’s designs, but provide additional reserves of strength.

 

BUMAX ADVANTAGE

• Exceeds off the shelf stainless fasteners. Equivalent to SAE J429 Grade 5&8
• Off the shelf availability full range of fasteners from Bolts, Nuts, Studs to Washers
• Lower magnetic permeability
• Corrosion resistance up to 3x greater than 316L
• Can replace other costly alloys
• DFARS compliance
• Full traceability
• PED Certified

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