Stainless Steel 304 VS 201,

What Is The Difference Between The Two

1. Differ Chemical Element Content Between AISI 304

Stainless Steel And 201 Stainless Steel
1.1 Stainless steel plates that commonly used was divided into two types: 201
and 304. In fact, the components are different. 201 stainless steel contains
15% chromium and 5% nickel. 201 stainless steel is a substitute for 304
steel. And 304 stainless steel contains 18% chromium and 9% nickel in
standard. In comparison, the content of nickel and chromium in 304 is higher
than that in 201, so the rust resistance of 304 is much better than that of 201.
However, because 304 contains more nickel and chromium than that of 201,
the price of 304 is much more expensive than that of 201.

1.2 201 stainless steel contains more manganese, but 304 contains less; From
the material surface color, 201 stainless steel contains more
manganese element so that the surface color is darker than 304, 304 should
be brighter and whiter, but this is not easy to distinguish them by the naked
eye.

1.3 Because of the different content of nickel element, the corrosion

resistance of 201 is not as good as that of 304; What’s more, the carbon
content of 201 is higher than that of 304, so 201 is harder and more brittle
than 304. 304 has better toughness: If you use a hard cutting knife on the
surface of 201,there will generally have a very obvious scratch, however the
scratch on 304 will not be very obvious.
201 stainless steel

304 stainless steel

2. Stainless Steel Fabrication And Application Aspects 
201 stainless steel, has certain acid resistance, alkali resistance performance,
high density, polishing without bubbles, no pinhole and other characteristics,
is the production of a variety of watchcases, watchband base cover quality
materials. Mainly used to do decorative pipe, industrial pipe, and some
shallow stretch products.

304 stainless steel application range: 304 stainless steel is the most widely
used chromium nickel stainless steel, as a kind of widely used steel, has good
corrosion resistance, heat resistance, low temperature strength and
mechanical properties. Corrosion resistant in the atmosphere, if it is an
industrial atmosphere or heavily polluted area, it needs to be cleaned
promptly to avoid corrosion. 304 stainless steel for the national recognition of
food grade stainless steel.

When determining the type of stainless steel to be used, the aesthetic

standards required, the corrosiveness of the local atmosphere and the
cleaning system to be adopted are taken into account.

304 stainless steel is quite effective in dry indoor environment. However, in

rural and urban areas to maintain its appearance outdoors, frequent cleaning
is required. In heavily polluted industrial areas and coastal areas, surfaces
can become very dirty and even rusty. But to obtain the aesthetic effect in
the outdoor environment, it is necessary to use nickel-containing stainless
steel.

Therefore, 304 stainless steel is widely used for curtain wall, side wall, roof
and other construction purposes, but in the severe industrial or oceanic
atmosphere, it is better to use 304 stainless steel. In addition, 304 stainless
steel has the characteristics of good processing performance and high
toughness. Because of this, 304 is widely used in industry, furniture
decoration industry and food medical industry.