What is stainless steel?

Stainless steel, in layman's terms, is steel that is not prone to rust.

The term "stainless steel" does not simply refer to a single type of stainless steel but denotes over a hundred different industrial stainless steels, each with varying chemical compositions and processing techniques. Each type of stainless steel excels in its specific application fields. As shown in the following figure, various stainless steels have different chemical compositions.