High performance ferritic stainless steel B445R for architectural applications

Traditionally,austenitic stainless steels 304 and 316 have been employed in coastal regions as roofing materials unfortunately,they are expensive and not fully resistant to pitting corrosion under severe coastal corrosive environment.A ferritic stainless steel B445R was developed.Compared with austenitic 316L,B445R is①less costly;②uperior corrosion resistant with minor maintenance for long-term service;③insusceptible to thermal distortion in the welding seam. B445R sheet shows a higher yield strength and lower tensile strength,lower elongation and lower work-hardening than austenitic 316L.It can be easily fabricated and deformed just like plain carbon steel.After bending 180o,there is no occurrence of "cracking" or noticeable "orange peel".The formability of the welding seam is also satisfactory.The pitting potential of B445R is 650 mV,larger than that of 304 and 316L,as shown in Fig.1. The corrosion rate of B445R submerged in 6%FeCl,solution is 0.3 -0.56 g/(m² ? h^-1),much lower than that of 316L,as shown in Fig.2.The superior pitting corrosion resistance of B445R can be ascribed to synergetic effect of higher Cr and Mo. Dull-finished B445R sheets have been employed as the roofing materials for Guangzhou Asian Games Arena,as shown in Fig.3.About 380 t of 1.0 mm B445R with dull finish was used for roofing panels.About 100 t of 0.8 mm B445R with hairline or fluororesin paint finish was used for side wall panels.The composite roof build-up （from up to bottom） includes:①shingles of ferritic stainless steel B445R;②Kalzip-type standing seam of austenitic 304;③water-proof DFM;④structural steel;⑤75 mm thick insulation;⑥secondary purlin of 150 mm×100 mm×4.5 mm of galvanizied Q235;⑦0.8 mm thick profile deck of galvanizied Q235;⑧acoustic insulation.The roofing shingles or panels with the same width but different length were formed by bending four sides and fixed to a "L" shape reinforcing frames of stainless steel by fasteners.The "L" frames was connected to ribs of the standing seam by a clamping fixture made of aluminum.