Austenitic stainless steel refers to the stainless steel with chromium nickel as the main alloy element and has austenitic structure at room temperature. The stable austenitic structure is obtained when Cr, Ni and C are about 18%, 8%~10% and 0.1% respectively. Austenitic chromium-nickel stainless steel includes the well-knew 18CR-8Ni steel and the high Cr-Ni series steel developed by adding elements such as Mo, Cu, Si, Nb, Ti and so on.

Austenitic stainless steel is nonmagnetic and has good mechanical properties (high toughness and malleability), easy to be machined, stamped and welded. High chromium content greatly improves the corrosion resistance of steel, because the surface is easy to form a very dense and hard chrome oxide protective film. In the oxidizing environment, it has good corrosion resistance, heat resistance and low temperature resistance, suitable for heavy load and no high requirements corrosion resistance equipment and components, and has a very wide range of uses especially in civil, light industry and other fields.