304L or 316LN Stamping

[mcguirepm]

My company is loking at getting some small tanks stamped out of SS. Our primary choices are 304L or 316NL. As I understand it, 304 is fairly springy and requires a lot of extra attention. 321 handles very similarly to mild steel, but is more difficult to obtain and also conciderably more expensive. Does 316 share these same characteristics with mild steel or is it also springy?

I am open to any suggestions? We are using .060 and .080 thick sheet for this project. The finished product will come in contact with petrolium distilates and needs to be corrosion resistant.

 

[NickE]

304 tends to work harden realatively rapidly, so if you need to draw the sheet very far you might need an inprocess anneal. 316 is more stable of an austenitic so may not harden as fast. both cna be either springy or soft depending on as recieved conditon and amount of cold work done to them.

321 is a grade developed for higer temperature service than 304/316... It contains an amount of Ti that binds the excess carbon preventing CrC formation adn the resultant reduction in corrosion resistance known as sensitization.