---
title: "List of applications of stainless steel"
chunk: 2/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_applications_of_stainless_steel"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:27:58.174785+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Food and beverage ==
Austenitic (300 series) stainless steel, particularly Types 304 and 316, is the material of choice for the food and beverage industry, though martensitic and ferritic (400 series) steels are also used. Stainless steels are advantageous because they do not affect the taste of the product, are easily cleaned and sterilized to prevent bacterial contamination of the food, and are durable. Within the food and beverage industry, stainless steel is extensively used in cookware, commercial food processing, commercial kitchens, brewing beer, winemaking, and meat processing.
Stainless steel's superiority over plastic in preserving flavor is reportedly why McDonald's traditionally procures soft drink syrup for its soda fountains from The Coca-Cola Company in stainless steel tanks, rather than the bag-in-box technology preferred by most fast food restaurant chains.
Acidic foods with high salt additions, such as tomato sauce, and highly salted condiments, such as soy sauce, may require higher-alloyed stainless steels such as 6% Mo superaustenitics to prevent pitting corrosion by chloride.

== Vehicles ==

=== Automobiles ===

The Allegheny Ludlum Corporation worked with Ford on various concept cars with stainless steel bodies from the 1930s through the 1970s to demonstrate the material's potential. The 1957 and 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham had a stainless steel roof. In 1981 and 1982, the DMC DeLorean production automobile used Type 304 stainless steel body panels over a glass-reinforced plastic monocoque. Intercity buses made by Motor Coach Industries are partially made of stainless steel. The aft body panel of the Porsche Cayman model (2-door coupe hatchback) is made of stainless steel. Due to the Cayman's many curves and angles, it was discovered during early body prototyping that conventional steel could not be formed without cracking. Thus, Porsche was forced to use stainless steel. The body of the Tesla Cybertruck, which went into production in 2023, is composed of 300-series stainless steel.
The largest use of stainless steel in cars is the exhaust line. Environment protection requirements aimed at reducing pollution and noise for the entirety of a car's lifespan led to the use of ferritic stainless steels (typically AISI409/409Cb in North America, EN1.4511 and 1.4512 in Europe). They are used for collector, tubing, muffler, catalytic converter, tailpipe. Heat-resisting grades EN1.4913 or 1.4923 are used in parts of turbochargers, while other heat-resisting grades are used for exhaust gas recirculation and for inlet and exhaust valves. In addition, common rail injection systems and their injectors rely on stainless steels.
Stainless steel has proved to be the best choice for miscellaneous applications, such as stiffeners for windshield wiper blades, balls for seat belt operation device in case of accident, springs, fasteners, etc.
Some automotive manufacturers use stainless steel as decorative highlights in their vehicles.

=== Light commuter trains ===
Stainless steel is now used as one of the materials for tramlinks, together with aluminium alloys and carbon steel. Duplex grades tend to be preferred thanks to their corrosion resistance and higher strength, allowing a reduction of weight and a long life in maritime environments.

=== Passenger rail cars ===
Rail cars have commonly been manufactured using corrugated stainless steel panels for additional structural strength. This was particularly popular during the 1960s and 1970s but has since declined. One notable example was the early Pioneer Zephyr. Notable former manufacturers of stainless steel rolling stock included the Budd Company (USA), which has been licensed to Japan's Tokyu Car Corporation, and the Portuguese company Sorefame. Many railcars in the United States are still manufactured with stainless steel. In India, where rail infrastructure is developing, new stainless steel coaches in being put into service. South Africa is also commissioning stainless steel coaches.

=== Aircraft ===

Budd also built two airplanes, the Budd BB-1 Pioneer and the Budd RB-1 Conestoga, out of stainless steel tube and sheet. The first, which had fabric wing coverings, is on display at the Franklin Institute, being the longest continuous display of an aircraft ever, since 1934. The RB-2 was almost all stainless steel, save for the control surfaces. One survives at the Pima Air & Space Museum, adjacent to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base.
The American Fleetwings Sea Bird amphibious aircraft of 1936 was also built using a spot-welded stainless steel hull.
Due to its thermal stability, the Bristol Aeroplane Company built the all-stainless steel Bristol 188 high-speed research aircraft, which first flew in 1963. However, the practical problems encountered meant that later high-speed aircraft, such as the Concorde, employed aluminium alloys. The experimental Mach 3 American bomber, the XB70 Valkyrie, made extensive use of stainless steel in its external structure due to the extreme heat encountered at those high speeds.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 interceptor aircraft was built predominantly out of stainless steel due to the Soviet Union's inability to mass-produce an aircraft made from lightweight titanium, the only other way found to protect from the extreme kinetic heating. It severely hindered the aircraft's flight performance and the MiG-25 had to be kept extremely secret to prevent the NATO allies from finding out about the realities of the aircraft's performance. It however holds the world altitude record for aircraft, at ~123,000 feet.
The use of stainless steel in mainstream aircraft is hindered by its excessive weight compared to other materials, such as aluminium.

=== Spacecraft ===
Stainless steel (SS) also has an application in spaceflight. The early Atlas rockets used stainless steel in their fuel tanks. The tank structure of the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur launchers uses SS. 
The outer cladding of the modules and the Integrated Truss Structure of the International Space Station use stainless steel alloys. 
Components of the Space Launch System use SS..
Both stages of SpaceX Starship are largely made of type 300 SS.

== Medicine ==