Stainless steel, any one of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10 to 30 percent chromium. In conjunction with low carbon content, chromium imparts remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. Other elements, such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, aluminum, niobium, copper, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, or selenium, may be added to increase corrosion resistance to specific environments, enhance oxidation resistance, and impart special characteristics.
Most stainless steels are first melted in electric-arc or basic oxygen furnaces and subsequently refined in another steelmaking vessel, mainly to lower the carbon content. In the argon-oxygen decarburization process, a mixture of oxygen and argon gas is injected into the liquid steel.