What is Nitronic®?

Nitronic® is the trade name referring to a specific group of nitrogen-enhanced super duplex stainless steels.

Originally developed by Armco Steel, the trademark has changed hands several times. Between 2000 and 2020, the trademark belonged to AK Steel. Since March 13th, 2020, the trademark has belonged to Cleaveland-Cliffs – who purchased AK Steel for $1.1 billion.

What Does Nitronic® Mean?

The term nitronic® refers to the way in which nitrogen has been used to stabilise and strengthen the alloy.
Unlike other kinds of nitrogen-enhanced steel, nitronic® is notable as the nitrogen has been added internally, rather than being nitrided to the surface of the alloy. This gives it increased durability, even compared to 316L and 304L.

As previously stated, this trademark covers a family of more highly alloyed austenitic stainless steels. Such is the recognition of the trademark that it is generically used to describe such alloys, even if those alloys have been produced by another manufacturer. The most widely used Nitronic® alloys are Nitronic® 50 (Fermonic 50, XM19, UNS S20910, 1.3964) and Nitronic® 60 (Fermonic 60, UNS S21800).

Various Grades of Nitronic®

Scroll below for a more detailed description of some of these nitronic® alloys.

Nitronic® 40

Nitronic® 40 was the first grade of nitronic® developed. It is commonly used in the aerospace industry, where its high performance at ultralow temperatures makes it a good choice for hydraulic tubing at high altitudes.

Nitronic® 50

Nitronic® 50 is a super austenitic stainless steel, offering improved strength and significantly improved corrosion performance (PREN = 34) over regular 3xx series grades. It is most widely used in the production of valve stems due to its toughness at lower operating temperatures and in a wide range of marine and boat hardware due to its ease of fabrication.

Nitronic® 60

Nitronic® 60 is specifically formulated to achieve excellent galling and wear resistance and is used in applications such as connectors. Nitronic® 60 (as well as Gall-Tough Alloy) was designed to offer resistance to galling – a form of wear caused by adhesion between sliding surfaces and metal-to-metal wear.

Nitronic® From Langley Alloys

Langley Alloys carries a wide range of high-strength austenitic stainless steels, including numerous Nitronic® alloys.
If you have questions about Nitronic® or any of our products, please get in touch with Langley Alloys today.