Stainless Steel Failures: Bridging Metallurgy and Practice—Lessons from Case Studies and Industrial Material Selection

Stainless steels are widely used for their corrosion resistance, yet field failures demonstrate that meeting nominal specifications and datasheet values does not guarantee reliable performance. This paper reviews industrial case studies from food processing, desalination, chemical, and petrochemical sectors, where corrosion and cracking were traced to metallurgical and environmental interactions—such as low molybdenum in 316, nitrogen deficiency in duplex grades, weld sensitization, and sigma-phase formation. Key metallurgical thresholds (see Section 6) including Mo, N, C limits and PREN criteria and elemental synergies are proposed as practical selection criteria. The study reframes stainless-steel selection as both a technical and management challenge, offering a mechanism-based framework to improve procurement and management decisions. By integrating metallurgical insight with operational realities, this work aims to prevent a significant portion of stainless-steel failures.