Grade 416 steel is a free-machining stainless steel with a machinability of 85%, the highest of all stainless steel. With most of the free-machining stainless steels, adding sulfur can improve the machinability, leading to manganese sulfide inclusions. The addition of sulfur also reduces the formability, weldability, and corrosion resistance of 416 steel to below that of grade 410. Because of their high machinability and low cost, grade 416 steel is available in highly tempered, hardened, or unhardened forms.

Mechanical properties of grade 416 stainless steels

* Annealed properties are typical for Condition A of ASTM A582.
** Hardened and tempered Condition T of ASTM A582 - Brinell hardness is specified range, other properties are typical only.
# Tempering of this steel at temperatures of 400 to 580°C should be avoided due to low impact resistance.

Physical Properties

The key physical properties of annealed grade 416 stainless steels are tabulated below:

Table 3 - Physical properties of annealed grade 416 stainless steel

Grade Specification Comparison

The following table outlines the grade comparisons for 416 stainless steels:

Table 4 - Grade specifications for grade 416 stainless steels