Stainless steel is used in a multitude of fields including architecture, art, chemical engineering, food and beverage manufacture, vehicles, medicine, energy and firearms.
Architecture
The use of stainless steel in buildings can be both practical and aesthetic. In vogue during the Art Deco period, the most famous use of stainless steel can be seen in the upper portion of the Chrysler Building. Thanks to its durability, many of these buildings have retained their original appearance.
Stainless steel is used in the construction of modern buildings, such as the exterior of the Petronas Twin Towers and the Jin Mao Building. The Parliament House of Australia in Canberra has a stainless steel flagpole weighing over . The largest stainless steel building in North America is the aeration building in the Edmonton Composting Facility. La Geode in Paris has a dome composed of 6433 polished stainless steel triangles that form the sphere that reflects the sky. The development of high-strength stainless steel grades, such as "lean duplex" grades, has led to increasing use in structural applications.
Thanks to its low reflectivity, stainless steel is used as a roofing material for airports, which prevents pilots from being dazzled. It is also used for its ability to keep the surface of the roof close to ambient temperature. Examples of such airports include the Sacramento International Airport in California and the Hamad International Airport in Qatar.
Stainless steel is used for pedestrian and road bridges in the form of tubes, plates, or reinforcing bars. Examples include: the Cala Galdana Bridge in Menorca, the first stainless steel road bridge to be built; the Champlain Bridge in Montreal; the Oudesluijs bridge in Amsterdam, a bridge made using Construction 3D printing; the Padre Arrupe Bridge in Bilbao, which links the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to the University of Deusto. the Sant Fruitos Pedestrian Bridge in Spain; Stonecutter's Bridge, Hong Kong; and The Helix Bridge, a pedestrian bridge in Singapore.
Art and monuments
Americas
Cloud Gate, a sculpture by Anish Kapoor. (Chicago, United States) Gateway Arch (pictured) is clad entirely in stainless steel: 886 tons (804 metric tons) of plate, #3 finish, type 304 stainless steel. (St. Louis, United States) Jaime Latapí López's Cristo de Chiapas. Created in 2007. (Tuxla Guttierez, Mexico) Metamorphosis by David Černỳ. Created in 2011 (Charlotte, United States) Unisphere, constructed as the theme symbol of the 1964 New York World's Fair, is constructed of Type 304L stainless steel as a spherical framework with a diameter of . (New York City, United States) United States Air Force Memorial has an austenitic stainless steel structural skin. (Arlington, United States)
Asia
The Blossom pavilion by Zhan Wang. Created in 2015. (Shanghai, China)
Europe
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman by Vera Mukhina. Created in 1937. (Moscow, Russia) The aluminium cladding of the spheres and tubes of the Atomium was renovated with stainless-steel cladding in 2006. (Brussels, Belgium) Juraj Jánošík monument (Terchova, Slovakia) La Danse de la fontaine émergente by Chen Zhen. Created in 2008. (Paris, France) Man of Steel, currently under construction. (Rotherham, England) The Sibelius Monument is made entirely of stainless steel tubes (Helsinki, Finland) Sun Voyager by Jon Gunnar Arnason, . Created in 1990. (Reykjavik, Iceland) The Big Elk by Linda Bakke. Created in 2015. (Stor-Elvdal, Norway) The Kelpies (Falkirk, Scotland) A Sea of Steel consists of fourteen steel sculptures by different artists. (Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands)
Water
Stainless steels have a long history of application in contact with water due to their excellent corrosion resistance. Applications include a range of conditions including plumbing, potable water and wastewater treatment, desalination, and brine treatment. Types 304 and 316 stainless steels are standard materials of construction in contact with water. However, with increasing chloride contents, higher alloyed stainless steels such as Type 2205 and super austenitic and super duplex stainless steels are used.
Important considerations to achieve optimum corrosion performance are: the correct grade choice for the chloride content of the water; avoidance of crevices when possible by good design; adherence to good fabrication practices, particularly removing weld heat tint; prompt drainage after hydrotesting.
The use of stainless steel piping has helped to reduce the losses of drinking water in Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei.