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Physical Identification of SS 304 vs. EN series materials

I have many times faced difficulty in identifying the material in the inspection whether the material is EN 8 or ss 304. Is there any magnetic or any other simple non destructive test for the identification.

Deepthi Anantham
employee - India
June 11, 2011

Hi, Deepthi.

EN simply means "European Numbering" (Literally, it's an acronym for "Europaischen Normen" or European Standard). EN-8 is a medium carbon steel and would be ferromagnetic, whereas 3xx series stainless steels are not strongly attracted by a magnet (they may be weakly ferromagnetic from cold working).

Of course, there is obviously no guarantee that a given piece of magnetic steel is EN-8, or that a given piece of non-magnetic steel is SS 304 unless you know that these are the only two possible choices :-)

Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 16, 2011

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