Codes and Standards

Design Guide 27, Structural Stainless Steel, provides guidance for the design of structural stainless steel. It is written for engineers experienced in the design of carbon steel structural components but not necessarily in the design of stainless steel structures, and is aligned with the design provisions in the 2010 AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings. It applies to the design of structural hot-rolled or welded open sections such as I-shaped members, channels, and equal-leg angles. It also applies to rectangular and round hollow structural sections (HSS). The guidance provided is applicable to austenitic, duplex and precipitation hardening stainless steel structural sections with thickness 1/8 in. (3 mm) and greater. Major topics covered are material behaviour and selection, cross-section design, member design, connections, and fabrication. Design Examples are also included.

Date: May 2022
Provider: American Institute of Steel Construction

When it comes to design, stainless isn't just another grade of steel. AISC has published Design Guide 27: Structural Stainless Steel to help engineers learn more about the use of this material. This session will compare the mechanical and physical properties of stainless steels with those of structural carbon steels. Attendees will learn how to select an appropriate stainless steel alloy for a specific project, the principles of designing stainless steel members and connections, and the special design rules for stainless steel in the design guide. The session will also cover fire resistant design. Design examples and case studies will be used to demonstrate the differences between designing with structural carbon steel and stainless steel.

Date: March 2014
Provider: American Institute of Steel Construction

This two-part webinar provides an introduction to the design of structural stainless steel and the AISC Design Guide 27: Structural Steel Design.

Part 1, presented by Catherine Houska, includes the following topics:

• Brief history, performance, sustainability and applications for stainless steel as a structural material with references to specific projects
• Families of stainless steel used for structural sections
• Mechanical and physical properties compared to other metals
• Guidance on material selection for a range of environments
• Applicable ASTM specifications and AWS codes

Part 2, presented by Nancy Baddoo, includes the following topics:

• Unique properties of stainless steel that impact both design and fabrication
• Design rules given in AISC Design Guide 27 including how the design rules were derived
• Design of tension members, members in compression, members in flexure and shear, members subject to combined forces, and bolted and welded connections
• Design rules for structural fire resistance with comparison to the existing rules in the AISC Specification for carbon steel.

Date: 2016
Provider: American Institute of Steel Construction

This resource is the German ‘General Technical Approval Z-30.3-6, 20 April 2022, Products connections and components made of stainless steels'. It is also an annex to Dokumentation 862 - Bauprofile aus Edelstahl Rostfrei.

Date: April 2022
Provider: Informationsstelle Edelstahl Rostfrei

This resource provides the design criteria for the determination of strength of stainless steel members and connections used for load carrying purposes in buildings in Australia and New Zealand. Members can be cold formed to shape from annealed and cold rolled sheets, strips, plates or flat bar material. Mechanical properties are given in the annealed condition for austenitic grades (304, 316, 304L and 316L), ferritic grades (409 and 430), duplex grades (EN 1.4462) and the weldable structural steel grade (EN 1.4003). Based on test results of welded connections, an appendix is included which allows the nominal strength of tubular joints in CHS, SHS and RHS to be calculated using the provisions of Annex K of ENV 1993-1-1.

Date: 2001
Provider: Standards Australia

This resource provides guidance on the avoidance of situations in which corrosion may arise from bimetallic contacts between different metals and alloys. It discusses the environmental conditions which may lead to such corrosion and gives advice on its alleviation. Annotated tables give the likely behaviour of various couples in five different environments.

Date: 1979
Provider: British Standards Institution

• Part 1: List of stainless steels.
  Lists the chemical composition, physical properties and some mechanical properties (Young's Modulus, strength at high temperatures) of stainless steels
• Part 2: Technical delivery conditions for sheet/plate and strip of corrosion resisting steels for general purposes.
  Specifies the technical delivery conditions for hot or cold rolled sheet/plate and strip of standard grades and special grades of corrosion resisting stainless steels for general purposes.
• Part 3: Technical delivery conditions for semi-finished products, bars, rods, wire, sections and bright products of corrosion resisting steels for general purposes.
  Specifies the technical delivery conditions for semi-finished products, hot or cold formed bars, rods, wire, sections and bright products of standard grades and special grades of corrosion resisting stainless steels for general purposes.

Date: 2024
Provider: British Standards Institution

The different parts can be downloaded below:

Part 1: List of stainless steels

Part 2: Technical delivery conditions for sheet/plate and strip of corrosion resistant steels for general purposes

Part 3: Technical delivery conditions for semi-finished products, bars, rods, wire, sections and bright products of corrosion resistant steels for general purposes

This standard gives general guidance about the satisfactory production and control of welds in stainless steel. Details concerning the possible detrimental phenomena which can occur are given with advice on methods by which they can be avoided. It gives general recommendations for fusion welding stainless steels. Specific details relevant to austenitic, austenitic-ferritic, ferritic and martenistic stainless steels are given in annexes A to D.

Date: 2018
Provider: British Standards Institution

This document gives the clauses relating to stainless steel structures in EN 1090 Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures. Part 2: Technical requirements for the execution of steel structures with accompanying commentary. Additionally, it provides a set of optional and additional clauses that may be used in drawing up execution specifications for stainless steel structures, in conjunction with EN 1090-2, for individual projects. The clauses represent an industry 'best practice' view of how the general requirements of EN 1090-2 may be modified and supplemented, where permitted by that Standard, to achieve the quality and reliability to be expected for stainless steel structures designed in accordance with the Structural Eurocodes.

Date: February 2014
Provider: Steel Construction Institute

This resource is part of the design standard SABS 0162. It applies to the design, based on limit-states, of structural members of cold-formed stainless steels (austenitic and ferritic type 3CR12) sheet, strip or plate up to 25mm in thickness, intended for load carrying purposes in buildings. Supplementary standards can be used for applications other than buildings.

Date: 1997
Provider: SABS

This resource provides the design criteria for the determination of strength of stainless steel members and connections for use in buildings and other statically loaded structures in the US. It includes the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) method and the allowable stress design (ASD) method. Members can be cold formed to shape from annealed and cold rolled sheets, strips, plates or flat bar material.  Austentic grades (201, 301, 304, 316 and ‘Nitronic 30’) are covered, in the annealed and cold rolled condition. Ferritic grades (409, 430, 439) are also covered in the annealed condition only.

Date: 2002
Provider: American Society of Civil Engineers