EN 10088-2 — Stainless steels. Part 2: Technical delivery conditions for sheet/plate and strip of corrosion resisting steels for general purposes
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Scope
Flat products (hot- and cold-rolled sheet, plate, strip) of ferritic, martensitic, precipitation-hardening, austenitic and duplex stainless steels: 1.4016, 1.4301, 1.4307, 1.4401, 1.4404, 1.4571, 1.4462, 1.4542 and about 80 others. Gives chemistry, mechanical properties by product form and thickness, work-hardened conditions (+C), surface finishes (1D, 2B, 2R, 2G…) and corrosion-test requirements. Part 1 lists all grades; Part 3 covers bar, rod, wire and sections; EN 10028-7 covers pressure purposes.
Grades covered by EN 10088-2
| Grade | No. | Type | C % | Yield MPa | Tensile MPa | Nearest equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4301 | 1.4301 | Austenitic Cr-Ni stainless steel | ≤ 0.07 | ≥ 230 | 540–750 | 304, 304L, SUS304 |
| 1.4404 | 1.4404 | Austenitic Cr-Ni-Mo stainless steel, low carbon | ≤ 0.03 | ≥ 240 | 530–680 | 316L, 316, SUS316L |
| 1.4462 | 1.4462 | Ferritic-austenitic (duplex) stainless steel | ≤ 0.03 | ≥ 500 | 700–950 | 2205 (S32205), S31803, F51 / F60 |
| 1.4571 | 1.4571 | Austenitic Cr-Ni-Mo stainless steel, titanium-stabilized | ≤ 0.08 | ≥ 240 | 540–690 | 316Ti, 316L, SUS316Ti |
Revision history and superseded standards
| Year | Change |
|---|---|
| 1995 | EN 10088 series first published (replacing DIN 17440, BS 1449-2 …) |
| 2005 | EN 10088-2:2005 — revised grade list and finishes |
| 2014 | EN 10088-2:2014 — current; lean duplex and new ferritic grades added |
Supersedes: DIN 17440:1996; BS 1449-2; NF A 35-573; EN 10088-2:2005.
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The full text is copyrighted by CEN and is not reproduced here. Purchase the current edition from CEN or your national standards body. The values on this site are the normative limits as published; the standard's own tables, notes and test methods govern.
Related standards
The number is the identity, the name is the description
EN 10088 identifies every stainless steel twice. The material number — 1.4301, 1.4401, 1.4404, 1.4462 — is unique and permanent. The symbolic name — X5CrNi18-10, X2CrNiMo17-12-2 — describes the composition: X marks a high-alloy steel, the number after it is carbon in hundredths of a per cent, then the alloying elements in descending order with their approximate percentages.
Both appear on a certificate and they carry different information. X2CrNiMo17-12-2 tells a metallurgist the alloy at a glance; 1.4404 tells a buyer exactly which entry in the standard is meant, with no room for a near-miss. The second digit pair of the number is the group: 40–45 are stainless, 46–49 heat-resisting and high-temperature, 20–28 tool steels.
Part 2 is flat products only
EN 10088 is a family and the parts are not interchangeable. Part 1 is the list of grades with chemical composition and physical properties — and nothing mechanical. Part 2 covers sheet, plate and strip for general purposes and is where the mechanical minimums for flat product live. Part 3 covers bar, rod, wire, sections and bright products, with its own — lower — mechanical table for the same alloys.
That difference is real money. 1.4301 guarantees 230 MPa proof stress as cold-rolled strip under part 2 and 190 MPa as bar under part 3, because the product routes and section sizes differ. Quoting a part 2 figure for a machined bar overstates the material.
Condition and surface are part of the order
A stainless flat product is defined by three things beyond the grade: the delivery condition, the surface finish and the thickness tolerance standard.
The usual condition is +AT, solution annealed and quenched — the state in which austenitic grades are corrosion-resistant and non-magnetic. Work-hardened strip conditions (+C700, +C850, +C1000) are available and behave differently in every respect.
Surface finishes are designated by a number and a letter: 1D hot-rolled, annealed and pickled; 2B cold-rolled, annealed, pickled and skin-passed — the commercial default; 2R (BA) bright annealed; No. 4 brushed. They are not cosmetic categories. 2B and 2R differ in corrosion behaviour as well as appearance, because the pickled surface and the bright-annealed surface carry different passive layers.
1.4301 = X5CrNi18-10 = 304; 1.4404 = X2CrNiMo17-12-2 = 316L.
Part 2 flat, part 3 long — different mechanical minimums for the same alloy.
+AT is the corrosion-resistant condition; cold-worked tempers are not equivalent.
Finish designation belongs on the order; 2B is the commercial default.
faq.h
What does 1.4301 mean?
It is the EN 10027-2 material number for X5CrNi18-10, the 18/8 austenitic stainless known internationally as 304. The leading 1 marks steel, 43 places it in the stainless group with at least 2.5 % nickel and no molybdenum, and the last two digits are a sequential entry number.
What is the difference between EN 10088-2 and EN 10088-3?
Product form. Part 2 covers sheet, plate and strip; part 3 covers bar, rod, wire and sections. The same alloy has different guaranteed mechanical minimums in each, because the production route and section size differ — 1.4301 is 230 MPa as cold-rolled strip and 190 MPa as bar.
Is 1.4301 the same as 304?
In practice yes, and coil is routinely dual-certified. EN caps carbon at 0.07 % and sulphur at 0.015 % where ASTM A240 allows 0.08 % and 0.030 %, so 1.4301 material always satisfies 304 while the reverse needs checking on the certificate.
What does the 2B surface finish mean?
Cold-rolled, annealed, pickled and given a light skin pass — the commercial default for stainless sheet. 2R (bright annealed) is smoother and brighter with a different passive layer; No. 4 is a directional brushed finish; 1D is hot-rolled, annealed and pickled for plate.
Why does my 1.4301 part attract a magnet?
Cold work. Annealed austenitic stainless is essentially non-magnetic, but bending, deep drawing and machining transform some austenite into martensite and produce a weak magnetic response. It is normal and is not evidence of the wrong grade.