Conducting testing on 300 series stainless steel - temperature and bullet test

[Crissa]

My question would be, since stainless steel is so nonconductive,

It's generally considered conductive. Also, materials generally have a time-to-penetrate, and steel is pretty quick.

The faster you expose it to the heat, the less it has time to penetrate.

Just like you sear a steak by exposing it to high heat, while the inside remains rare, you need to use a high heat source evenly to 'sear' the proper color into the metal. And even so, whether you can do this evenly over the surface without melting the inside, well...

Difficult.

-Crissa

Advertisement

 

[Dids]

little tempering color test... anything other than the straw color dosnt seem doable as it just requires was too much heat into the metal, melting anything near or on the other side as well as potentially warping it.

What happens if you polish the blue parts? Does it turn into a beautiful blue mirror?

 

[FutureBoy]

I'm wondering how deep the coloration goes. Like could one slow heat it in an oven and get the blue color all the way through? Then @Dids question of polishing to a mirror would be really interesting. And I would wonder about cutting and bending. Does the act of cutting or bending after the blue color is set and the metal has cooled cause any further discoloration? I'm guessing that welding would certainly cause discoloration.

Oh boy, if the color is permeated through the sheet suddenly the polish to a mirror would look so much better to me than the straight shiny no color option.

 

[Newton]

i have a mirrored piece too, my oven goes up to 500 (according to the dial) maybe ill trhow it in max temp too see what happens.
problem is, the only way i know to get rid of the surface color would be abrasive which would obviously ruin the mirror.

i tried just blasting it with super high heat to try to get the color without having the heat go deeper, but it wouldnt really work until it penetrates and heats the whole area.

 

[Newton]

What happens if you polish the blue parts? Does it turn into a beautiful blue mirror?

i dont have polishing stuff, i do have some 2000 sand paper though maybe ill get it a try, my guess is it would just remove the color a bit

 

[FullyGrounded]

It's generally considered conductive. Also, materials generally have a time-to-penetrate, and steel is pretty quick.

The faster you expose it to the heat, the less it has time to penetrate.

Just like you sear a steak by exposing it to high heat, while the inside remains rare, you need to use a high heat source evenly to 'sear' the proper color into the metal. And even so, whether you can do this evenly over the surface without melting the inside, well...

Difficult.

-Crissa

No clue... some say this, others say that. I guess, we could get 3mm of stainless, heat it to 120 (generally the max heat of any day), and see what effect there is on the other side. I just don't think much heat will come through. Now, if it was copper. peace

 

[Newton]

No clue... some say this, others say that. I guess, we could get 3mm of stainless, heat it to 120 (generally the max heat of any day), and see what effect there is on the other side. I just don't think much heat will come through. Now, if it was copper. peace

i think your vastly misunderstanding the conductivity of stainless.
we can see stainless is about 16 and regular steel is 43, so roughly 3 times less.
so basically it just takes 3 times as long for the heat to get through for something of the same thickness. (if i understand it correctly)

after having pieces in the sun for not very long, the entire piece is heated the same temp through. perhaps the 1 hour until it soaks through, with a torch on it, withen seconds it gets as hot on the other side

 

[Crissa]

Conductivity is a function of it acting like a heat pipe, not how long it takes heat to get through the thickness: In fact, something that doesn't conduct is more likely to heat through than conduct along because the heat can't escape. The better the conductor, the more of the object heats up.

That's why we can do welding with electrodes.

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

Conductivity is a function of it acting like a heat pipe, not how long it takes heat to get through the thickness: In fact, something that doesn't conduct is more likely to heat through than conduct along because the heat can't escape. The better the conductor, the more of the object heats up.

That's why we can do welding with electrodes.

-Crissa

This seems to be a different way of saying the same thing.
We use aluminum as heatsinks, The highly conductive metal absorbs the heat quickly and also can remove the heat quickly.
While a granite rock would take long to absorb the heat and a long time to release the heat, thus allowing more to stay in the rock.

This is why I did the original stainless tests i thought the CT exterior would get overall hotter on a sunny hot day, then a regular car.
My Mechanical Engineer friend said it should.
But all my tests have shown it maxes about 160f, about the same as a regular car.
Even though its thicker and 3 times less conductive

 

[Crissa]

Being less conducive has little impact on whether it absorbs energy, just whether that energy spreads through it evenly.

So of course it would absorb the same energy from the sun. ^-^

-Crissa

 

[jonny]

What about rusting???...........I live in Corpus Christi, TX and the rust down here is horrible.

the metal is not very magnetic, so that means it should be much resistant to rusting.

 

[jonny]

2and test with better thermometer and thermocouples
Tests takin about 2PM plates been in sun outside all day. mirrored and flat finishes about 77f ambient temp very slight breeze probes taped directly to the steel. Thermometer says +- 1 degree

Flat/brushed: 130.1F on top facing sun.
129.4f on back side

Mirrored: 120.0f on back side.
Not shown but top temp was basically the same.

nearly identical to the 1st test, mirrored finish is 10 degrees cooler thAn the brushed type finish

I was just wondering if you have or could try low-e film. it reflects uv rays and I know the glass has it. I think it can cut temps 60 percent. Thanks for testing and posting results!!!!

 

[Newton]

I was just wondering if you have or could try low-e film. it reflects uv rays and I know the glass has it. I think it can cut temps 60 percent. Thanks for testing and posting results!!!!

That could be interesting, can u link what your thinking?

 

[Crissa]

That could be interesting, can u link what your thinking?

They're probably referring to this kind of stuff?
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=IR+Reflective+Window+Film

There are many types of this coating, though, an Amazon doesn't have the better ones.

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

yea, thats why I asked for a link, I assume these are hit or miss with some being great, while others fail entirely.