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Composition and Properties
The best way to differentiate between brass and stainless steel is to know their composition. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, while steel is an alloy of iron, carbon, and chromium. Just by their base metal, you can easily tell which has suitable properties for particular applications. For instance, in terms of corrosion resistance, iron pales in comparison to copper. In fact, iron is the metal that makes ferrous metals rust fast.
Simply put, brass is generally more corrosion-resistant than stainless steel. While the addition of chromium to steel makes a whole lot of difference to its ability to resist rust, it is still susceptible to corrosion at some degree.
When it comes to electrical and thermal conductivity, brass outmatches stainless steel by fifteen times. It also has a higher thermal expansion coefficient, which makes it perfect for applications that involve extremely high temperatures, including furnaces and engines.
In terms of manufacturing cost, there’s no significant difference between brass and steel, although steel is much more difficult to machine than brass. Brass, after all, is well-known for its machinability, which is why it is the metal of choice for applications that require small, precise metal pieces, so steel doesn’t stand a chance.
Stainless steel, on the contrary, has a higher resistance to petroleum products and many acids than brass, and it can be passivated in either citric or nitric acid solutions. Some grades of stainless steel are also superior to brass in more-aggressive marine environments such as fast-moving currents.
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Brass may be a better choice for our needs esp if its also cheaper