This is the guides library from Nandini Steel, an ISO 9001:2015 certified stainless, nickel-alloy and pressure-vessel steel supplier in Mumbai since 2003. Practical welding, specifying, calculating and certification how-tos written by our engineering team.
Written and reviewed by our engineering team. Browse the topics below, or send a spec and we will point you to the right grade and standard.
Welding guides: 304, 316, 904L and Incoloy 825
Welding procedure and filler selection change by grade, because each family responds differently to heat input and dilution. How to weld 304 stainless steel covers filler selection, shielding gas and interpass temperature control for general-purpose fabrication. How to weld 304L stainless steel explains why the low-carbon grade keeps the heat-affected zone free of sensitization without a post-weld anneal. How to weld 316 stainless steel sets out matching filler molybdenum content to base-metal pitting resistance, and how to weld 316L stainless steel covers the ER316L filler practice used on pharmaceutical and food-grade welds. How to weld 904L super-austenitic steel explains why 904L needs an over-alloyed ER385 or nickel-base filler rather than a matching filler, and how to weld Incoloy 825 covers ERNiFeCr-1 (FM 65) filler practice and heat input control for the nickel-iron-chromium alloy.
Specifying and buying guides: A516, plate thickness and Incoterms
How to specify A516 for a pressure vessel walks through the grade, normalizing and NACE-HIC options to call out on a plate purchase order, and boiler-quality plate explained clarifies what boiler quality versus pressure-vessel quality actually means on a mill certificate. How to choose plate thickness matches design pressure and corrosion allowance to a practical thickness, while how to import steel from India: Incoterms and documentation covers FOB, CIF and CFR terms and the shipping paperwork a consignment travels with. How to select a stainless grade lays out a decision path from service chlorides and temperature to a specific grade. What is 904L super-austenitic steel and what is Incoloy 825 cover composition and the sour-service and acid-duty cases where each is chosen over 316L or duplex.
Calculators and weight charts
Getting an accurate weight before an order ships matters for freight costing and for checking a mill's packing list against the purchase order. The stainless steel plate weight calculator returns sheet, plate or coil weight instantly once dimensions and grade are entered, and how to calculate steel plate weight walks through the same volume-times-density formula by hand. The stainless steel weight chart gives reference weights by gauge and thickness for 304, 316 and 904L sheet and plate, and the stainless and nickel grade selector tool narrows a grade shortlist from service conditions before weight and cost are calculated.
Certification guides: reading a mill test certificate
How to read a mill test certificate explains the heat number, chemistry, mechanical results and inspection block line by line, and the mill test certificate page sets out what Nandini Steel issues with every order and how it ties back to EN 10204.
Process and finish guides
How to passivate stainless steel covers the acid-dip procedure that restores the passive layer after fabrication, and how to prevent sensitization covers grade selection, interpass temperature control and post-weld treatment options. Sheet vs plate vs coil sets out the thickness and form thresholds that separate the three product forms, stainless steel finishes: 2B, BA and No. 4 covers surface finish options and where each is specified, and PREN and pitting resistance explained is a buyer-facing walkthrough of the same PREN calculation used in grade selection.
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