Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels

Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels - Contemporary stainless steel unisphere sculpture located near modern skyscrapers against Trump tower on street in New York city on Manhattan

Over the years I have acquired several grades and sizes of (straight-sided) stainless steel storage containers - some from India and some from US (origin unknown). My expectation had always been that these containers would endure, however, several have not. The symptom is always the development of a vertical crack in the side of the container. Those with lids tend to crack near the top edge and over the excess band running around the perimeter upon which the lid lip would rest when set upon the container. The net with these is an un-rounding of the shape of the container and a cumbersome fit for the lid. Most recently I found a prominent crack in another container. This one with a rolled lip and no lid, and normally used to store utensils on the counter top. It had no defects before I used it to brew yogurt and then store in the refrigerator.
Its' crack developed also vertically along the sidewall near it's upper third but well below the lip. The others may too have spent time in the 'fridge, or otherwise exposed to cold, and or acid - eg salty pickle juice.

Now, while disappointing I'd like to avoid future failures and narrow the source of the problem down to quality, handling, or simply expectations.

Any solid knowledge or matched experiences welcomed.



Best Answer

Stainless steel, as you would know, is an alloy with more than 80 percent iron, with chromium and nickel being the other components. Chromium brings shine and nickel brings elasticity to stainless steel.

Nickel is a costly alloy, it costs 20 times iron - and hence most low-grade stainless steel is made from zero to 2 percent nickel, when it should ideally be 8 percent for a good grade.

When buying stainless steel you can see the grades are marked on it. A mark of 18/8 (18 parts of chromium and 8 parts of nickel) is considered a good grade which will normally not crack.

I hope I was of help




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Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels - Side view of crop anonymous male athlete preparing to lift barbell with stainless steel bar and plastic collar in daylight
Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels - From above of stainless steel scoop with crashed eggshells placed on wooden table in kitchen in daylight
Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels - Crop hipster sportsman preparing barbell before exercising on street



Why do stainless steel vessels crack?

Stainless steel articles made by extrusion & deep drawing will have internal stresses in the formed articles. If these articles are not subjected to a stress relief annealing cycle, the internal stresses in the stainless steel utensils will render them to crack in course of time.

Why do we see vertical cracks in some stainless steel vessels?

We are using stainless steel vessels for long time. But most of the times the vessels made by the stainless steel material are get cracked on its edges. I guessed this would happen due to the coherence of its natural frequency by the environment.



TFS: Stainless Crack Repair




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Charles Parker, Anete Lusina, Katerina Holmes, Anete Lusina