Nothing is as constant as change: it`s an axiom that seems to apply to most areas of life - except, that is, for pattern-rolled stainless steel surfaces. Here, four finishes have dominated the scene for more than thirty years: Linen, Diamonds, Squares and Leather Grain, with the patterned finish called Linen well ahead of the rest. This state of affairs does not reflect the technical possibilities available today to produce pattern-rolled stainless steel finishes and it imposes an unnecessary limit on the creativity of stainless steel users. That`s why ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH has changed things and now offers six further design finishes for its materials.

The new finishes are called Microchecker, Microlinen, Austenite, Triangles, Waterfall and Haze. Four of them - Microchecker, Microlinen, Haze and Austenite - have been developed for small surfaces, whereas Triangles and Waterfall are suitable for larger applications.

The Microchecker design is based on the teardrop finish familiar from hot-rolled stainless steel strip with its raised elliptical teardrops. Plates of this design are used in industry and commerce mainly for anti-slip floors. In contrast to the coarse and functional hot-rolled version, Microchecker is a delicate pattern on a shining surface with teardrops measuring less than five millimeters in length. This high-class finish triggers industrial associations and is suitable when a high-quality technical impression needs to be conveyed.

Microlinen, as the name suggests, is a scaled-down version of the typical Linen pattern with its closely alternating dots and dashes. The Microlinen pattern is around 50% smaller making for a finer, denser, higher-quality appearance. One particular advantage of this finish is that it loses nothing of its quality and attractive looks when the sheet undergoes heavy forming.

The new Haze finish, which is already being used in the manufacture of stainless steel sinks, is also capable of withstanding heavy forming operations. The dense surface texture is composed of alternating vertical and horizontal raised bars a few tenths of a millimeter in size. Compared with the common finishes used for stainless steel sinks, Haze offers advantages in terms of scratch resistance and easy-clean properties.

Austenite is a very striking pattern based on the concept of turning the steel inside out. The finish is modeled on the microstructure of an austenitic stainless steel. The grain boundaries are represented by slightly raised bars and the different shades of the individual grains by closely spaced grooves hatched into the surface. The Austenite pattern plays with the light to create a dazzling finish. It is suitable for example for producing special design effects on trim strips or switch trim plates.

Triangles is a calm, stylish pattern consisting of juxtaposed equilateral triangles around two millimeters in height. The sides of the triangles are represented by bars while the faces are recessed. Triangles is suitable for large applications, for example in elevators, escalator paneling or construction elements.

Waterfall has also been designed for large applications and creates an impression of many small water droplets running down into a smooth surface. The texture is deeply embossed and therefore insensitive to fingerprints. Because of its nondirectional reflection properties it offers the same attractive appearance from every perspective.

ThyssenKrupp Nirosta supplies these design finishes as standard on strip and sheet made of materials NIROSTA® 4016, 4301 and 4401. Other grades can be supplied on request. The new finishes are produced in the Benrath and Dillenburg plants of ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH. The Benrath plant is responsible for the ferritic grades while austenitic steels are processed in Dillenburg. In both plants, the stainless steel strip obtains its special finish by an additional cold rolling operation carried out after bright annealing in which the upper work roll of the cold rolling stand is replaced by a patterned roll. The strip is subsequently re-annealed.

Contact:

Dietmar Stamm
Phone: +49 203 / 52 - 2 62 67
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
E-mail: dietmar.stamm@tks.thyssenkrupp.com

Bernd Overmaat
Phone: +49 203 / 52 - 4 51 85
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
E-mail: bernd.overmaat@tks.thyssenkrupp.com