A practical guide to chloride exposure, welding and stainless steel selection
The phrase 'marine-grade stainless steel' makes 316L sound more invincible than it is. It is a useful shorthand: compared with 304L, 316L stainless steel offers better resistance to chloride-driven pitting and crevice corrosion because it contains molybdenum. That is why it appears in coastal architecture, boat hardware, food plants, pharmaceutical equipment and chemical-processing components.