Stainless steel flat products producer Columbus Stainless received the first order in February to supply coils and sheets for the first 20 passenger train sets that form part of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) passenger coach replacement project.

“The bulk of the coils and sheets, supplied in May and June, were type 301, with a small percentage being type 304L coils and sheets,” Columbus Stainless CEO Dave Martin tells Engineering News.

These first passenger train sets are being built at French transport company Alstom’s coach-building facility, in Brazil, after which they will be manufactured in South Africa The coaches will be supplied in 2015 and form part of PRASA’s R51-billion deal to acquire 600 new trains from rail consortium Gibela.

Range Expansion
Columbus Stainless recently expanded its range of 3CR12 utility ferritic stainless steel and duplex grades by introducing a new rolled-on linearly textured finish on ferritic grades of stainless steel for food-processing equipment and gas braais.

“The 3CR12 is currently available in thinner gauges, down to 0.5 mm, for applications such as cladding, roofing and trailers, while duplex grades are available in thicker gauges,” Martin says, noting that the company is also supplying gauges as thin as 0.2 mm for flexible couplings for the automotive industry.

He highlights that the 3CR12 grades remain one of Columbus’s most popular grades, adding that there is growing demand for this grade of stainless steel in the two largest applications – coal wagons and bus frames.

“It is used extensively as a structural steel throughout all industries as a low- cost solution to corrosion and corrosion abrasion in wet/sliding conditions in materials handling applications,” he says.

The 3CR12 grade is recognised as the original and now the world’s most specified 12% chromium utility ferritic stainless steel. Its key advantages include toughness, which the stainless steel retains at temperatures below freezing point, according to the company’s website.

Stainless Steel Demand Increase
Demand for the 3CR12 grades for applications such as transformer housings for the wind turbines on wind farm projects, roofing and palisade fencing, as well as carriage doors for the PRASA passenger coach replacement project, is also increasing, Martin says.

He reiterates that this grade of stainless steel is a competitively priced material in applications such as the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), and “should be seriously considered, as it offers low maintenance and has a long life cycle”.