Stainless Steel Clad Plate
A new way to replace solid stainless — cut raw material cost by 10%–50%.
Two metals, one plate. A corrosion-resistant stainless or nickel-alloy surface is fused onto a carbon or low-alloy steel base, so you buy alloy only in the millimetres that actually come into contact with the process fluid — and ordinary steel everywhere else.
Think of it as a sandwich,
not a coating.
A clad plate is a single piece of steel made of two different metals joined across their whole contact surface. The top layer is 1 to 6 mm of stainless steel or nickel alloy. The rest — the structural part — is carbon or low-alloy steel.
Because the two metals are fused together under extreme pressure or heat, the boundary between them is a real metal bond, not glue and not a mechanical fit. The plate bends as one piece. It welds as one piece. It does not come apart.
Section through a single-sided clad plate
Clad on one side, or on both?
One plate, two ways to lay it up. Which one you need is decided by a single question: how many sides meet the corrosive medium?
| Dimension | Single-sided | Double-sided |
|---|---|---|
| Lay-up | Stainless on the side that meets the corrosive medium; carbon steel behind. | Stainless on both sides, low-cost core layer between. |
| Most economical when | Only one side is exposed to the corrosive medium. | Both sides are exposed to the corrosive medium, or both sides are visible and must look good. |
| Cladding ratio | Up to 1:3 | 1 : 8 : 1 on a non-carbon core; cold-rolled 0.8–3 mm for decorative work |
| Core material | Carbon steel — the base plate itself. | Carbon steel as standard; swappable for an economy stainless. |
| Typical applications | Tanks · vessels · columns · piping | Elevator cars · door frames · façades · food equipment |
| Flatness after welding | — | Symmetric lay-up — less bowing and distortion. |
| Boundary to know | Only one corrosion-resistant side. | A 201 core is not rated for pressure — architectural and decorative service only. |
With identical cladding on both sides, thermal expansion and contraction act evenly through the section: large decorative panels stay flat instead of bowing, and heavily welded assemblies distort far less. What sits in the middle only carries load, so it is specified for strength and cost, never for the medium.
Two ways to bond the two metals
Both routes end in the same thing: a metallurgical bond that will not peel, however the plate is later formed or welded. Which one you order comes down to thickness and plate size.
| Dimension | Explosion bonding | Hot-roll bonding |
|---|---|---|
| How it bonds | A controlled detonation drives the stainless plate onto the carbon steel at several kilometres per second; the impact welds a wave-shaped, atomic-level bond without melting either bulk. | The two plates are stacked, vacuum-sealed and rolled hot; pressure and atomic diffusion fuse the entire interface. |
| Bonding rate | GB/T 8165-2025 — Grade I 100% · II ≥99% · III ≥95% | Normally 100% across the interface |
| Total thickness | 8 – 300 mm | 0.8 – 12 mm |
| Material combinations | Unlimited — titanium, copper, aluminium, nickel alloys, zirconium, tantalum, niobium. | Stainless or nickel-base on carbon or low-alloy steel. |
| Best for | Heavy plate, typically over 50 mm, and one-off fabrications. | Wide plate and coil, continuous production. |
| What you gain | Higher shear strength, unlimited metal pairs. | Larger plate, better flatness, shorter lead time. |
Choose explosion bonding when the alloy is expensive, the plate is thick, or the metal pair is unusual. Choose hot-roll bonding when you need wide plate or coil in a standard stainless-on-carbon build. If the service is unclear, send us the fluid and the thickness and we will tell you which route actually works.
Stainless is what we sell most.
It is not what we are limited to.
Explosion welding joins metals that cannot be welded, cast or rolled together — titanium, copper, aluminium, nickel alloys, zirconium, tantalum and niobium onto carbon or low-alloy steel. Tell us the medium, the temperature and the thickness, and we will tell you which pair and which process actually works.
| Metal pair | Cladding steel grades | Process | Cladding thickness | Shear strength (standard min.) | Max service temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stainless & duplex steel – steel | 304 / 304L / 316L / 321 / 2205 / 2507 / 904L | Roll-bonded or explosion-welded | 0.1 – 15 mm | ≥250 MPa (GB/T 8165-2025 Class 1–2) · ≥140 MPa (ASTM A264) | Per base metal; assess σ-phase above 450 °C |
| Titanium – steel | TA1 / TA2 / TA9 / TA10 (Gr1, Gr2, Gr7, Gr12) | Explosion-welded (main route) | 0.3 – 15 mm | ≥196 MPa (Class 0) · ≥140 MPa (Class 1–2) — GB/T 8547-2019 | ≤350 °C — GB/T 4732.2 |
| Titanium – stainless steel | TA1 / TA2 / TA9 (Gr1, Gr2) | Explosion-welded | 1 – 10 mm | Per GB/T 8546-2017 | ≤350 °C |
| Copper & copper alloy – steel | T2 / TP2 / TU1 / B10 / B30 / H62 / H68 | Explosion-welded or roll-bonded | 0.5 – 20 mm (common 1–5) | ≥100 MPa (GB/T 13238, NB/T 47002.4) · ≥84 MPa (ASTM B432) | ≤200 °C — GB/T 4732.2 |
| Aluminium – steel (Al–Al–steel STJ) | 1060 / 1050 / 3A21 / 3003 / 5083 / 6061 + pure-Al interlayer | Explosion-welded | 1 – 20 mm (cladding 2–10) | Per project specification — process-dependent | <300 °C |
| Aluminium – titanium – steel (STJ) | 3A21 / 5083 + TA2 2 mm + hull steel ≥12 mm | Explosion-welded | ≥24 mm total | Per CB 1343-1998 | ≤450 °C |
| Nickel & nickel-base alloy – steel | N6 / N02200 / N04400 / N06600 / N06625 / N08825 / N10276 | Explosion-welded or roll-bonded | 2 – 10 mm (common 2–6) | ≥210 MPa (NB/T 47002.2) · ≥140 MPa (ASTM A265) | Per base metal; Monel PWHT <620 °C |
| Zirconium – steel | R60702 (Zr702) / R60705 (Zr705) | Explosion-welded | 1 – 10 mm (common 2–5) | Per ASTM B898 — ≥137.9 MPa | ≤300 °C; 185 °C typical in acetic acid |
| Tantalum / niobium – steel | Ta1 / Ta2 (R05200), Nb (R04200) | Explosion-welded | 0.5 – 5 mm | Per ASTM B898 — ≥137.9 MPa | Oxidation above 300 °C |
| Copper – aluminium | Cu T2 / TU1 (C11000) on Al 1060 / 1100 / 6061 / 5083 | Explosion-welded or roll-bonded | Cu 0.5–10 / Al 1–20 mm | Per project specification | ≤200–250 °C |
| Titanium – copper | Ti Gr1 / Gr2 on Cu T1 / T2 / C11000 | Explosion-welded | Ti 0.1–0.3 mm (thin type) up to 1–10 mm | ≥137.9 MPa — ASTM B898 | Application-dependent |
Shear strength is the minimum required by the standard named, not a marketing figure; where the result depends on the bonding process we quote a range from our plant test instead of a single number. Our own cladding capacity is explosion-bonded 8–300 mm and roll-bonded 0.8–12 mm total thickness (base steel plus cladding). Standards and values for the pairs beyond stainless are the ones published by GB/T 8547, GB/T 8546, GB/T 13238, NB/T 47002.2–4, CB 1343, ASTM B432 and ASTM B898.
Properties and specification
* Depending on the cladding steel grade and base steel combination. Alloy 800H and nickel alloys extend the upper limit well beyond this. Shear strength per GB/T 8165-2025: ≥250 MPa for Grades I–II, ≥210 MPa for Grade III.
| Layer | Typical steel grades | Thickness |
|---|---|---|
| Cladding | 304, 304L, 316, 316L, 316Ti, 321, 310S, 904L, 2205, 2507, alloy 825 / 625 / C-276, copper, nickel | 0.5 – 20 mm |
| Base steel | Q235B, Q345B / Q345R, 20R / 20G, A36, A516 Gr.60/70, API 5L X42 – X80, low-alloy Cr-Mo | 8 – 280 mm |
| Cold-rolled thin gauge | 0.8 – 3 mm double-sided decorative clad — elevator cars, door frames, escalator panels, interior cladding. Coil or cut sheet. | 0.8 – 3 mm |
| Configuration | Single-sided; double-sided with a swappable core — carbon steel, economy stainless or other low-cost metal (e.g. 316L + 304 + 316L, 2205 + 201 + 2205, 304 + 201 + 304) | to order |
Cladding ratio: single-sided up to 1:3 (cladding : base). The core of a double-sided plate is swappable: carbon steel as standard, or an economy stainless steel (or another low-cost metal) where the section must never rust. Non-carbon-steel cores run typically 1:8:1 (face : core : face) — the faces are specified for the medium, the core for strength and economy.
Stocked specifications can dispatch the same day — the fastest orders leave the yard the day the contract is signed. Where cutting, leveling or machining is required, delivery follows the actual production schedule. Custom-melt or special steel grade combinations run 30–45 days.
Most of the work we quote is containment or surface work — a vessel, a tank, a panel, a façade — and in those conditions the answer is almost always clad: alloy on the faces where the medium and the eye are, low-cost metal in the middle where only strength is needed. Elevator cars, door frames and escalator panels; desalination and seawater plant; architectural cladding; digesters, absorbers and storage tanks; food and pharmaceutical vessels.
The boundaries are equally clear, and we hold to them. A 201 core stays in dry, indoor, decorative service. Seawater immersion, high-pressure service and any cut edge that stays wet are quoted with a vessel-grade core layer and sealed edges rather than an economy one. Deep-drawn thin-gauge parts and small-bore piping are not plate products at all — we quote those as all-alloy, as thin cold-rolled clad or as clad pipe.
Six reasons projects
switch to clad plate
Clad plate is not a compromise. In most corrosion-resistant services it is simply the better engineering answer — cheaper, stronger and easier to fabricate.
More than a plate — it is a surface too
Because the face is real stainless steel, clad plate can be finished exactly like any stainless sheet — which makes it work as hard architecturally as it does industrially.
Worked like ordinary steel sheet
These are the operations our customers carry out on clad plate every day. None of them requires special machinery — only a little care about which face is which.
Clad plate is welded in three stages. First the carbon steel root and fill weld passes are completed from the steel side. Then a transition layer is applied where the two metals meet. Finally the stainless or nickel-alloy cap weld pass restores the corrosion-resistant surface. A qualified WPS, the right filler metals and a controlled heat input are all it takes — your existing coded welders can do the work. We supply a recommended welding procedure with every order on request.
Specified to the standards
your project already uses
| Standard | Region | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| GB/T 8165-2025 | China | Stainless steel clad plate — grades, bonding rate, shear strength, inspection |
| GB/T 43109 | China | Ship and offshore clad plate — three-layer notation, UT acceptance classes |
| ASTM A263 | USA | Chromium stainless clad steel plate — shear and bend requirements |
| ASTM A264 | USA | Chromium-nickel stainless clad plate — the most widely quoted specification |
| ASTM A265 | USA | Nickel and nickel-base alloy clad steel plate |
| JIS G3601 | Japan | Clad steel plates — the global standard for corrosion resistance |
| SEL 075 / AD 2000-W 8 / EN 1011 | Europe | Clad product, pressure-vessel and welding guidance used across Europe; supports PED documentation |
| ASME SA-263 / SA-264 / SA-265 | USA | ASME Section II equivalent grades for pressure vessel construction |
Tell us which standard your client or end user is working to and the material certificate will be issued against it. Form E / RCEP certificates of origin are available for ASEAN-bound shipments.
Tell us the medium and the pressure.
We will size the plate.
Send us the drawing, the design data or just the application. We will recommend the cladding steel grade, the thickness combination and the standard, calculate the weight and come back with a price.