Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 1030% chromium .
The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. Other elements, such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, aluminum, niobium, copper, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and selenium, may be added to increase corrosion resistance to specific environments, enhance resistance to oxidation (see oxidation-reduction ), and impart special characteristics.