Important technical terms

Inclusion
During solidification of the liquid steel, non-metallic particles, like e.g. slag residues, ceramic furnace lining particles, deoxidization products, etc. can be included and prevented from elevation. Predominantly, these are oxides or sulfides. Inclusions can segregate, i.e. they are irregularly spread in the steel. In the forming process they are stretched to streaks and cause stability differences longitudinal and transverse to the direction of rolling. Inclusions (e.g.: titanium) in the tube surface disturb the surface finishing.

Incoterms
The Incoterms contain uniform regulations of essential buyer and seller obligations for the most important delivery contracts common in international trade. With the application of the Incoterms (International Commercial Terms), the contractual parties achieve an internationally uniform interpretation of certain obligations of buyer and seller. Independent of the industrial sector and cross-border, the required activities for the execution of an international sales contract are divided between buyer and seller according to the selected clause. This contractual regulation is necessary, because the laws of the various countries contain a comprehensive regulation in the least cases only and, above all, they differ substantially from country to country.

Ink Jet
Ink-jet printers are used for marking stainless steel products.

Inspection certificate
In the inspection certificate, experts, who are independent of the production in the manufacturing or processing plant, confirm with numerical results from tests of the delivery itself or of the test units stated in standards, of which the delivery is one part that the delivered product corresponds to the agreements for the order. There is a distinction between:

• Inspection certificate A
  According to official regulations, issued by an official or officially accepted expert.
• Inspection certificate B
  According to terms of delivery of the customer or, in case provided, according to official regulations, issued by an expert appointed by the plant (factory expert). The required tests have to be executed by a test authority, which is independent of the production of the manufacturing or processing plant and disposes of the required equipment.
• Inspection certificate C
  According to the terms of delivery of the customer, issued by an expert authorized by the customer.

Inspection report
Inspection certificates A or C, which due to a special agreement are signed by an official or officially accepted expert or an expert authorized by the customer as well as by a factory expert, are called inspection reports.

Instrumentation tube
This term means seamless stainless steel tubes with an outside diameter smaller than 25 mm, which correspond the following standards: DIN 2462, DIN 2391, ASTM A269, ASTM A450, ISO 1127.

Inter-crystalline corrosion
Grain disintegration, which can occur for non-corrosive steel in a critical temperature range (400 to 800 °C). Due to temperature increase (by welding, thermal treatment, etc.), chromium carbides or nitrides precipitate on the grain boundaries. The matrix becomes depleted in chromium and the corrosion resistance is lost. Finally, the crystal structure is destroyed. Inter-crystalline corrosion can be governed by adding stabilizing elements like Ti or Ta/Nb by alloying. Even better is the decrease of the carbon content.

ISO 9000/9001/9002/9003/9004

• (DIN) ISO 9000: contains instructions for the selection and application of the various quality management standards.
  
• (DIN) ISO 9001, 9002, 9003: contain 3 models for the presentation of quality assurance with requirements, which e.g. have to be proved for a certification. DIN ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive verification step and includes, among others, development, production and customer service. DIN ISO 9002 describes structured layout, procedures and documentation in a company, which beside an independent construction has each detail step of a company structure.
  
• (DIN) ISO 9004: contains a description of the most important elements of a quality management system and gives recommendations for its structure.

Item number
The item number is a 15-digit figure, which describes each product manufactured by SBER with regard to product type (tube, hollow steel, blank), production (cold or hot manufactured, new or stock production), dimension (outside diameter, inner diameter or wall thickness), material, etc.