We detail the key points between the two materials (mild steel or stainless steel) below. Stainless steel is more durable in salty conditions and can be used in the food industry, while mild steel is stronger and can put more pressure on the worm drive

mild steel:
Mild steel, also known as carbon steel, is the most common form of steel in all applications, and hose clamps are no exception. It is also one of the broadest grades of steel covering a wide range of mechanical properties. This means that understanding and specifying the correct grade can have a major impact on the performance of the finished product. For example, the stresses and requirements of steel sheets that form automotive body panels are quite different from those of hose entrainment materials. In fact, the ideal hose clamp material specification is not even the same as the shell and straps.

One disadvantage of mild steel is that it has very low natural corrosion resistance. This can be overcome by applying a coating, most commonly zinc. Differences in coating methods and standards mean that corrosion resistance can be one area where hose clamps vary greatly. The British Standard for hose clamps requires 48 hours of resistance to visible red rust in a 5% neutral salt spray test, and many unmarked kite products fail to meet this requirement.

Stainless steel:
Stainless steel is more complex than mild steel in many ways, especially when it comes to hose clamps, as cost-driven manufacturers commonly use a mix of different material grades to provide a product with lower manufacturing costs and reduced performance.

Many hose clamp manufacturers use ferritic stainless steel as an alternative to mild steel or as a low-cost alternative to austenitic stainless steel. Due to the presence of chromium in the alloy, ferritic steels (used in W2 and W3 grades, in the 400-grade series) do not require any additional processing to improve corrosion resistance. However, the absence or low nickel content of this steel means that its properties are in many ways inferior to austenitic stainless steels.

Austenitic stainless steels have the highest level of corrosion resistance to all forms of corrosion, including acids, have the widest operating temperature range, and are non-magnetic. Generally 304 and 316 grades of stainless steel clips are available; both materials are acceptable for marine use and Lloyd’s Register approval, while ferritic grades cannot. These grades can also be used in the food and beverage industry, where acids such as acetic, citric, malic, lactic and tartaric acids may not allow the use of ferritic steels