Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a stainless steel for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell separator, and more particularly, a method for manufacturing a stainless steel for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell separator capable of obtaining low contact resistance and high corrosion resistance by effectively removing a non-conductive coating and forming a new coating. According to an embodiment, the disclosed method for manufacturing a stainless steel for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell separator includes performing alternating current electrolysis by immersing, in a sulfuric acid solution, a stainless steel having a passivation coating formed on a surface thereof by cold rolling and bright annealing, wherein the alternating current electrolysis is performed by applying a current density of 10 to 30 A/dm.sup.2.

A coated steel member includes: a steel sheet substrate containing, as a chemical composition, by mass %, C: 0.25% to 0.65%, Si: 0.10% to 1.00%, Mn: 0.30% 1.00%, P: 0.050% or less, S: 0.0100% or less, N: 0.010% or less, Ti: 0.010% to 0.100%, B: 0.0005% to 0.0100%, Nb: 0.02% to 0.10%, Mo: 0.10% to 1.00%, Cu: 0.15% to 1.00%, and Ni: 0.05% to 0.25%; and a coating formed on a surface of the steel sheet substrate and containing Al and Fe. The maximum Cu content in a range from the surface to a depth of 5.0 μm is 150% or more of the Cu content of the steel sheet substrate.

A coated steel member includes: a steel sheet substrate containing, as a chemical composition, by mass %, C: 0.25% to 0.65%, Si: 0.10% to 1.00%, Mn: 0.30% 1.00%, P: 0.050% or less, S: 0.0100% or less, N: 0.010% or less, Ti: 0.010% to 0.100%, B: 0.0005% to 0.0100%, Nb: 0.02% to 0.10%, Mo: 0.10% to 1.00%, Cu: 0.15% to 1.00%, and Ni: 0.05% to 0.25%; and a coating formed on a surface of the steel sheet substrate and containing Al and Fe. The maximum Cu content in a range from the surface to a depth of 5.0 μm is 150% or more of the Cu content of the steel sheet substrate.

A ferritic stainless steel sheet includes a base metal and a nitrided layer that is formed on a surface of the base metal, a chemical composition of the base metal contains, in mass %, C: 0.001 to 0.020%, Si: 0.01 to 1.50%, Mn: 0.01 to 1.50%, P: 0.010 to 0.050%, S: 0.0001 to 0.010%, Cr: 16.0 to 25.0%, N: 0.001 to 0.030%, Ti: 0.01 to 0.30%, and optional elements, with the balance: Fe and unavoidable impurities, a steel microstructure of the base metal includes, in volume ratio, 95% or more of a ferritic phase, the nitrided layer is a layer that is present in a region from a surface of a rolled surface to a 0.05 μm depth position in a sheet thickness direction, and an average nitrogen concentration in the nitrided layer is, in mass %, 0.80% or more.

A ferritic stainless steel sheet includes a base metal and a nitrided layer that is formed on a surface of the base metal, a chemical composition of the base metal contains, in mass %, C: 0.001 to 0.020%, Si: 0.01 to 1.50%, Mn: 0.01 to 1.50%, P: 0.010 to 0.050%, S: 0.0001 to 0.010%, Cr: 16.0 to 25.0%, N: 0.001 to 0.030%, Ti: 0.01 to 0.30%, and optional elements, with the balance: Fe and unavoidable impurities, a steel microstructure of the base metal includes, in volume ratio, 95% or more of a ferritic phase, the nitrided layer is a layer that is present in a region from a surface of a rolled surface to a 0.05 μm depth position in a sheet thickness direction, and an average nitrogen concentration in the nitrided layer is, in mass %, 0.80% or more.

A steel sheet includes: a predetermined chemical composition; and a steel structure represented by, in area %, first martensite in which two or more iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath: 20% to 95%, ferrite: 15% or less, retained austenite: 15% or less, and the balance: bainite, or second martensite in which less than two iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath, or the both of these, in which the total area fraction of ND//<111> orientation grains and ND//<100> orientation grains is 40% or less, and the content of solid-solution C is 0.44 ppm or more.

A steel sheet includes: a predetermined chemical composition; and a steel structure represented by, in area %, first martensite in which two or more iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath: 20% to 95%, ferrite: 15% or less, retained austenite: 15% or less, and the balance: bainite, or second martensite in which less than two iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath, or the both of these, in which the total area fraction of ND//<111> orientation grains and ND//<100> orientation grains is 40% or less, and the content of solid-solution C is 0.44 ppm or more.

A high-strength steel having excellent low-yield-ratio characteristics, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises, by wt %, 0.06-0.12% of C, 0.2-0.5% of Si, 1.5-2.0% of Mn, 0.003-0.05% of Al, 0.01% or less of N, 0.02% or less of P, 0.003% or less of S, 0.05-0.5% of Cr, 0.05-0.5% of Mo, 0.01-0.05% of Nb, 0.0005-0.005% of Ca and the balance of Fe and other inevitable impurities, and comprises polygonal ferrite as a microstructure, wherein the area fraction of the polygonal ferrite is 10-30% and the average hardness of the polygonal ferrite can be 180 Hv or less.

A high-strength steel having excellent low-yield-ratio characteristics, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises, by wt %, 0.06-0.12% of C, 0.2-0.5% of Si, 1.5-2.0% of Mn, 0.003-0.05% of Al, 0.01% or less of N, 0.02% or less of P, 0.003% or less of S, 0.05-0.5% of Cr, 0.05-0.5% of Mo, 0.01-0.05% of Nb, 0.0005-0.005% of Ca and the balance of Fe and other inevitable impurities, and comprises polygonal ferrite as a microstructure, wherein the area fraction of the polygonal ferrite is 10-30% and the average hardness of the polygonal ferrite can be 180 Hv or less.

This hot-rolled steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, in a microstructure at a 1/4 position of a sheet thickness in a sheet thickness direction from a surface, by area ratios, a primary phase is 95.00% to 98.00% of bainite, a secondary phase is 2.00% to 5.00% of tempered martensite, an average grain size of the secondary phase is 1.5 μm or less, a pole density in a (110)<112> orientation is 3.0 or less, an average grain size of an iron-based carbide is 0.100 μm or less, in a microstructure from the surface to a 1/16 position of the sheet thickness in the sheet thickness direction from the surface, a pole density in a (110)<1-11> orientation is 3.0 or less, and a tensile, strength TS is 980 MPa or more.