A Brief History
On August 13, 1913, Harry Brearley began production of stainless steel in Britain. A form of low carbon, high chromium (10.5% minimum, sometimes as much as 27%) steel, this wonderful stuff makes modern technology possible. Metallurgists had discovered the addition of chromium to steel increased the resistance to corrosion of the metal long before, and an American, Elwood Haynes, had applied for a patent to process and produce stainless steel in 1912.
Digging Deeper
Even before both of these groundbreaking metallurgists others had made serious contributions to the development of stainless steel, including Pierre Berthier of France who in 1821 demonstrated the rust resistant property of such steel, although at that time the product was not suitable for general use due to brittleness.
German metallurgist Hans Goldschmidt perfected a process to produce chromium needed for stainless steel in the late 19th Century and soon afterwards several scientists developed what could be considered more or less modern stainless steel. In 1912 a couple of engineers at Krupp in Germany patented their brand of stainless steel, a product they called Nirosta. The floodgates were now open for steel makers to find various uses for this new commercial product. By 1929, in the US alone 25,000 tons of the stuff was produced just that year.
Obvious choices for the application of stainless steel such as cutlery, gun barrels, surgical instruments, high acid and high salt environments were readily apparent, and later applications such as aerospace, dentistry, marine and automobiles were dependent on this product. The late DeLorean cars had stainless steel bodies.
Besides chromium, nickel and manganese are often added to stainless steel in varying quantities to achieve certain properties. The rust resistance comes from the chromium forming a layer of chromium oxide on the outside of the stainless steel, which protects it from further oxidation (corrosion). Regular carbon steel develops a layer of iron oxide (rust), which flakes and accelerates the corrosion of the metal. Interestingly, stainless steel is nearly non-magnetic, which makes it valuable for certain applications.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: So, with all the products made of stainless steel, which are your favorites? What stainless steel item could you not live without? Are you old enough to remember the time before razor blades were stainless steel? (Introduced 1962.)
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please read:
Cobb, Harold M. The History of Stainless Steel. ASM International, 2010.
