While iron has been in use for over 1,000 years, stainless steel is relatively new. The first stainless steel was produced around 100 years ago. In the intervening decades, it has revolutionized the modern world and is found in applications from building to healthcare to transportation.
Harry Brearley invented the first true stainless steel in 1913. He added 12.8% chromium to iron, and produced a metal that he found was resistant to both corrosion and rust. Brearley discovered this metal while looking for a solution to the problem of erosion in the gun barrels of the British army.
Once stainless steel was first developed, improvements came rapidly. By 1919, a patent had been filed on marensitic stainless steel, a forerunner to today’s 410 stainless steel. In 1929, William J. Kroll discovered the process of precipitation-hardening stainless. The first duplex stainless steel was produced in Sweden in 1930.
Soon after stainless steel’s discovery, it was put to work in a wide range of applications. In Sheffield, UK, where the first stainless steel was made, factories began manufacturing surgical tools and cutlery from the material. By 1925, stainless steel tanks were proving their resistance to corrosion by storing nitric acid for industrial applications. In 1926, the first surgical steel implants were used. The first beer to be fermented in stainless steel tanks was brewed in 1928. The material is now standard for the brewing industry.
Throughout the 1920s, a range of nickel and chromium formulations were tested. Different mixes presented different benefits in corrosion resistance, malleability and other qualities. There are now roughly 100 grades of stainless steel commercially available. Stainless steel grades fall into four general groups: martensitic, austentic, duplex and ferritic. Ferritic and martensitic are magnetic while austentic and duplex are not.
Many famous landmarks, such as the sculpture above the entrance of 50 Rockefeller Plaza and Chicago’s Could Gate, get their luster from stainless steel. Stainless steel was put to work in applications that included tidal power plants in the 1960s and flood barriers by the 1980s.
As we look toward future challenges, stainless steel remains an ideal material. Stainless steel is 100% recyclable and can be reprocessed without degradation, which keeps it out of the waste stream. It is highly resistant to corrosion, which means it has a long service life before needing replacement. Together, these qualities can help with the task of reducing carbon emissions and forging more sustainable practices.
We know a lot about stainless steel here at Ocean State Stainless, and not just the nuts and bolts of it, if you'll pardon the expression. Although not everyone shares our enthusiasm for the history of stainless steel, it is in fact a fascinating story that begins in the early 19th century and continues on today, fueled by a never-ending appetite for stronger high-performance materials for applications in the aerospace, medical, energy, and semiconductor industries.
Although Harry Brearley, chief of the research lab run jointly by John Brown & Co. and Thomas Firth & Sons in Great Britain, is generally credited with "inventing" stainless steel in 1913, research on the alloy had been going on in England, France and Germany for almost 100 years before the first patent was issued in 1919. In 1821 a Frenchman called Berthier discovered that when iron was alloyed with chromium it became resistant to some acids. Study and experimentation with this alloy continued over the next fifty years. Finally, in 1875, another Frenchman named Brustlein discovered that a very low level of carbon was important, however it was difficult to obtain. When low carbon ferrochrome became commercially available, improvements in stainless steel alloys really took off.
In 1912, Harry Brearley was looking for an erosion resistant gun barrel material when he began his work on what was a forerunner of today's 420. Those who worked under him went on to develop the common 18-8 (18% Chromium, 8% Nickel) stainless steels that a majority of fasteners are made out of today. The first commercial application of Brearley's work was table cutlery, made by Sheffields. It was not an overnight success. Brearley became known as the man who invented "the knife that would not cut".
Refinements were not far behind, however, and stainless steel (originally dubbed "rustless steel") became the miracle metal of the modern world. The beautiful, high gloss polish that can be achieved on stainless steel made it an attractive material for the Art Deco architectural style of the 1920's and 1930's, which was characterized by a streamlined, modern, almost futuristic look. Perhaps the most famous and beautiful example: the seven stainless steel clad arches at the top of the Chrysler Building in New York City, built in 1930.
So here was a metal that typified the new, modern world of the twentieth century. Its characteristics were corrosion resistance, low maintenance, and relative low cost. It was quickly put to work in many applications, both domestic and military -- everything from surgical scalpels to, quite literally, the kitchen sink. And of course, to assemble these devices made from the new miracle metal, you needed stainless steel fasteners.
But two uniquely twentieth century occurrences – the birth of the aerospace industry and World War II – quickly created an appetite for even stronger, more corrosion resistant materials that would function in high-temperature environments. Metallurgists began experimenting with "super alloys". Three classes of super alloys emerged: cobalt-base, nickel-base, and iron-base. One of the big breakthroughs came with the adaptation of a cobalt alloy, Haynes Stellite 31, for use in aircraft engines. There was also work on adapting Nichrome, a nickel-chromium alloy that had been developed in the first decade of the twentieth century for use as, of all things, toaster wire. This work led to today Inconel's, Monel's (Nickel Copper) and A286.
Although military and aerospace applications have often driven the search for newer, stronger, high-temperature materials, other industries have participated in, and benefitted from, the research. The medical industry, for example, needs special grades of stainless steel fasteners that can be in contact with bone and soft tissue for long periods of time. The semiconductor industry needs fasteners that are non-magnetic and have excellent chemical resistance.
More articles from OSS:
The History of the U.S. Fastener Industry
An Introduction to Superalloys
A Strong Family Tree: An Introduction to the Grades and Types of Stainless Steel
The ABC's of Nuts and Bolts
Glossary
Are you interested in learning more about coil manufacturing industry, how are steel coils processed, strongest sheet metal? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!