The History of Stainless Steel

The history of stainless steel has always been a subject of great interest. The material was first produced in the 1800s as a result of research by scientists such as Stodart, Faraday and Pierre Berthier. They observed that iron-chromium alloys were resistant to acid. However, because the chromium content of the steel was low, it did not offer the desired resistance to rust. As a result, the materials of that era were plagued by problems, and rusting continued to occur.

Scientists kept working on the problem and finally succeeded in giving iron a stainless property, obtaining a patent in 1872. The British scientists Woods and Clark played a major role in this achievement and are credited with making steel stainless. However, the stainless property they achieved was effective only against acid and rainwater.

Work then intensified on making steel fully rust-proof. This research was carried out by the French scientist Brustlein, who studied carbon and chromium. After many years of tests and research, he concluded that both chromium and carbon were critical for steel, and that for steel to resist rust, its carbon content must not exceed 0.15 percent. These findings still form the basis of the field today.

In the years that followed, the subject attracted the attention of many scientists. After experiments with a variety of compositions, carbon-free stainless steel was produced at the end of the 19th century by Hans Goldschmidt, who carried out serious research on the topic. The steel he produced was also highly effective against rust and corrosion.

Research and development on stainless steel continued into the 20th century. During this period, Harry Brearley succeeded in producing an acid-resistant stainless steel. Although the outbreak of the world war soon afterwards halted progress, duplex (dual-phase) steel was developed after the war, in the 1960s. The development of stainless steel continues to this day.