Stainless steel.
Like all discoveries, stainless steel was discovered through many different processes and it is hard to pinpoint an exact person or time when it was discovered and it may be easier and more useful to explain that discovering stainless steel was more of a gradual process that happened over time.
As far back as 1820, scientists realised that iron chromium alloys were resistant to certain chemicals but many of the experiments carried out were done so on low chromium content alloy contents .Over time it was realised that there had to be a low carbon content in order to have successful stainless steel
The next two decades were spent experimenting with this concept but very little headway was made and stainless steel didn’t really progress over the following years.
It wasn’t until carbon free chromium was able to be made that stainless steel became a real possibility. This theory was worked on for some years and it wasn’t until 1911 that the full importance of minimum chromium content was really appreciated.
What followed next was continued research into the chromium contents of stainless steel and many people played their part in the research.
Today it is hard to imagine a world with no stainless steel and we don’t have to look very far to see and observe an object that is made from stainless steel. We never really give it much thought as we go about our daily lives, what materials and objects are actually made from and why.
Stainless steel is in the home and is used for cutlery and many other things; we will also find stainless steel in the workplace. Ornamental staircases also use the material stainless steel and many artists work with stainless steel to produce sculptures with different finishes.
There are also many industries that use stainless steel, such as the Navigational industry, food industry and the brewery industry.
Stainless steel is an incredibly versatile material with the ability to resist rust which is what makes it so unique. It is also used in exterior applications for staircases, balustrades and handrails.
Like all discoveries, it can take years to perfect and there are many scientists involved along the way and so therefore it is impossible to nominate one singular person for the discovery of stainless steel. Many countries have claimed to be the first to discover stainless steel but again it is impossible to speculate who actually first discovered it but there is no doubt that it is a unique product.