Stainless steel

Abstract

March 3, 1990, marked the 75th anniversary of the first stainless-steel ingot cast in America. The place was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Stainless steel - a type 420, hardenable, martensitic Fe-Cr-C alloy - was invented by the Englishman Harry Brearley, the date of record being June 4, 1912. The first commercial cast was made in Sheffield, England, on Aug. 20 of the following year. Part of the ingot was later fabricated into 'rustless' table cutlery blades. In 1916, Brearley was granted a U.S. patent, no application having been made in Britain. The story of this visionary man and his landmark invention is told by British Steel Stainless, today's successor to the steelmaking laboratory and firms where Brearley's pioneering work was done.