Today in History: Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley

New Delhi: On August 13, 1013, an English metallurgist Harry Brearley made history when he mixed 0.24% carbon and 12.8% chromium with steel to create the world's first ever stainless steel. Although Brearley didn't immediately realize what he had created, the resistance of the metal to acids such as vinegar and lemon juice soon pointed him in the right direction.Stainless steel now has around 12% of chromium added.Now a days from battleships to a sewing needle everything is made up of stainless steel.It is in your home in the form of utensils, your kitchen sink, and vacuum cleaner. It is truly a marvel of technology.Brearley had a background in steel. His father was a steel melter and young Harry had followed his father into the industry. Through years of private study and night school he became an expert in the analysis of steel and in 1908, at the age of 37, was given the opportunity to set up the Brown Firth Laboratories for research purposes. It was under this guise that Brearley was given the job of looking at the problem of rifle barrels.He had been asked to help reduce the amount of corrosion occurring when rifles were fired. Combustion, moisture and the gases produced as the weapons discharged all combined to corrode the inside and reduce the efficiency of the guns.In order to meet his target Brearly started finding a steel that would not erode away, he instantly set about combining varying amounts of chromium with steel to fix the problem.Though Brearley is given credit for the invention of stainless steel, French scientist Leon Gillet had documented the constitution of stainless steel in 1904. While Gillet noted the composition and properties of his alloy mix, he never recognized the corrosive resistance of the material.In 1911 Philip Monnartz of Germany published the first detailed work on the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. In 1912, two Germans at the Krupp Iron Works, Eduard Maurer and Benno Strauss, patented the first austenitic stainless steel of a 21% chromium and 7% nickel combination. Brearley patented the first martensitic stainless in 1913.Thus he become the inventor of this multipurpose metal on records.