What is the Stainless Steel 1.0 Era?

The Stainless Steel 1.0 Era is the embryonic stage, which lasted for more than half a century from the late 19th century to the early 1950s. The main achievements of the embryonic stage of stainless steel include: the discovery of chromium, the discovery of the principle of stainless steel chromium passivation film, the invention and naming of commercial stainless steel, the construction of stainless steel metallurgical classification system, and the attempt and breakthrough of stainless steel application. In the embryonic stage of stainless steel, innovative metallurgists and entrepreneurs played a leading role.

Chromium is the decisive element for alloy steel to become stainless steel. In 1797, French chemist Louis Nicholas Vauquelin discovered chromium oxide in red lead ore from Siberia, and in 1798 he separated a new metal - chromium. In 1908, Philip Monnartz of Germany published a paper in the journal Metallurgy, using the term "passivation" for the first time, pointing out the importance of 12% chromium content, and explaining the scientific principle of why stainless steel is "stainless".

 The discovery and naming of commercial stainless steel is generally believed to be completed by the British Harry Brearley. Harry Brearley was born in Sheffield, the metallurgical capital of the UK, and was a chemist at Firth, an important local steel company. On August 20, 1913, Harry Bearley organized the production of a furnace of stainless steel with a chromium content of 12.8% and a carbon content of 0.24%. This was the first real commercial production of stainless steel. In June 1914, Harry Brearley met Stuart, a knife merchant, by chance and tried to produce a cheese knife. Stuart first used the term "stainless steel" which was widely used later. Firth Steel also used the same name in an advertisement in 1915.

In the era of stainless steel 1.0, since the smelting technology was concentrated in the hands of early inventors and the earliest steel mills engaged in stainless steel production, and was strictly protected by patent laws, stainless steel production was mainly concentrated in the three stainless steel birthplaces of the UK, Germany and the US. Harry Brearley from Sheffield, the UK, invented martensitic stainless steel (knife steel), which was first produced by Firth Steel. Benno Strauss and Eduard Maurer from Germany jointly invented chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steel, applied for a patent in 1912, and exhibited related products at the Malmö Exhibition in Sweden in 1914. Elwood Haynes from Como, Indiana, the US, obtained a patent for martensitic stainless steel in 1919, and two other American scientists, Frederick M. Becket and Christian Dantsizen, are considered the inventors of commercial ferritic stainless steel. In order to resolve the cross-over and disputes of stainless steel patents, Harry Brearley, Elwood Haynes and Firth Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Carpenter Steel, Crucible Steel, and Midvale Steel established a patent holding company, the United States Steel Company, in Pittsburgh, USA in 1918 to manage the authorized use of stainless steel patents and charge 20% of the patent royalties to the steel mills.

Stainless steel was once one of the most difficult alloys to smelt and refine. The overall production cost of alloy element smelting in the embryonic stage of stainless steel was high, and its price was 15 times that of ordinary steel. Therefore, in the early days, stainless steel was mainly used to produce the most exquisite and durable civilian products, or special equipment and products that required special properties (such as aircraft engine exhaust valves). Patent protection and high smelting costs led to the global stainless steel production exceeding 1 million tons in 1950.

Before 1930, there were only three types of stainless steel: martensite, austenite, and ferrite. Later, in order to solve the problems of intergranular corrosion and stress corrosion of austenitic stainless steel, metallurgists at Avesta Ironworks in Sweden invented duplex stainless steel with both ferrite and austenite microstructures. This stainless steel gradually became popular after the 1970s as the stainless steel refining process was improved. In the 1940s, in order to improve the strength of stainless steel, steel companies in Luxembourg and the United States developed precipitation hardening stainless steel by adding alloying elements such as molybdenum, titanium, and tungsten to martensite and austenite stainless steel.

In the early application stage of stainless steel, some adventurous entrepreneurs played a leading role. Walter Percy Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Automobile Company, organized the construction of the world's tallest building, the Chrysler Building, from 1928 to 1930, using Krupp's V2A alloy, which contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The steel structure crown of the Chrysler Building is covered with 4,500 nickel-containing stainless steel plates, with a total weight of 27 tons. More than 100 years later, the stainless steel crown of the Chrysler Building has withstood the erosion of wind, rain, smoke and dust. In the manufacturing field, Edward Gowan Budd, founder of Budd Manufacturing Company, developed the manufacture and application of stainless steel in train carriages, car bodies, aircraft, truck trailers and other important products. In May 1934, Budd Manufacturing Company delivered the "Burlington Breeze" with a stainless steel body to the Chicago Burlington Quincy Railway Company, ushering in the era of stainless steel train bodies, making trains safer and fireproof, lighter, stronger, less maintenance and repair, lower operating costs, more comfortable and faster. Later, Bader expanded the application concept of stainless steel to more vehicles.

In the era of stainless steel 1.0, austenitic stainless steel containing 18% chromium and 8% nickel was the most popular grade, because nickel-containing austenitic stainless steel is easier to smelt, process, and weld, and has corrosion resistance in most environments.