The invention of stainless steel is hailed as a great achievement in the history of world metallurgy in the 20th century. Research institutions and metallurgists from countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States have made significant contributions to this. Among them, the French L B. Professor Guillet can be regarded as the first person to study stainless steel from the perspectives of metallurgy and mechanics. Some of his research results published in 1904 belonged to alloys of modern martensitic stainless steel and ferritic stainless steel. His research results on iron chromium nickel austenitic alloys published in 1906 showed a chemical composition similar to austenitic stainless steel. The research results published by Philip Monnartz in Germany in 1911 discovered the passivation phenomenon when the chromium content in steel was not less than 12% and the carbon content was controlled, revealing the reason for rust.

The following briefly introduces the inventions of several commercial stainless steel grades that have played a significant role in the development of stainless steel.

The Invention of Martensitic Chromium Stainless Steel - "Father of Stainless Steel" Harry Brearley, 1913

Harry Brearley, a British analytical chemist and metallurgist who served as the first director of the Firth Brown Laboratory jointly established by two steel mills in Sheffield, UK, smelted a furnace of steel containing 12.86% chromium and 0.24% carbon (the prototype of martensitic stainless steel 420) on August 20, 1913, while researching solutions to the corrosion and scaling problems of rifle tubes. However, it was proven that this type of steel did not improve the performance of rifle barrels, and it was successfully used by a local tool factory to manufacture cutting tools in 1914. The manufactured cutting tools were also stamped with the words "stainless" for the first time. This type of steel is widely welcomed by the local cutting tool industry and has successfully replaced the previously used carbon steel material. This is the first commercial production of stainless steel worldwide, earning Harry Brearley the title of "Father of Stainless Steel". Harry Brearley obtained the patent rights for this invention in Canada and the United States in 1915 and 1916, respectively.

France L B. In Guillet's research published in 1904, there were some alloys belonging to martensitic stainless steel.

The Invention of Ferritic Chromium Stainless Steel - Dantsizen, USA, 1911

Christian Dantsizen from General Electric's laboratory successfully developed an alloy containing 14-16% chromium and 0.07-0.15% carbon for the lead wires of light bulbs in 1911 (a precursor to the famous ferritic stainless steel 430), which was used to manufacture steam turbine blades in 1914.

The research results published by Albert M. Portevin in 1911 in France included an alloy containing 17.38% chromium and 0.12% carbon (later known as ferritic stainless steel 430).

France L B. In Guillet's research published in 1904, there were some alloys belonging to ferritic stainless steel.

The Invention of Austenitic Chromium Nickel Stainless Steel - Edurard Maurer from Krupp, Germany Benno Strauss， 1912

Edurard Maurer and Benno Strauss, two metallurgists from the Krupp steel plant research laboratory in Germany, conducted research on chromium nickel steel from 1909 to 1912 and developed V2A alloy (the initial type of austenitic stainless steel 304) containing 20% chromium and 7% nickel. In 1912, they successfully applied for a German patent for this invention and presented it to chemical users for production and exhibition in 1914.

Previously, the French L B. Guillet and Geisen have developed alloys similar to austenitic stainless steel.

In 1924, William A. Hatfield from Firth Brown Laboratory in the UK invented 304 stainless steel (containing 18% chromium and 8% nickel, abbreviated as "18-8"), which was an improvement on V2A and later became the most widely used stainless steel worldwide.

Invention of duplex stainless steel - Avista Iron Works, Sweden, 1930

In 1927, Bain and Griffiths of the American Steel Company first discovered the biphasic structure. In 1930, Avista Iron Works in Sweden first developed austenitic and ferritic duplex stainless steels 453E and 453S (equivalent to later AISI329). In 1935, Unieux laboratory discovered that the corrosion resistance of austenitic stainless steel was significantly improved when it contained ferrite, thus obtaining a patent for austenitic+ferrite duplex stainless steel. The United States developed the first generation duplex stainless steel AISI329 in the 1940s.

Invention of precipitation hardening stainless steel

In 1929, William J. Kroll of Luxembourg discovered precipitation hardened stainless steel. In 1945, Carnegie Illinois Steel Company in the United States smelted the first commercial precipitation hardened stainless steel "Stainless W". In 1946, the United States R Smithetal has successfully developed martensitic precipitation hardening stainless steel 17-4PH. In 1948, Armco Steel successfully developed 17-4PH and semi austenitic precipitation hardened stainless steels such as 17-7PH and PH15-7 Mo.