What The Tech?! Stainless Steel

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13 Sept 2025

It’s sometimes hard to think of a material as being revolutionary, but a quick browse of the history books will show pretty clearly that often, this is the case. Industrialisation would occur around the discovery of new materials and the subsequent improvements that these materials would provide.

As we progressed and became more proficient at things like creating alloys and smelting new materials, new opportunities would be created as a result of this. This would give vast and incremental improvements around things like manufacturing and healthcare.

For the modern world, it’s hard to understate the importance of Stainless Steel. A quiet achiever that would help shape the world around us, the tale of stainless is one of persistence, innovation and long-term global relevance.

Non-Rusting Steel

As the industrial revolution progressed, much work would be put into creating and finding new, corrosion-resistant materials. The first work would be carried out in the early 1820s, when researchers would focus on new alloys that used chromium to help improve the overall resistance of iron to corrosion. While this alloy would meet the goal, it was noted to be brittle and inconsistent when manufactured at scale. It would, however, provide enough intriguing results that research into the feasibility of the concept was continued.

It would be later in that century when researchers would produce cutlery and tools that used a more refined chromium alloy for construction. This would provide huge improvements on early iterations however, it still differed greatly from the stainless steel that we see in use today.

Although researchers didn’t know it at this point, the key to unlocking stainless steel would be in managing the carbon content of the alloys, as this would be a key part of how well the alloys could be corrosion-resistant.

It corrosion-resistant nature meant that it was far more durable than mild steel equivalents. Source: Wikipedia.

An Overnight Sensation

The breakthrough would come in 1913, when in Sheffield, England, Harry Brearley would be tasked with finding new materials to help improve the corrosion resistance properties of military gun barrels. As such, his work on behalf of Brown Firth Laboratories would focus on the use of chromium alloys to reduce internal gunbarrel wear.

This research would differ greatly from previous attempts, as it would focus on the missing carbon content as the factor to provide said durability. Ultimately, this would result in an alloy with around 13% chromium and around .24% carbon. When initial testing was carried out, it was noted that the material would not only reduce rust, but it would also greatly reduce pitting too. This would give us the true birth of stainless steel, and it wouldn’t take long for the rest of the world to catch on.

Once discovered, a pre-existing manufacturer would take early stainless and run with it. Sheffield, which was already renowned for their quality cutlery, would quickly adapt it to their own products. This would take the new product and quickly turn it into a household name. At this point, it would merely be a matter of time before the new product caught on.

The medical industry would see huge benefits from the implementation of stainless steel instruments. Source: Wikipedia.

Effect On Industry

Healthcare, kitchenware, food production and chemical manufacturers would all take stainless steel during the interwar period and run with it. However, further research by other companies would broaden the scope of available products, creating different grades that would be more suitable for industry. Ferretic stainless would be noted for its low cost of production (medical), while Martensitic stainless had a hardness level that made it perfect for cutlery (food). Then, we’d also have Austenitic stainless that was the de facto standard for many other assorted stainless products.

Like many other industries, the effect of WW2 would be pronounced. With stainless steel providing great characteristics in a maritime environment, it makes sense that demand would be significant when dealing with a naval war. Global production would rapidly expand, setting the stage for the post-war period, where manufacturing costs were cheap and production equipment could be repurposed for consumer goods.

Improved manufacturing processes gained during the war would help stainless steel achieve the broad dominance that we’ve seen today. Stainless would no longer be the sole domain of large, industrial products. Now, stainless steel could be used to produce precision equipment like scalpels too. It’s fair to say that at this point, the medical world was most certainly paying attention.

Medical Relevance

It’s hard to cover an article on stainless steel without speaking specifically to the role it played in developing and advancing healthcare standards. In the pre-stainless era, tools were prone to rust and corrosion even when properly cared for. This would have effects on the quality of patient care, risk of infection and even the lifespan of the instrument.

Stainless steel would change all of this. Its non-porous nature would mean that moisture wouldn’t be retained within the tool, and its resilience meant that it could be sterilised with an autoclave. This would help to reduce the overall risk of infection and provide a better long-term prognosis to patients. It would also help set the standard for more modern healthcare, as now, standardised, reusable tools that were easily sterilised would become a central fixture in the modern hospital.

It wasn’t just surgeons who would benefit here. Hospitals in general would provide improved infection control thanks to easier-to-clean materials, which was good for all patients. The biggest revelation was yet to come though.

It would be discovered that stainless steel was also a good material to use internally during surgical procedures. This would change the dynamic around things like mobility. The effects of aging transcend culture, providing symptoms that everyone could relate to. Now, rather than struggling with pain and restricted mobility, full joint replacements and reconstructions are an option.

In 2023, the medical implant industry contributed more than 8 billion dollars, and the overall forecast was for substantial year-on-year growth into the future.

Steel emissions are under intense scrutiny. We should expect research around this into the future, reducing the reliance on coal. Source: Wikipedia

Future Developments

Politically, global emissions for many industries remain in the spotlight thanks to topics like climate change. Steel manufacturing and refining have played a huge role here, as the manufacturing of steel continues to be an emission-heavy process.

As such, it should come as no surprise that greener and cleaner sources of steel production currently dominate research and experimental technology. Here, we’ve seen some interesting advancements that aim to reduce the overall emissions generated from the production process. Carbon capture systems and even the electrification of furnaces have all helped us understand some of the options around making this process more efficient.

We also see greater importance placed on future-proofing the concept of stainless. This can be seen not only in the use of new and improved alloys, but it is also seen in the development and application of new surface coatings to improve resilience. Anti-microbial coatings like silver improve the properties of stainless steel even more.

The future of stainless isn’t about finding a replacement. It’s more about refining how it is produced, applied and recycled.

What The Tech is our recurring, twice-monthly piece that looks at the technology that was essential in shaping our modern world.

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