Stainless Steel In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not readily corrode, rust or stain with water as ordinary steel does. However, it is not fully stain-proof in low-oxygen, high-salinity, or poor air-circulation environments. There are different grades and surface finishes of stainless steel to suit the environment the alloy must endure. Stainless steel is used where both the properties of steel and corrosion resistance are required. Stainless steel differs from carbon steel by the amount of chromium present. Unprotected carbon steel rusts readily when exposed to air and moisture. This iron oxide film (the rust) is active and accelerates corrosion by forming more iron oxide; and, because of the greater volume of the iron oxide, this tends to flake and fall away. Stainless steels contain sufficient chromium to form a passive film of chromium oxide, which prevents further surface corrosion by blocking oxygen diffusion to the steel surface and blocks corrosion from spreading into the metal's internal structure. Due to the similar size of the steel and oxide ions, they bond very strongly and remain attached to the surface
Martensitic stainless steel is a specific type of stainless steel alloy.
Stainless steels may be classified by their crystalline structure into three main types: Austenitic, Ferritic and Martensitic. Martensitic stainless steels can be high or are low carbon steels built around the Type 410 composition of iron, 12% chromium, and 0.12% carbon. They are usually tempered and hardened. Tempered martensite gives steel good hardness and high toughness; used largely for medical tools (scalpels, razors and internal clamps). Untempered martensite is low in toughness and therefore brittle. The characteristic body centered tetragonal martensite microstructure was first observed by German microscopist Adolf Martens around 1890. In 1912, Elwood Haynes applied for a U.S. patent on a martensitic stainless steel alloy. This patent was not granted until 1919. Martensitic stainless steel can be tested by nondestructive testing using the magnetic particle inspection method, unlike austenitic stainless steel.
Also in 1912, Harry Brearley of the Brown-Firth research laboratory in Sheffield,
England, while seeking a corrosion-resistant alloy for gun barrels, discovered and subsequently industrialized a martensitic stainless steel alloy. The discovery was announced two years later in a January 1915 newspaper article in The New York Times. Brearly applied for a U.S. patent during 1915. "Staybrite" brand by Firth Vickers in England and was used for the new entrance canopy for the Savoy Hotel in 1929 in London.
Martensite is formed in carbon steels by the rapid cooling (quenching) of austenite at
such a high rate that carbon atoms do not have time to diffuse out of the crystal structure in large enough quantities to form cementite (Fe3C). As a result, the facecentered cubic austenite transforms to a highly strained body-centered tetragonal form of ferrite that is supersaturated with carbon. The shear deformations that result produce large numbers of dislocations, which is a primary strengthening mechanism of steels. Martensite is not shown in the equilibrium phase diagram of the iron-carbon system because it is not an equilibrium phase. Equilibrium phases form by slow cooling rates that allow sufficient time for diffusion, whereas martensite is usually formed by very high cooling rates. Since chemical processes (the attainment of equilibrium) accelerate at higher temperature, martensite is easily destroyed by the application of heat. This process is called tempering.