After getting a position at the Royal Institution, Faraday was involved in 1820-1822 in a study of
alloy steels containing Cu,Cr,Ni,and precious metals. Though no practical steels resulted from this study,Faraday was still considered a pioneer in the development of alloy steels. Bessemer converter steel making was developed in 1856 and steel production hereafter increased tremendously. Under this circumstance, Mushet's self\|quenching steel with high
carbon and high tungsten contents was developed in 1868 to manufacture cutting tools, followed by a gradual development to the 18\|4\|1 high speed steel in 1906. Hadfield invented in 1882 the high\|carbon, high\|manganese austenitic steel known to have a high wear resistance, and this composition was still used today. He invented later the silicon steel used for transformer sheets of
low iron loss and made in 1903 the first transformer using this steel. Brearley in 1913 developed the low carbon, high chromium martensitic steel used for stainless cutlery, followed later by chromium\|nickel austenitic stainless steel. The
rapid expansion of the automobile industry in the beginning of 20 th century was accompanied by an equal rapid development of alloy
Steels and the abbreviation SAE of the Society of Automotive Engineers was used for the designation of structural steels, such as the SAE4340
Steel. The two World Wars also witnessed a very rapid development of
Alloy steel production both in quantity and in variety.
More abstracts about the A Brief History of Metallography: Ⅳ.Early Developments of Alloy Steels