The stereotype that "Stainless Steel is Heavy" Broken by Korean Researchers

Dr. Chang-Hoon Lee's Research Team at Korea Institute of Materials Science Develops Stainless Steel 20% Lighter
Selected as Top 100 Paper in Materials Science by Scientific Reports 2020

Comparison of weight between conventional stainless steel (left) and lightweight stainless steel.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The research results of a Korean research team that broke the stereotype that "stainless steel is heavy" have been recognized as an international achievement. They developed the world's first lightweight stainless steel that is more than 20% lighter than existing ones, and it was selected as one of the Top 100 research achievements in the materials field worldwide last year.

The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) announced on the 5th that the research paper by Dr. Lee Chang-hoon and his steel materials research team, which developed the world's first lightweight stainless steel about 20% lighter than conventional stainless steel, was selected as one of the "2020 Scientific Reports Materials Top 100."

Since stainless steel was developed in the 1910s, it has had a close impact on people's daily lives. It is hard to find places where stainless steel is not used, such as automobiles, shipbuilding, construction, medical, and home appliances. This was possible because it solved the weakness of steel being prone to corrosion. However, the other challenge of steel, lightweighting, has still not been resolved.

The research team succeeded in increasing the amount of aluminum alloyed to lighten the steel. Previously, it was difficult to add more than 10% due to its brittle nature. The team increased the aluminum content by 20% and optimized the addition of alloying elements such as carbon, manganese, and chromium to eliminate side effects. In particular, by using chromium to create a fine and dense oxide layer, it was made resistant to corrosion.

Scientific Reports is a sister journal of Nature, one of the world's top three scientific journals. Every year, it selects and announces the Top 100 papers based on the most downloads in each research field. It is known that more than 1,000 papers in the materials field are published annually in Scientific Reports.