Did You Know?
. . . that two-thirds of all nickel mined each year is used to make stainless steel? It's a Natural Nickel Fact
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Nickel Magazine, June, 2003 -- Nickel-containing stainless steels were invented just 90 years ago. Today, there are
hundreds of different grades of stainless steel used to make thousands of useful products, many of which
you use every day.
Demand for stainless steel is growing at about 6% per year because it is durable, hygenic and totally
recycleable. Therefore, demand for nickel continues to grow as well.
| Expert Dialogue: Gary Coates Technical Director Nickel Development Institute Toronto, Ontario Canada Listen to interview (5:41) RealAudio (686 kB) "Nickel brings many different benefits to stainless steel. The most significant is that it makes stainless steel easily formable and weldable. Nickel also adds corrosion resistance and makes stainless steel shine brighter . . . The way stainless steels work is they form an oxide layer on the surface. That oxide layer is enriched in chromium. So there's more chromium in the oxide layer than is prespresented by the composition of the material. And it's that very, very thin oxide layer that gives stainless steels their corrosion resistance. It prevents the nickel that's in the base layer from coming out." Download a Real Player here. Look for the link entitled "Free RealOne Player." |
