Dr William Herbert Hatfield FRS (10 April 1882 – 16 October 1943) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

who contributed to the development of

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

Early life

Hatfield was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

on 10 April 1882 and studied metallurgy at University College, Sheffield, being awarded the Mappin Medal in 1902. In 1907 he married Edith Seagrave. In 1913 his research resulted in the award of the degree of Doctor of Metallurgy.

Career

Hatfield was appointed Director of the Brown - Firth Research Laboratories in

in 1916 (succeeding

Harry Brearley Harry Brearley (18 February 1871 – 14 July 1948) was an English metallurgist, credited with the invention of "rustless steel" (later to be called "stainless steel" in the anglophone world). Based in Sheffield, his invention brought affordabl ...

and continuing Brearley's work on

), and later joined the Board of Messrs Thomas Firth and John Brown Limited. Hatfield is credited with the invention in 1924 of

18/8 stainless steel SAE 304 stainless steel is the most common stainless steel. The steel contains both chromium (between 18% and 20%) and nickel (between 8% and 10.5%) metals as the main non-iron constituents. It is an austenitic stainless steel. It is less elec ...

(18% chromium, 8% nickel); he also invented 18/8 stainless with titanium added, now known as 321. In 1940 he devised "Rex 78", a stainless steel alloy for use in

Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for ...

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

engine project, the material being first used in the

Power Jets W.1 The Power Jets W.1 (sometimes called the Whittle W.1) was a British turbojet engine designed by Frank Whittle and Power Jets. The W.1 was built under contract by British Thomson-Houston (BTH) in the early 1940s. It is notable for being the firs ...

. He authored a variety of technical papers on metallurgy, with particular reference to rust, acid and heat-resistant steels and cast iron. There is an Annual memorial lecture held in December each year at Sheffield University, called the "Hatfield Memorial Lecture" funded by a Trust set up in 1944. The lecture subject is related to metallurgy.The Hatfield Memorial Lecture
at hatfield-memorial-lecture.group.shef.ac.uk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, William Herbert Alumni of the University of Sheffield British metallurgists Fellows of the Royal Society History of Sheffield Stainless steel 1882 births 1943 deaths Engineers from Yorkshire