Stainless steel: How long would it stay bright under earth?

[regulo]

I just wondered, as we know stainless steel cutlery remains bright and "new" in normal use, if I buried a spoon in my garden, how would it look if it were to be dug up in say 50 years? Would it remain "as new" or would minerals and acids in the soil destroy the stainless quality?

[4getmenot]

try it, have you got 50 years left?

[regulo]

Unfortunately, probably not!! I suppose I could try for 10 years, but I'd forget where I buried it.

[ChuckFickens]

http://www.euro-inox...._SoilsConcrete_EN.pdf

[Laasya]

I am sure, it will not remain as the same.

[ChuckFickens]

You've also got to consider that "stainless steel" is a fairly generic term that covers a lot of different grades of stainless steel and they all have very different properties when it comes to corrosion resistance.

[redcrx]

a 2b finish stainless isnt bright in the first place. a bright annealed or mirror finish 316 would possibly last a bit longer than a 304 2b grade

[beso]

It depends a lot on the soil chemistry.

[regulo]

Thanks for your answers. So, it's not as simple as I thought! I know when I had the foundation slab laid for my garage, the builder specified a mix involving Sulfacrete (I think), probably to do with the chemicals in the soil on site.

[ll_billym]

A very good book - "The World Without Us" by Professor Alan Weisman touches this subject, it talks about what would happen to the world if humans were suddenly removed.

Anyway, stainless steel objects are specifically mentioned as being of the longest lasting man made objects (i.e. not made out of naturally occuring materials, such as stone statues for instance).

An excerpt: 'The chromium alloys that give stainless steel it's resilience will probably continue to do so for millenia, especially if the pots, pans and carbon tempered cutlery are buried out of the reach of atmospheric oxygen.

It alto mentions the fact that stainless steel (and also aluminium) are such recent 'discoveries' that metallurgists do not know the pace at which they corrode.

[regulo]

THanks, Billym, sounds an interesting read, I'll look it out. Regards, Ray.