While this may seem surprising to the layman, it has been discovered that stainless steel items are as good as gold in their ability to retain their original appearance unchanged for tens of thousands of years. Copper and the bronze and brass smelted from it certainly cannot boast of this, despite copper occupying a position to the right of hydrogen in the electrochemical series. It is for this reason that it has become very popular at the present time stainless steel sheet, which is not only one of the main materials for the production of tanks and equipment for the food and chemical industries, but is also widely used in the implementation of all kinds of architectural and design projects.
Several important factors contribute to this at once:
When roofing religious buildings, such as the exterior finish of cathedral and church domes, the overall weight of the structure is crucial, as it determines the complexity of the supporting framework. Copper is 10% heavier than stainless steel, while gold is almost twice as heavy, making it more difficult to ensure the overall structural integrity when using these materials.
The two metals listed, especially the second, are significantly more expensive, so using them for decorative purposes in this case is not economically feasible, as they can easily be replaced with stainless steel sheets tinted to match the color needed to imitate traditional finishing materials of past centuries.
Stainless steel also significantly surpasses the listed alternatives in strength and wear resistance. These properties are particularly important when compared not as a structural material, but in terms of its ability to retain its reflective properties over long periods of time. Copper, when exposed to radiation, oxidizes and tarnishes very slowly due to the accumulation of black oxide particles on the surface, while even the smallest grains of sand carried by the wind leave scratches on soft gold. The surface of stainless steel, even under similar conditions, retains its original mirror-like shine for decades, which is why domes and monumental structures constructed from it remain clearly visible on a clear day from many kilometers away.
In addition to churches and memorials, designers' creative visions are also being realized in other areas of art or similar activities, where it is becoming more cost-effective to use stainless steel alternatives.
Stainless steel sheet analogues for design work
Since analogy is a rather arbitrary concept, a dozen modern materials with similar characteristics could be used for comparison with stainless steel sheets. Here, we will limit ourselves to a more detailed examination of two of them.
Copper sheet
Belonging to the group of non-ferrous rolled metal products copper sheet Before the advent of stainless steel, copper was the most sought-after material for decorative objects. Historical museums and private collections hold numerous antiques crafted from it, among which are particularly elegant embossed images of various real and imaginary objects. Soft and highly ductile, copper allows for the use of a hammer and specially shaped punches to create a relief surface for an artistic work with a large vertical difference and numerous fine details. For the mass production of large quantities of decorative elements, it is easy to create templates for stamping on a forging press.
Brass sheet
Having a beautiful rich yellow color brass sheet It is also sometimes used to make decorative items of artistic value, but a much larger quantity is used to produce all kinds of parts for electrical equipment. This is especially true for various moving parts, for which not only high electrical conductivity but also antifriction properties are important.