Background
Robert Hadfield was born 28 November 1858 in Sheffield. Hadfield's father, also named Robert Hadfield, owned Hadfield's Steel Foundry in Sheffield and was one of the first manufacturers of steel castings.
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Robert Hadfield was born 28 November 1858 in Sheffield. Hadfield's father, also named Robert Hadfield, owned Hadfield's Steel Foundry in Sheffield and was one of the first manufacturers of steel castings.
Trained as a chemist in the Sheffield Collegiate School, he worked for a short time as an analyst until he joined his father who, in 1872, had started a small foundry for making steel castings.
At the age of 24 Hadfield was put in charge of the firm and on his father's death in 1888 became chairman and managing director of the company, positions which he held until his death.
In 1882 Hadfield discovered the valuable properties of and unusual heat treatment for manganese steel, and at the same time began his studies of silicon steel.
He invented silicon steel, initially for mechanical properties (patents in 1886) which have made the alloy a material of choice for springs and some fine blades, though it has also become important in electrical applications for its magnetic behaviour.
Discovered the valuable properties of and unusual heat treatment for manganese steel.
Silicon steels were commercially recognized.
An officer of the Legion of Honor, and the recipient of honorary degrees from Sheffield, Leeds, and Oxford universities.
