Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Stainless Steel Contamination Cause?
What causes light blue contamination/oxidation on stainless steel?
Ian Davies- Stoke, UK
2000
The blue color that you see is a thin film of oxides. The film color will vary with its thickness until the thickness is sufficient to reflects it true color. (I think that this will be a thickness exceeding the wavelength of visible light.)
The most common cause of a thin oxide film on stainless steel is probably elevated temperature exposure. In air, a light straw color will appear at about 800F. The light blue color will probably occur at a temperature of about 1000F. The oxide film thickness and color will vary with the alloy and the time at temperature.
Larry Hanke
Minneapolis, Minnesota
2000
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