On July 24, the journalist learned from Ansteel Group Iron and Steel Research Institute that the institute and Buyuquan Steel Division of Angang Steel Co., Ltd. successfully developed 400mm extra-thick plate. The plate has acceptable flaw detecting performance and was successfully supplied. It filled domestic gap for guaranteeing flaw detection by the production process rolling with low cost.

    It’s said that the extra-thick plate is widely used in electricity, ocean engineering, chemical, machinery, military industry and other fields. Raw materials of extra-thick plate in conventional hot-rolled process are die-casting ingot, electroslag remelting billet and forging billets, which are characterized by high production cost and low yield and flaw detection up-to-standard rate. Meanwhile, flaw detecting performance can’t be guaranteed when the steel plate with the thickness of more than 300mm is produced by hot-rolled process.

    At the end of 2013, Ansteel accepted the order for 440mm extra-thick plate. After discussion between each department, the company decided to use vacuum welding and rolling process which was successfully developed not long before and challenge the limit specification by applying hot-rolled process to produce steel plate with acceptable flaw detection performance. For preparing production line, the researchers focused on the processing process of control billet, improving billet quality and controlling the heating and rolling process of the billet so as to guarantee the rigorous requirement for the customer to the flaw detecting performance. At the beginning of this year, the product got successful trial production at a time in Heavy Plate Department of Bayuquan Steel Division of Angang Steel Co., Ltd. and was supplied to customers recently. At present, the quality of the product meets the customers’ requirements. It has good processing and utilization situation.

    Now Ansteel is preparing and applying for the enterprise standard and national standard so as to make more customers accept and recognize the extra-thick plate produced by such process.