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Conference proceedings

2018 Shanghai Molybdenum and Steel Symposium

IMOA publishes Molybdenum and Steel Symposium proceedings

The International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) has published the proceedings from the Molybdenum and Steel 2018 Symposium held at Shanghai University in November 2018. The event, attended by international metallurgists and metal industry leaders, offered 150 delegates the opportunity to hear presentations from industry experts on a range of topics related to molybdenum use in high-performance steels.

Contributions to the Symposium have since been summarized and published in the form of five individual papers, each on a specific topic, in the 'Advances in Manufacturing' journal. IMOA has now collated and published them as proceedings of the event.

The publication includes a guest editorial by Professor Hardy Mohrbacher entitled 'Molybdenum alloying: more than hardenability'. Exploring the history of molybdenum use as an alloying element, this paper has a particular focus on the Chinese market.

A paper titled 'Molybdenum alloying in high-performance flat-rolled steel grades' 1 highlights the advantages, as well as the potential, of molybdenum alloying over the entire range of flat-rolled steel products. The paper concludes that the use of modern high-performance steel enables significant improvements in the design of structures, efficiency of manufacturing, durability of equipment, safety, cost reduction and lifecycle sustainability. The production of these steels requires state-of-the-art steel rolling and heat treatment facilities in combination with suitable alloying concepts. Molybdenum was shown to be one of the most effective and versatile alloying elements by enabling robust processing of these steel grades as well as providing superior properties. The effect of molybdenum, ideally in synergy with niobium, in improving the resistance to hydrogen-induced cracking in ultra-high strength steels is an issue of intensive ongoing research activities.

Molybdenum is an important alloying element in cast iron and steel increasing strength, hardness and toughness. The paper titled 'Molybdenum alloying in cast iron and steel' 2 describes the metallurgical functionality of molybdenum alloying in iron-based castings and demonstrates its effectiveness for applications in the automotive and mining industry.

The paper titled ‘Metallurgical concepts for optimized processing and properties of carburizing steel’ 3 describes recent concepts for alloy design optimization of carburizing steel and demonstrates benefits for manufacturing processes and final properties.

The final editorial paper ‘Industrial relevance of molybdenum in China’ 4 summarizes the key facts about molybdenum mining, use and market development in China. The intensity of molybdenum use remains lower in China compared to more highly developed regions such as the USA and Europe.

1 Molybdenum alloying in high-performance flat-rolled steel grades
Pello Uranga, CEIT and TECNUN, University of Navarra, Spain
Cheng-Jia Shang, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Steel Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, People's Republic of China
Takehide Senuma, Graduate School for Nature Science, Okayama University, Japan
Jer-Ren Yang, Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiwan University, Taiwan, People's Republic of China
Ai-Min Guo, CITIC Metal, Beijing, People's Republic of China
Hardy Mohrbacher, Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium and NiobelCon bvba, Belgium

2 Molybdenum alloying in cast iron and steel
Xiang-Ru Chen, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai
Qi-Jie Zhai, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai
Han Dong, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai
Bao-Hua Dai, CITIC Machinery Manufacturing Inc., Shanxi, People's Republic of China
Hardy Mohrbacher, Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium and NiobelCon bvba, Belgium

3 Metallurgical concepts for optimised processing and properties of carburizing steel
Hardy Mohrbacher, Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium and NiobelCon bvba, Belgium

4 Editorial: Industrial relevance of molybdenum in China
Tim Outteridge, Nicole Kinsman, Gaetano Ronchi, International Molybdenum Association
Hardy Mohrbacher, Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium and NiobelCon bvba, Belgium

Molybdenum alloying – more than hardenability
released in 2020
Proceedings of the 2018 Molybdenum and Steel Symposium. Held in Shanghai, China, 28-29 November 2018.