A seminar was held in Beijing discussing molybdenum and how it improves the performance of steels. Organised by the Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. Ltd and hosted by the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute of China and the International Molybdenum Association, the seminar was addressed by a range of experts who identified current applications and future use while focusing on the specific effects of molybdenum in steel. They explained how using molybdenum could bring about more performance with less material and energy use; more value at lower production costs and less pollution. Professor Han Dong, Vice-President of the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, told delegates that a key element in improving the performance of steel under high stress, high or low temperatures and severe corrosion risk was to alloy it with molybdenum, which played a “multifunctional role.” Prof Han continued: “Molybdenum has many well known beneficial effects in steels such as hardenability promotion, grain boundary cleaning, heat and corrosion resistance and it is widely used in high strength low alloy steels and alloy steels, including structural alloy steels, bearing steels, tool steels, hot work die steels, heat resistant steels, duplex phase stainless steels and ultra high strength steels.” Professor Zhiyong Yang, Deputy Director of the Institute for Structural Materials at CISRI, told delegates that molybdenum improved corrosion resistance in austenitic and ferritic stainless steels, an effect that became more evident with a higher Mo content. In high strength stainless steels, molybdenum plays a more important role in improving strength than it does in corrosion resistance. The proceedings of the seminar, with all papers, are available free of charge for download in Chinese and English from www.imoa.info.
