Titanium/stainless composite a longlasting roofing solution

A composite panel of titanium, resin and stainless steel called ALPOLIC/fr TCM has been selected for the roof of the Yangtze River International Conference Center. The Titanium Composite Material (TCM) is manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Infratec. It contains TranTixxii titanium from Nippon Steel Corp, and NSSC220M, a high corrosion resistance ferritic stainless steel sheet from NIPPON STEEL Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC).
ALPOLIC/fr TCM panels contain titanium on their surface, utilizing titanium’s characteristic refined design and excellent corrosion resistance. The composite panel is smoother than pure titanium panels and achieves reduced application weight. ALPOLIC/fr TCM has a fire retardant core, making it suitable for building exteriors and roofs.

Growing market

China is the world’s largest market for TCM. In this particular project, TCM was applied to an area of 47,000 m2 which equated to (71 tons of titanium and 130 tons of stainless steel.
The conference centre is the second largest scale project to use this material. The largest project was the Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts, also located in Jiangsu, China, which was completed in 2017. In that first project, TCM was applied to an area of 73,000 m2 which equated to 85 tons of titanium and 170 tons of stainless steel.

Landmark project

The Yangtze River International Conference Center is a landmark of Jiangbei New District, an up-and-coming growing city in China. While its refined design has earned TCM opportunities to be featured in other projects in China, the eco-friendly optimal panel design based on BIM
(Building Information Modeling) proposed by Mitsubishi Chemical Infratec, added momentum to the decision to select this product.
Thanks to their high corrosion resistance, the titanium and stainless steel contained in TCM do not require coating, thus saving maintenance work. Moreover, very few metal ions are eluted from their surfaces, making them recyclable and thus more eco-friendly. While titanium is as strong as steel, the former’s specific gravity is less than those of other types of building metal, thus achieving thinner and lighter applications. This helps mitigate the transportation and operational load, reducing the CO2 emissions.

Stable price

NSSC220M is stable in price since it is a resource-saving stainless steel that contains little nickel. In addition, it has higher corrosion resistance than SUS316 (austenitic stainless steel), which is a generic grade of high corrosion resistance stainless steel.
Furthermore, NSSC220M is almost the same as titanium in linear expansion coefficient, meaning that this stainless steel material prevents panel distortion caused by temperature and environmental changes. Also known as the thermal expansion coefficient, the linear expansion coefficient measures the fractional increase in length and volume per degree change in temperature. The linear/thermal expansion coefficient unit specified in the JIS Standard is “/K.”
Nippon Steel Group continues to pursue the best technologies and manufacturing capabilities in the world. It aims to contribute to the progress of society by developing manufacturing processes and providing excellent products and services in conformance with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.