The Continuous Technological Innovation Path of Taiyuan Iron and Steel's "Hand Tear Steel" Products

Starting from 2016, after 711 experiments, the "hand torn steel" with a thickness of 0.02 millimeters and a width of 640 millimeters was produced. Taiyuan Iron and Steel became the only enterprise in the world that can produce wide and ultra-thin stainless steel precision foil in bulk. The hand torn steel series products are widely used in fields such as aerospace, military, nuclear power, and 5G communication. After 2020, the ultra-thin special alloy industry has achieved significant breakthroughs in extreme specifications and core equipment through innovative development. In August 2020, the mass production of 0.015mm foil was achieved, setting a new world record; In 2021, the maximum width of ultra-thin special alloys exceeded 1000mm, and in 2022, the key domestically produced equipment, the wide ultra-thin 20 roll rolling mill, began production. 

How thin can stainless steel be? From 0.02 millimeters to 0.015 millimeters, being as thin as a cicada's wing is just one of its characteristics. Taiyuan Iron and Steel is continuously striving for technological innovation in special alloys that are more refined and thinner. In the field of next-generation display technology, we have successfully developed invar alloy foils for OLED vapor deposition mask boards, filling the gap in the OLED high-definition display technology industry. Not only that, ultra-thin special alloys represented by high-end stainless steel, nickel based alloys, precision alloys, etc. have formed four categories and more than 30 varieties of series products, which are widely used in national strategic emerging fields such as superconducting substrates, solar substrates, optical blackouts, military safety valves, etc. The biggest driving force behind continuously thinning special alloy materials is still market demand. In the past, many products used materials such as copper foil and aluminum foil, but for the same thickness, steel foil is 3-4 times stronger than them. So, on the basis of ensuring performance, steel can be improved in terms of thickness. When the material is thin, the product becomes lighter... With the advantages 
of being light, thin, and short, and improving performance, there is great potential to replace non-ferrous metal foil with special alloys.