Advanced special steel is an advanced basic material and key strategic material for building a strong manufacturing nation and implementing the 'dual carbon' strategy. The development of special steel materials is driven by the demands of high-end equipment and major engineering projects. On the day of the event, Liang Jianxiong, Party Secretary and General Manager of the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, stated during a report at the China International Special Steel New Materials Summit Forum that multiple fields within the ten key industries of the manufacturing powerhouse strategy are closely related to special steel, such as aerospace equipment, energy equipment, marine engineering equipment, and new materials for major engineering projects, all of which have applications for special steel.

In the field of aerospace equipment, the development of high-strength, high-toughness cryogenic stainless steel rocket bodies to replace aluminum alloy rocket bodies has become a new demand. The change in thrust of aircraft engines has also generated new demands for special steel materials, especially among different components, including forgings, castings, and printed parts, which have specific requirements. This urgently requires material development to enhance engine performance. The evolution of special steel materials and the advancement of forging technology have always been driven by demand.

In the field of energy equipment, so far, our country has already had a number of new nuclear power units, and the research and preparation of all related nuclear power materials will provide more opportunities for the demand of special steel; developing clean and efficient coal-fired power generation technology is an important way for China's energy strategy and dual-carbon emission reduction, and high-end boiler steel tubes are the foundation supporting the progress of efficient coal-fired power generation technology, as well as one of the key bottlenecks.

In the field of marine engineering equipment, key components for deep-sea oil and gas drilling/gathering/transportation systems, represented by non-magnetic drill collars, umbilical cables, drilling risers, special oil well pipes, subsea manifolds, and bimetal composite pipelines, are highly dependent on imports, with materials being a significant bottleneck. It is estimated that annual demand for risers and high-temperature, high-pressure oil well pipes exceeds 10,000 tons; the demand for corrosion-resistant alloys for subsea manifolds and composite pipes exceeds tons.

In the field of major engineering projects, such as carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (), it is an important pathway to achieve the dual carbon goals. Its operating conditions are more complex, and the offshore sector is still in its infancy. Both surface and subsurface equipment components rely on the development and support of corrosion-resistant special materials.

Liang Jianxiong put forward four suggestions for the future development of green special steel materials. Firstly, the research and development of new special steel materials should be high-end. Driven by the special performance requirements of products demanded by society, such as high fatigue load, wide temperature range, extremely low temperature (liquid helium), and resistance to liquid metal corrosion/radiation resistance (fourth-generation nuclear power), whether it is the expansion to the poles or deep-sea and deep-earth exploration, special requirements are placed on the development of varieties; it also raises more demands for the extreme specifications of special steel products, such as ultra-large forgings (hundred-ton level), extra-thick plates, wide and ultra-thin strips, seamless tubes, etc. "In this process, instead of pursuing comprehensiveness, we should focus more on characteristics, which may be a more important aspect for our survival," Liang Jianxiong said.

Second, construct a new paradigm for the research and development of special steel new materials. "Dense data + artificial intelligence" is a new and important field, where "data + " is the core of the materials genome project, and ultra-high strength steel and superalloys are the earliest darlings of the materials genome strategic plan. "Material research and development can now be achieved with dense data plus artificial intelligence, provided that a large amount of relevant material performance characterization, including process data, has been done in advance. If this data is excessively scattered or contains some information-contaminated data, the difficulty will still be significant," Liang Jianxiong pointed out.

The third is to achieve coordinated development of mineral resources, special steel materials, and high-end equipment. Liang Jianxiong believes that the special steel industry needs to ensure the security of mineral resources, optimize the supply of special steel raw materials and processes; promote the development of advanced special steel materials, enhance the low-cost competitiveness of equipment manufacturing; improve product stability and consistency; accelerate the transformation towards ultra-low emissions; and actively promote green and low-carbon development.

Four is to promote the coordinated development of innovation chain, supply chain security, and the digital and intelligent transformation of special steel. This includes: maintenance technology for the full lifecycle of special steel material standards based on big data collaboration; heterogeneous data correlation discovery technology based on material genes, pattern recognition, and blockchain; and supply chain quality classification and evaluation technology based on value functions, quality inheritance, and process evaluation.