Domestic Development Of High-temperature Alloys

Since the successful trial production of the first high-temperature alloy GH3030 in 1956, the research, production, and application of high-temperature alloys in China have gone through 60 years of development. The development of high-temperature alloys over the past 60 years can be divided into three stages.
The first stage: from 1956 to the early 1970s, it was the entrepreneurial and initial stage of high-temperature alloys in China. At this stage, the main focus is on imitating the alloy series dominated by high-temperature alloys from the former Soviet Union, such as GH4033, GH4049, GH2036, GH3030, K401, and K403.
The second stage: from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, was the stage of improvement in high-temperature alloys in China. The main stage is to trial produce European and American models of engines, improve high-temperature alloy production technology and product quality control.
The third stage: From the mid-1990s to the present, it is a new stage of development for high-temperature alloys in China. At this stage, a batch of new processes have been applied and developed, and a series of high-performance and high-grade new alloys have been developed and produced.
The main research units of superalloy research in China are the General Institute of Iron and Steel Research, the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing University of Science and Technology, Northeastern University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, etc. The main production enterprises include AVIC, Steel Research&Research Institute, Stone Refining&Coloring, Fushun Special Steel, High Steel Special Steel, and the Second Heavy Machinery Group Wanhang Die Forging Plant (Erzhong). On this basis, China has the ability to independently research and develop new materials and processes for high-temperature alloys.
Although high-temperature metal alloy materials have been developed in China for nearly 60 years, the industry is still in a growth period. Due to the high technological content in the field of high-temperature metal alloy materials, enterprises in this industry have a deep moat. The annual demand for high-temperature metal alloys in China is over 20000 tons, and the domestic annual production is about 10000 tons. The market capacity exceeds 8 billion yuan, with imports accounting for a relatively large proportion. In the next 20 years, China's procurement demand for various military aircraft will be about 2800, and that for civil aircraft will be about 5400. The corresponding demand for superalloy will be more than 150 billion. In addition to the demand for gas turbines of 50 billion, the superalloy space alone will have a market space of 200 billion.