Japan - Use of new, less corrosive steel in shipping and offshore industry

Steel manufacturers have always been looking into ways of producing ship-grade steels with improved corrosion resistance properties and a competitive price. After studying publications and patent applications that have been published in the last years in this area we have to conclude, that it is especially Japanese steel manufacturers that have been very active in developing new steel types. Nano-crystal austenitic steel offers also an improved corrosion resistance in addition to superior mechanical char acteristics. Since the strength of metal alloys increases with decreasing crystal grain diameter, reducing crystal grain diameters down to the ultra-fine, nano size level becomes one of the most important means for the reinforcement of metal materials. A gain, Japanese steel producers and research institutes are leading in the development of new steel types, and developing new methods to modify the surface structure of steel. This fact is reflected in the fact that most of the patents published in connect ion with new steel types or surface modification of steel, have its origin in Japanese companies.