Blog

Discover how these plates are empowering the next generation of projects in the chemical, nuclear power and offshore engineering industries. Explore the manufacturing challenges they present and the immense advantages they offer. The demand for materials capable of withstanding extreme environments, such as high pressures and highly corrosive chemicals, as well as decades of service life, continually pushes the boundaries of manufacturing. Titanium steel composite plates have long been the gold standard for critical applications, combining titanium's corrosion resistance with steel's structural strength and cost-effectiveness. However, as engineering projects grow in scale and ambition, the materials used to construct them must also evolve. A new generation of metal laminates is emerging in the form of ultra-thick titanium-steel composites, exemplified by 8 mm thick titanium layers over 450 mm thick steel backing plates. This represents a quantum leap, not an incremental improvement. Let's examine the significance of this specification and explain why it is reshaping heavy industry.   Why such thickness? Engineering necessity:   The '8+450 mm' dimensions are not arbitrary; they directly address specific and demanding engineering challenges. Exceptional corrosion resistance and longevity: An 8 mm pure titanium coating is extremely thick for a cladding material. This provides formidable corrosion resistance, enabling the material to withstand severe chemical erosion for 30, 40 or even 50 years without risk of failure. This is critical for applications such as: Large chemical reactors: Their walls must withstand high pressure and temperature while resisting highly corrosive substances such as acids and chlorides. Flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) systems in major power stations: These systems handle large volumes of abrasive and corrosive slurries. Exceptional structural integrity: 450 mm carbon steel bac king provides the immense mechanical strength required. Nuclear power plant components: Pressure vessels, reactor internals and containment systems, in which wall thickness is critical for safety, radiation shielding and withstanding immense working pressures. High-pressure process vessels: Used in the oil and gas, petrochemical and hydroelectric industries. Critical marine and offshore structures: Components for offshore platforms or ship hulls that are subjected to extreme ocean forces.   Manufacturing marvels: How is this achieved?   Producing composite plates of such thickness is an advanced engineering feat. The most common and effective method is explosive welding. Explosive welding (EW): This process involves placing a titanium plate (the 'composite plate') parallel to a thick steel plate (the 'backing material'). A precisely calculated explosive charge is placed on top of the titanium plate. Upon detonation, the explosive energy propels the titanium plate through the gap and strikes the steel surface at an extreme velocity and angle. This impact generates a jet stream that cleans and presses the surfaces together under immense pressure, forming an atomic-level metallurgical bond. This creates a unique wavy interface that ensures a strong, durable connection without compromising the properties of either metal. Overcoming the challenge: bonding steel plates of this thickness requires precise control of explosive energy. Too little energy will fail to form a bond across the entire interface, while too much could damage the materials. Accelerating the 8 mm-thick titanium layer also demands immense energy to achieve uniform bonding. This process requires complex computer modelling and decades of specialised expertise.   Key advantages of this ultra-thick composite plate:   Cost-effectiveness: It delivers performance comparable to pure titanium at a fraction of the cost, yielding significant savings on materials for large-scale projects. Reliability: The explosion welding process creates a permanent, 100% metallurgical bond with exceptional mechanical properties, including high shear strength. Performance optimisation: Engineers benefit from a thick, corrosion-resistant barrier on one side and an exceptionally robust structural material on the other. Design flexibility: Despite their large size, the plates can be formed, welded using specialised techniques, and machined into final components, offering tremendous freedom when designing large structures. Redefining Applications: The arrival of reliably produced, ultra-thick composite plates opens up new possibilities: Next-generation nuclear reactors: (e.g. small modular reactors (SMRs) and fusion reactors). Giant chemical processes for large power plants; High-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) subsea equipment for deep-sea oil and gas extraction; Specialised heavy machinery for mining and metallurgy. Layers upon layers, building the future together. The 8+450 mm titanium steel clad plate is more than just a piece of metal; it embodies the ingenuity of the human race in the field of materials science. It demonstrates our capacity to overcome the world's most challenging engineering obstacles by combining the ideal properties of various materials in a creative manner.   As industries continually pursue larger, safer and more efficient solutions, these ultra thick composites will become the true pillars of our planet's most critical infrastructure.

In high-end manufacturing, seamless, large-diameter titanium alloy pipes represent the pinnacle of material and process engineering. However, combining 'large-diameter' (typically ≥Φ300 mm) with 'thin-wall' (wall thickness ≤5 mm, often ≤3 mm) exponentially increases the technical challenges. It's not just about the material; it's a rigorous test of precision manufacturing.   Why is large-diameter, thin-wall so difficult? Forming dilemma: traditional rolling or extrusion of large-diameter pipes puts immense radial force on the thin walls, causing instability, wrinkling or even tearing. Uniformity challenge: ensuring millimetre-level consistency in wall thickness across a large cross-section requires highly precise equipment, die design and process control. The slightest deviation creates weak points. Strength-toughness balance: Thinner walls mean that less material must withstand equal or higher pressures. The core challenge lies in guaranteeing sufficient strength, toughness and fatigue resistance through microstructural control, whilst also achieving weight reduction.   Key Breakthrough Technologies: 'Balanced rigidity and flexibility' forming: This utilises multi-stage, temperature-controlled hot extrusion combined with powerful back-pressure or internal mandrel support, which acts like a 'skeleton' to prevent collapse. This is followed by multi-pass cold rolling/spinning for progressive thinning, enhanced dimensional accuracy and a better surface finish. NDT's "Eagle Eye": Large-diameter, thin-wall pipes demand zero tolerance for defects. High-precision automated ultrasonic testing (UT) and eddy current testing (ECT) provide full coverage and can detect even the smallest inclusions, micro-cracks or variations in wall thickness, guaranteeing integrity.   Why pursue 'thin' and 'large'? Ultimate weight reduction: This is crucial for aerospace and deep-sea structures, where saving 1 kg can make a big difference. These pipes can offer up to 40% weight savings compared to conventional solutions, thereby increasing payload and efficiency. Enhanced flow efficiency: In the chemical and energy sectors, larger diameters enable higher flow rates and throughput, while thinner walls reduce material usage and thermal resistance.     The manufacturing of seamless titanium alloy large-diameter thin-wall pipes is a symphony of materials science, precision processing and intelligent control. Each successful reduction in wall thickness or increase in diameter represents another leap forward in humanity's extreme manufacturing capabilities. These are not just pipes; they are critical enablers of a lighter, stronger and more efficient future. Emerging technologies such as intelligent shape control and additive-composite integration will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of "thin" and "large".   NBSM is committed to promoting the development of the titanium product industry and expanding the range of applications for titanium products. As a professional titanium alloy manufacturer, NBSM offers a comprehensive product range, including highly acclaimed titanium plates, titanium rods and titanium tubes. Titanium steel clad plate and nickel steel clad plate have also received positive feedback from the chemical and power plant industries.

In concentrated sulfuric acid boiling reactors, desulfurization chimneys in high-humidity, corrosive environments, and deep-sea oil and gas platform equipment, a composite material consisting of a titanium and steel base layer is the ultimate solution for pressure vessels against extreme corrosion. It can withstand hundreds of atmospheres of pressure and corrosive media that even stainless steel finds difficult to resist, while costing only one-third as much as pure titanium equipment. It can withstand corrosive media and is only one-third the cost of pure titanium equipment. Performance Advantage: A low-cost solution to the problem of high corrosion.The core value of the titanium steel composite plate lies in its complementary materials:Titanium compound layer (TA1/TA2): Resistant to strong acids (such as concentrated sulfuric acid and acetic acid) and seawater corrosion. The annual corrosion rate is less than 0.001 mm, which is far better than stainless steel (such as 316L, which perforates in wet chlorine gas in only two years). The steel base (Q345R/16MnR) provides structural strength and a pressure-bearing capacity of more than 3.5 MPa at a cost of one-eighth that of titanium.The composite interface uses metallurgical bonding through explosion welding with a shear strength of more than 300 MPa to ensure zero media penetration. Application scenario: "Invisible Defender" on the battlefield of corrosion. 1. Chemical Equipment: Survival in a Strong Acidic Environment PTA (purified terephthalic acid) plant: A 1000 m² large-scale oxidation reactor condenser with a titanium composite layer that resists mixed corrosion from acetic acid and bromide at 180°C. 2. Electric power and environmental protection: Anti-corrosion revolution of the desulfurization chimney.Flue gas after wet desulfurization contains corrosive substances, such as SO₃ and Cl⁻. The titanium-steel composite plate chimney inner tube: It has a life span three times longer than an FRP coating solution and an overall cost that is 40% lower.3. New Energy and Marine Engineering LNG storage tanks have a titanium composite layer that resists the embrittlement and corrosion caused by -162°C liquid natural gas and hydrogen sulfide. The maintenance cycle has been extended from six months to five years. Desalination Equipment: The high-pressure pump shells are made of an exploded composite plate and are 50 times more resistant to chlorine-ion corrosion than stainless steel.

Titanium alloy plates have swept the material world with their light weight, high strength (density of 4.51 g/cm³ and strength up to twice that of steel), and extreme environmental adaptability (-253°C to 600°C stable operation and a seawater corrosion rate of less than 0.001 mm/year). More critical is its triple-core advantage: First, biocompatibility: the osteointegration rate of medical titanium plates exceeds 95%, and the Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy eliminates vanadium toxicity and reduces the wear rate by 60%. Performance adjustability: Alloying allows for precise matching of needs. For example, the resistance of a TA10 titanium plate to concentrated hydrochloric acid corrosion is 50 times greater than that of stainless steel. Process extensibility: It can be used for traditional rolling, explosion compositing, and 3D printing. It can be adapted for use with ultra-thin foils (0.089 mm) and wide, thick plates (3,300 mm). Titanium alloy application areas:1. Aerospace: Effectively enhances satellite load and is resistant to deep cold environments.2. Deep-Sea and Nuclear Energy: Withstands high-intensity water pressure and is highly corrosion-resistant.3. Medical and healthcare: The titanium alloy bone plate fits with high precision and has strong bending fatigue resistance and a short fusion cycle.4. Chemical ships: corrosion resistance, extended equipment maintenance cycles, and a service life far beyond that of other materials. Titanium alloy plate has become a “universal medium” for high-end manufacturing due to its plasticity and environmental adaptability, as evidenced by its use in everything from deep-submersible spherical shells to folding screen hinges.  

Explosive composite technology continues to push the limits of metal composites with its high-temperature, high-pressure operation and unlimited material possibilities. Titanium-steel composite products occupy a 30% market share in China, confirming their irreplaceability in high-end manufacturing. As the industry moves toward lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and functional upgrades, the explosive "aesthetics of violence" will continue to reveal new possibilities in the world of materials. The principle of technology: instant violence versus continuous pressure. Explosive composite:Through the detonation of explosives generated by high-speed impact (with a burst speed of 1,800–3,000 m/s), the "compound plate" is driven at high speed into the "substrate" in microseconds, achieving metallurgical bonding. Rolling composite:A hot rolling mill applies continuous pressure and a high temperature (1200-1250°C) to multi-layer stacked metal plates, bonding them through plastic deformation. A typical example is Anshan Steel's production of X65 grade nickel-based composite plates, which requires strict control of the rolling temperature, underpressure rate, and cooling rate. This process involves complex compositional corrections and modeling control. The three core advantages of Explosion Composite: 1. High degree of freedom in material combination Explosion composite can achieve the "marriage of metals" that traditional rolling finds difficult to reach: Titanium-steel: Used in nuclear power condensers and chlorine corrosion resistance. Life is 50 years (compared to 35 years for pure steel). Zirconium-steel/silver-steel: used in acetic acid towers and electronic-grade polysilicon reduction furnaces, breaking the foreign monopoly⁷. 3Cr13-Q355B is a high-wear-resistant composite realized by a transition layer of powder (carbonyl iron powder + cerium nitrate). It is used in centrifugal fans to resist particle wear.   2. Significant cost-effectiveness For example, the 601 + 310S heat-resistant steel plate is significantly more cost-effective. The price of imported 601 steel is eight times that of domestic 310S steel. The composite 601 dosage is reduced by 50%, which directly reduces the cost. The performance is close to that of pure 601 heat-resistant steel.   3. There is greater performance enhancement space. Explosion composite can be superimposed after vacuum quenching and other post-treatments, such as the 3Cr13-Q355B composite plate with 1000°C vacuum solid solution and water cooling. This process enhances the surface hardness by 40% and the shear strength by over 450 MPa. Due to the limitations of the high-temperature process, it is difficult to achieve such a high level of reinforcement through rolling composite.