Prosperity Partnership in Rapid Product Development

钢铁是一种至关重要的结构材料，对基础设施、交通、通信网络、水、能源和废物处理设施至关重要。关键制造业的未来发展依赖于新型、创新的钢铁产品。一个成功的钢铁行业必须能够迅速提供这样的创新，以满足(i)客户需求和（ii）业务增长。传统的炼钢创新周期缓慢且反复，需要使用数百吨材料进行昂贵的试验，这意味着巨大的财务风险，并限制了用颠覆性解决方案研究完全不同的合金的机会。想象力和创造力因此受到抑制。提议的解决方案：这一繁荣伙伴关系将实施快速合金原型（RAP）工艺，类似于制药行业中使用的高通量方法。不同于每一种合金使用数十个工业规模的铸锭（吨），大量（数百个）实验室规模的小样品（克）不同的钢合金组合将进行性能、可加工性测试，并使用最先进的成像技术进行表征。此外，计算机建模将用于设计新的组合物和预测整个过程的行为。该方法的有效性将通过与现有基准钢牌号的生产数据进行比较来证明。RAP过程将为有前途的新合金提供快速筛选和排序方法，从而更快地从实验室规模的测试（克）推广到逐步升级的测试（几十公斤）。在升级测试中表现良好的合金可以推广到全面生产（吨），从而使新钢铁产品的创新周期加快一个数量级。塔塔钢铁在合作伙伴关系中的行业参与在所有决策点上都是必不可少的，以确保(i)新合金在现有工厂设备上的可加工性，（ii）新合金满足商业需求，（iii）保持对商业相关合金的研究重点，这将促进英国的繁荣。然而，虽然这种工业“现实检查”至关重要，但它并不排除对通常不考虑的更具冒险性的非正统合金的研究。事实上，拟议的RAP方法将扩大新合金的发现范围，而对塔塔钢铁来说几乎没有风险。目前，20%的原钢来自废钢，这将杂质元素引入最终产品（例如锡和铜）。全球废品利用的增加趋势意味着英国迫切需要做好准备，并确定未来的机会。塔塔钢铁公司不可能进行常规的工厂试验，以调查废料中越来越多的杂质元素的影响，因为数千吨无法销售的材料需要以高昂的成本铸造，并可能损害宝贵的资产。RAP过程将允许通过模拟废料使用量的增加来全面评估杂质对当前和新钢铁产品的加工和性能的影响，并对这些影响产生基本的理解。对英国经济有利钢铁制造能力对现代工业经济来说仍然是必不可少的。塔塔钢铁公司在英国直接雇佣了8000名员工，生产约1.5万种不同的钢铁产品。2017年，塔塔在英国直接向200家客户销售，并通过库存间接向1000多家客户销售。英国制造业雇佣了260万人，并将受益于提供具有增强和定制性能的新钢种。这一繁荣伙伴关系与工业战略的清洁增长议程和EPSRC繁荣成果相一致，为建设一个富有成效的国家做出贡献。塔塔钢铁通过拟议的RAP流程产生的新型创新钢铁产品对全球社会经济状况做出反应的能力增强，这与弹性国家的成果是一致的

Steel is a vitally important structural material, critical for infrastructure, transport, communications networks, water, energy and waste utilities. Future advances in key manufacturing sectors rely on new, innovative steel products. A successful steel industry must be able to deliver such innovation quickly to (i) satisfy customer requirements and (ii) grow its business. The conventional steelmaking innovation cycle is slow and iterative, requiring expensive trials using hundreds of tonnes of material, representing significant financial risk and limiting opportunities to investigate radically different alloys with disruptive solutions. Imagination and creativity are therefore inhibited.The proposed solution: This Prosperity Partnership will implement a Rapid Alloy Prototyping (RAP) process, analogous to the high-throughput methodologies used in the pharmaceutical industry. Instead of using tens of industrial scale ingots (tonnes) per alloy, large numbers (hundreds) of small laboratory scale samples (grams) of different steel alloy combinations will be tested for properties, processability and characterised using state-of-the-art imaging. In addition computer modelling will be used to design new compositions and predict through process behaviour. The efficacy of the method will be demonstrated by comparison to existing production data for established benchmark steel grades.The RAP process will provide a rapid screening and ranking methodology for promising new alloys leading to quicker promotion from lab-scale tests (grams) to progressive upscaling tests (tens of kilograms). Alloys performing in the upscaling tests can then be promoted to full scale manufacturing (tonnes) resulting in an order of magnitude speed-up in the innovation cycle for new steel products.Industry involvement from Tata Steel in the Partnership is essential at all decision points to ensure (i) the processability of new alloys on existing plant equipment, (ii) new alloys satisfy commercial requirements and (iii) to maintain research focus on commercially relevant alloys which will boost UK Prosperity. However, while this industrial 'reality check' is vital it does not preclude the investigation of more adventurous unorthodox alloys normally not considered. Indeed, the proposed RAP approach will widen the scope for discovery of new alloys at little or no risk to Tata Steel.Currently 20% of primary steel comes from scrap steel which introduces impurity elements into the final product (e.g. Sn and Cu). The global trend of increasing scrap-use means there is an urgent need to prepare the UK and identify future opportunities. It is impossible for Tata Steel to carry out conventional plant trials to investigate the influence of increasing impurity elements from scrap-use, as thousands of tonnes of unsellable material would need to be cast at a high cost and possibly damage valuable assets. The RAP process will allow a comprehensive assessment of increased impurity effects on processing and properties of current and new steel products by simulating increased scrap use, as well as developing the fundamental understanding on these effects. Benefit to the UK EconomyThe ability to manufacture steel remains essential for a modern industrial economy. Tata Steel directly employs 8000 people in the UK and makes around 15,000 different steel products. In 2017 Tata sold directly to 200 customers in the UK and indirectly to over 1000 through stockists. The UK manufacturing sector employs 2.6M people and will benefit from provision of new steel grades with enhanced and tailored properties. This Prosperity Partnership is aligned to the clean growth agenda of the Industrial Strategy and the EPSRC Prosperity Outcomes, contributing to a Productive Nation. The increased ability of Tata Steel to react to global socio-economic conditions with new and innovative steel products arising from the proposed RAP process is aligned with the Resilient Nation outcome