MMK wins three gold medals at Hong Kong invention competition
Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) won three gold medals at the 10th International Invention and Design Competition (IIDC 2023) held in Hong Kong.
The Company presented two patented inventions and one software solution at the exhibition as part of a collective presentation by Russian inventors and innovators, organised by the International Innovation Club Archimedes. All of MMK’s innovations were awarded gold medals.
One of the awards was granted for MMK’s method for producing cold-rolled high-strength sheet from low-alloy steel, which can be used in the automotive industry. In addition to increasing ductility, the invention also expands the manufacturing capabilities of hot-dip galvanised steel: specialists can produce rolled stock of different strength classes (creation of cassette technology) from metal with the same chemical composition.
A second invention that took home the competition’s top prize was a technology for the production of cold-rolled high-strength stock from dual-phase steel composed of ferrite and martensite. The technology increases the stampability of rolled products by increasing the ductility of the steel and the stability of its mechanical properties while maintaining a strength class of 980 MPa.
Automakers will be the primary consumers of these qualitatively new steels. By producing these and other innovative types of rolled stock, MMK has been able to substitute all its imports of automotive sheet and has become a leading supplier for the automotive industry.
MMK received another gold medal for a proprietary software development that creates models for optimising the supply and consumption of coal feedstock. The digital product determines the quality of coke depending on the structure of the coal charge, compares the economic impact of two options for the structure of the coal charge used in coke production and determines optimal feedstock consumption, which will result in savings of hundreds of millions of roubles. All of the innovations presented in Hong Kong also received awards at the 26th Archimedes Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovative Technologies, held in March.
IIDC 2023 took place 7–8 December 2023 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre with the support of the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations. The competition featured no fewer than 85 outstanding inventions from Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the United States, Malaysia and other countries.