Sichuan WeiZhen Company announced today that its independently developed CA6NM centrifugal casting pipe fittings have successfully passed rigorous operational validation, securing a key order for a marine engineering project. This product will be applied for the first time in fluid transportation systems in seawater environments, marking a significant leap in the localization of high-end special pipe fittings and injecting new momentum into China's marine power strategy.
Breaking Technical Barriers and Setting New Standards in Marine Equipment
CA6NM, as a cutting-edge material in martensitic stainless steel, must maintain long-term stability in marine corrosion environments with chloride ion concentrations as high as 3.5%. Its development involves core technologies such as precise composition control and centrifugal casting process optimization. The company's technical team overcame key challenges, including the control of as-cast microstructure uniformity and the improvement of pitting resistance equivalent number (PREN), resulting in product performance exceeding ASTM A743 standards. Third-party testing verified that the corrosion rate in simulated seawater conditions is 27% lower than that of imported products, providing a safer and more reliable domestic alternative for marine engineering equipment.
Strategic Layout Yields Results, Opening Three Major Value Spaces
This breakthrough carries multiple strategic implications:
- Technically, it established a comprehensive system covering material development, process design, and testing verification, with three invention patents authorized.
- Market-wise, it successfully opened high-end application scenarios for centrifugal casting pipe fittings in LNG receiving stations and deep-sea drilling platforms.
- Industrially, it filled the domestic supply chain gap for special pipe fittings in marine engineering, driving synergistic development across the upstream and downstream industrial chain. Industry analysts predict that the domestic substitution market in this field will exceed 5 billion yuan.
Deepening Innovation-Driven Development to Empower the Marine Economy
"This breakthrough is a significant milestone in the company's 'Marine Equipment Materials Special Project,'" said the Technical Director of WeiZhen Company. "We have established a material database for marine working conditions and will focus on developing duplex stainless steel, nickel-based alloy, and other series products in the future. Simultaneously, we are advancing the construction of intelligent casting production lines, aiming to increase the localization rate of marine engineering pipe fittings to 60% within three years."
Currently, the company is establishing joint laboratories with multiple marine engineering contractors to conduct customized research for emerging fields such as deep-sea equipment and marine renewable energy. This technological breakthrough not only demonstrates the innovative strength of Chinese manufacturing but also provides a cost-effective "Chinese solution" for global marine engineering equipment.