Global First Application! TsingTuo's Economical Duplex Stainless Steel for Railway Freight Cars!

Recently, 10 new C70E-type gondola cars using TsingTuo Group's economical duplex stainless steel underwent the first phase of reliability and adaptability acceptance at China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.

As a vital part of the national economy, railway freight transport faces long-standing challenges. Freight car bodies made of traditional weathering steel suffer from corrosion, cracking, high maintenance costs, and short service life due to transporting weakly acidic coal and the spraying of antifreeze solution. While traditional stainless steel T4003 offers good corrosion resistance, its strength is only 350MPa grade, significantly lower than the 450MPa grade of weathering steel. This results in high manufacturing costs for freight cars, hindering large-scale adoption.

To address these industry pain points, TsingTuo Group collaborated with the China Academy of Railway Sciences to develop QTDX21, an economical duplex stainless steel for railway freight cars. Compared to traditional T4003 stainless steel, the new material boasts a yield strength increase of over 25%. Compared to traditional weathering steel, its tensile strength is enhanced by more than 15%, providing superior crack resistance. It also offers advantages such as high corrosion resistance, ease of processing, good weldability, and high cost-effectiveness, achieving a perfect balance of high strength, high corrosion resistance, and high value.

Compared to traditional gondola cars, the new cars using economical duplex stainless steel see manufacturing costs reduced by over 15% compared to traditional T4003 stainless steel, thanks to the significant strength improvement. Over their lifecycle, maintenance costs are also drastically reduced by over 50% compared to carbon steel. This achieves the operational goal of eliminating the need for body replacement or significantly reducing maintenance, thereby greatly enhancing economic benefits and operational efficiency.