Scope & Topics

Can we find SCIENCE and FRONTIER in steel research ? We do say “YES”. Steels have huge potential and possibilities, but we have not yet brought out them. There are so many interesting research subjects on steels, which will give us deeper understanding of materials science as well as further advancement of technology for our environmentally responsible life. We believe that steel is the most important structural material in our sustainable society from the past to the future. A new frontier of steel science is waiting for us.

The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan (ISIJ) is now offering a series of the international symposium on steel science. One of the main purposes of this symposium series is to present and discuss the frontier research in the materials science of steels and related technologies. The topic of each symposium is carefully selected to bring the best balance between current industrial needs and academic seeds. The size of symposium is kept to be compact so that all participants can communicate to each other. The attendees with common professional interests will have an opportunity to participate in concentrated discussions and to examine the most advanced aspects of the topic in this one-session family-atmosphere symposium. Another goal of this activity is to educate young steel researchers and engineers for the next generations. We believe that a series of above symposium will provide a valuable means of spreading information and ideas in the way that cannot be achieved in large-scale conferences.

The 1st symposium concerning ‘Fundamentals of Martensite and Bainite toward Future Steels with High Performance’ was successfully held with 82 participants from 9 different countries during May 16-19, 2007, in Kyoto, Japan. We are now planning to have the 2nd symposium of which main theme is ‘Strength, Plasticity and Fracture in Steels ~Fundamentals and Novel Approaches for New Demands~’, on Oct. 21-24, 2009, in Kyoto again. Mechanical property is the most important aspect of steels. Recent demands require higher and higher mechanical performances for steels, so that we need to understand the essentials of mechanical properties, such as yield strength, strain-hardening, ductility, formability, toughness, etc., from fundamental viewpoints in order to develop advanced steels practically. One of the most important keywords of the symposium is to manage both strength and ductility (or toughness). How can we realize such difficult demands ? We have had dislocation theory and fracture mechanics for understanding strength and fracture of metals fundamentally, but can we get additional new tools ? The symposium covers following topics, and the research results concerning the topics will be presented and discussed from both fundamental and practical points of view.

  1. Formability and Ductility
  2. Crash-worthiness and High Speed Deformation
  3. Toughness and Fracture
  4. Cyclic Deformation and Fatigue
  5. Hydrogen Embrittlement
  6. Yield Strength Control
  7. Strain-hardening and Crystal Plasticity
  8. Mechanisms Based on Dislocation Theory and Fracture Mechanics
  9. Modeling and Simulation
  10. Characterization of Deformation and Microstructure

General Info