LONDON — The England-based division of Indian steel producer Tata Steel Ltd. will design a specialty aerospace-grade steel plant with German plant manufacturer SMS Mevac GmbH.

Although the companies have not committed to building a plant, the designs are for Tata’s specialty steels business in Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire.

The designs will be for a vacuum induction melter (VIM) steel plant, with the capacity to extract trace elements from steel through degassing in a low-pressure vacuum. The steel would then be refined further by vacuum-arc remelting.

VIM steels are typically used in aircraft engines and landing gears, which need steel with few impurities for high corrosion resistance and strength. Sources told AMM that the U.S. aerospace industry would be one market for the plant’s output.

"Our aerospace customers have been eager to see Tata Steel make a solid commitment to them by expanding its capability and integrating VIM into its existing U.K. asset structure," said Richard Bell, Tata’s commercial director for speciality steels. 

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.