Thin Slab Direct Rolling of Microalloyed Steel (PDF)

Thin slab casting and direct rolling (TSDR) technologies are nowadays one of the most promising processing routes to maintain steel as a leading material in technological applications. Initially, this process was exclusively for the production of mild steels. As industrial experience and knowledge improved, a rapid expansion of the range of products took place with higher strength grades becoming an important part of the overall production. Actually, it is widely accepted as a route to produce high value grades and it can be considered as a technology which has reached a high degree of maturity. This book aims to provide an approach to the different metallurgical aspects involved in the application of thermomechanical treatments in the TSDR route.The work is divided into six chapters. After an overall introduction to the singularities of thin slab technologies, the main microstructural parameters controlling strength and toughness are described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the microstructural changes affecting hot working are evaluated in the case of conventional routes, including different classical aspects related to the thermomechanical processing of microalloyed steels. The metallurgical aspects involved in the continuous casting of thin slabs, as well as the precipitation/dissolution phenomena of microalloying elements before hot rolling are considered in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5 the applications of the most important basic concepts detailed in Chapters 3 and 4 to the thermomechanical processing of microalloyed steels in TSDR technology are analysed. The final chapter is devoted to an overview of the main industrial applications of this technology.Thin slab direct rolling (TSDR) is a method for production of high-added value steel grades. This work overviews the application of microalloying and thermomechanical processing to thin slab direct rolling technologies. After an overall introduction to the various thin slab technologies, the main microstructural parameters controlling strength and toughness are described, and the microstructural changes affecting hot working are evaluated in the case of conventional routes. The metallurgical aspects involved in the continuous casting of thin slabs are considered, along with the precipitation/dissolution phenomena of microalloying elements before hot rolling. Concepts detailed in previous chapters are applied to the thermomechanical processing of microalloyed steel in TSDR technology. A final chapter overviews the main industrial applications of this technology. The author is affiliated with the University of Navarra, Spain.