Steel Coil Manufacturing Process

Steel coils have applications across many industries and applications that don’t require precise dimensions or surface finishing.

Mechanical damage-resistant components also feature resistance against buckling, bending and shear forces. Packaging with moisture-proof paper wrapping may protect them further; however, handling damage cannot always be avoided.

Cold Reduction

Cold reduction involves taking a hot rolled steel coil and cold rolling it to create a thinner and more accurate product. Unfortunately, cold reduction work hardens the metal, so after being annealed to restore ductility it must then be cold-rolled further to produce even thinner dimensions than its hot-rolled counterpart. Once cold-rolled this material results in high-quality and highly precise steel sheets with tight tolerances and beautiful finishes that can be found in home appliances, automobiles, construction projects, etc.

Cold rolled steel coil production begins by pickling hot rolled coil and rolling it at low temperature. Subsequently, this material may be cooled, annealed and/or temper rolled for improved formability, surface texture and flatness – providing exceptional strength and versatility while meeting stricter tolerance requirements.

Once the steel has undergone cold rolling, it is sent to a skin pass mill for temper rolling – an additional process designed to provide cosmetic improvements as well as further increase coil forming capabilities. Often conducted using Sendzimir or Z mills with large take-up rolls that support small diameter work rolls – temper rolling is done for cosmetic reasons as well as further improving coil forming capabilities.

Temper rolling allows us to achieve different degrees of temper for steel products, such as quarter-hard, half-hard and full-hard. Each level provides different ductility in steel products allowing us to meet very narrow tolerances when manufacturing stainless steel coils. After coils have been formed using temper rolling, they are coated in oil to protect them against corrosion before being completely wrapped in moisture-resistant paper packing before receiving their outer metal cover fitted with flat metal bands arranged longitudinally and transversely across each coil and secured using strong bearers that allow manipulation by fork-lift trucks.

Hot Rolling

Hot rolling is the process of turning slabs of metal into coils of steel. This requires heating the metal up to 1,200 degrees Celsius or above its re-crystallization temperature, increasing its hardness, tensile strength and percentage elongation while simultaneously improving weldability, formability and castability.

Hot rolled steel is produced using a high temperature process that makes the material more malleable and manageable, which makes it perfect for applications requiring little force or shape change, like automotive frames and water heaters. However, due to this process’s increased temperatures it can also become susceptible to deformation and stress more easily than cold-rolled steel products.

Manufacturers use cutting-edge cooling technologies in order to prevent this, helping lessen dimensional faults or warpage which could cause costly production delays. Due to rising industrialization, infrastructure spending, automation across various industries as well as globalization trends the hot-rolled steel coil market has experienced tremendous growth.

Manufacturers begin with large pieces of flat metal and pass it through rollers at high temperature in order to shape it into its final form. Once cooled down, it can be cut to length or sectioned, as well as further processed such as pickling, temper rolling, re-squaring and slitting for additional processing steps. Physical machining and surface treatments such as pickling are also available, providing another means for improving mechanical properties without altering their physical makeup. Pickling can remove unwanted films on steel’s surface without altering its mechanical properties – leaving it ready for use across industries and applications. As a result, the Global Hot Rolled Steel Coil Market is expected to experience tremendous growth throughout its forecast period due to increased construction and automobile industry demand in Asia-Pacific regions.

Pickling

Pickling involves passing coil steel through hydrochloric acid tanks and being rinsed to remove any mill scale, rust flakes or iron oxide dust that has formed on its surface during hot rolling and cooling processes. It’s also an opportunity to eliminate mill scale that has accumulated on its surface during rolling/cooling operations.

Iron oxide on carbon structural steel or low-alloy steel surfaces has a porous, loose structure with open pores. This surface layer becomes further disfigured through repeated bending, straightening and conveyance in hot strip mills and pickling units; which then allows acid solutions to penetrate deeper into its matrix and expands more open pore cracks for deeper acid solution penetration.

Once metal has been pickled, an acid solution reacts with metallic iron and removes oxides; additionally, it may react with any remaining rust flakes or mill scale on its surface and remove it as well – leaving behind clean steel that is ready for further processing.

Once pickling is complete, steel coil is ready to be rolled and sold. As an economical and flexible product, steel coil can be used in many different applications from rail tracks to water tanks – making it an attractive option for manufacturers who wish to save both time and money while still getting quality product.

One of the primary advantages of steel coils is their efficient transport and storage capabilities, at lower cost than sheet metal sheets and to precise sizes – perfect for high volume production lines and less wasteful manufacturing and shipping operations.

Cold Finishing

Cold finishing is a metalworking process that uses mechanical stress to alter the shape of metals. As opposed to hot rolling, cold rolling can only take place once below its re-crystallization temperature; thus limiting when this method may be done. Cold finish can be used to produce products requiring strength and precision manufacturing such as battery enclosures, implantable medical devices and aerospace and defense components for aircraft.

At this stage, raw steel is coiled and put through several passes to thin it down into its final product. This usually occurs at a mill specially equipped to produce cold-finished steel; however, regular mills with edge protection equipment may also use this process. Whatever method used, however, it is essential that coils be adequately lubricated to minimize risk of handling damage.

Rust and oxidation damage is a prevalent form of damage, typically occurring when steel coils come into contact with moisture during storage. As moisture collects around their edges and drips into their core area, rust inevitably forms between their turns, creating weak points which could eventually tear or rupture the coil.

Cold-finished steels can be treated to avoid this problem by applying a solution to remove surface oxide, chemical treatments to limit oxygen availability or an anneal treatment to increase their ductility and strength, making them easier to work with.

Rivestimento

Coating is the application of protective finish to metal surfaces. Coil coating lines operate continuously at high speeds to process large coils of metal with paint technology combinations that produce larger amounts faster than traditional painting techniques. Coil coating lines use automation to coat large coils of metal quickly and consistently at once. This enables larger quantities to be produced quickly using one thickness/width/paint technology combination than is achievable using traditional painting methods.

Coil coating, also referred to as pre-painted metal, takes place before rather than after fabrication and can be viewed as an eco-friendly approach to steel and aluminium delivery, as it requires less energy, no solvents and produces far fewer hazardous waste materials than post-painting does. Furthermore, coil coated metals offer increased durability and dimensional accuracy than their post-painted counterparts.

Flat rolled steel undergoes a multi-step production process: cleaning system to remove mill scale, cooling spraying, rollers to achieve desired width and thickness, runout table to cut to length then coiling of finished product.

Metalwest or fabricators then distribute the final product for further processing and use in construction applications. To avoid corrosion and rust during transportation, coils are packaged in moisture-resistant paper before being secured with multiple flat metal strapping bands crisscrossed to each outer metal envelope and stack together on strong wooden bearers for easy fork-lift truck manipulation. International deliveries require coils be wrapped in plastic to shield from environmental conditions.