METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF STEEL STRIP Russian patent published in 2001 - IPC

FIELD: manufacture of rolled products. SUBSTANCE: method involves casting liquid steel in continuous casting unit to produce flat blank; moving flat blank through furnace; rolling in preliminary rolling unit with following rolling in final rolling unit to produce steel strip of thickness corresponding to required thickness of ready product, with casting heat being utilized in the process. Steel strip is rolled at final stage in endless or semiendless rolling apparatus. To manufacture steel strip rolled in ferrite state, flat blank is rolled in unit for preliminary rolling in austenite state and after rolling in austenite state it is cooled to temperature at which steel is of substantially ferrite structure. Strip, flat strip or part of flat strip is rolled in final rolling unit at speeds which preferably correspond to speed at which blank is introduced into final rolling unit, with following thickness reduction, and is rolled in at least one stand of final rolling unit in ferrite state. To manufacture steel strip rolled in austenite state, strip delivered from preliminary rolling unit is heated to temperature within the range of austenite temperatures or held at given temperature, with following rolling in final rolling unit, preferably in austenite state, to thickness corresponding to thickness of ready product. After rolling, strip is cooled to temperature within the range of ferrite temperatures. When thickness of steel strip rolled in ferrite or austenite state reaches required value of thickness for ready product, strip is cut into parts of required length and these parts are wound into rolls. Method and apparatus allow thin strip to be produced in austenite state with thickness of ready product less than 1.2 mm. Such strip is fit for further reduction in ferrite state and may be used as package material from which cans for beverages are manufactured. EFFECT: wider operational capabilities and improved quality of steel strip. 43 cl, 3 dwg