Bright annealing technology for high-alloyed steel strip – a comparison of concepts

During the manufacture of steel flat products, the starting material is worked into the desired strip geometry as a result of hot and cold rolling. During cold working the material hardens. In order to enable further processing (e.g. rolling to final thickness, deep drawing, bending, pressing, etc.), this work hardening must be reduced. Depending on the application of the end product, different heat treatment equipment may be appropriate. This article reviews the case of continuous annealing of high-alloyed steel strip in process atmosphere.