Furnace modernization of a continuous annealing line

Steel strips and sheets are still amongst the most important structural construction materials for many applications, notably in the automotive industry, for home appliances or e.g. in the structural-facings sector. In order to fulfill the continuously rising market requirements regarding better forming and surface characteristics a new generation of e.g. IF-(Interstitial Free) and BH-(Bake-Hardening) steel, which can offer elongation considerably > 40 % is in development. Furthermore modern advanced high strength steels (AHSS) reach strength of ≥ 1.000 MPa while maintaining a comparably good forming capability, thus leading to more use as a safety-relevant structural component [1].