A method for producing a coated steel sheet having a tensile strength TS of at least 1100 MPa, a total elongation TE according to ISO standard 6892-1 of at least 12%, the product TS×TE of the tensile strength by the total elongation being at least 14200 MPa %, and a hole expansion ratio HER according to ISO standard 16630:2009 of at least 25%, the method including the following successive steps: providing a cold-rolled steel sheet, the chemical composition of the steel containing in weight %: 0.15%≤C≤0.23%, 2.0%≤Mn≤2.7%, with C+Mn/10≥0.420%, 0≤Cr≤0.40%, with Mn+Cr≥2.25%, 0.2%≤Si≤1.6%, 0.02%≤Al≤1.2%, with 1.0%≤Si+Al≤2.2%, 0≤Nb≤0.035%≤Mo≤0.1%, the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities, annealing the steel sheet at an annealing temperature T.sub.A so as to obtain a structure comprising at least 65% of austenite and at most 35% of intercritical ferrite, quenching the sheet from a temperature of at least 600° C. at a cooling rate comprised between 20° C./s and 50° C./s down to a quenching temperature QT between 200° C. and 270° C., heating the sheet up to a partitioning temperature PT comprised between 400° C. and 480° C. and maintaining the sheet at this partitioning temperature PT for a partitioning time Pt comprised between 50 s and 250 s, hot-dip coating the sheet at a temperature less than 515° C., cooling the coated sheet down to the room temperature,
the steel sheet having a microstructure consisting of, in surface fraction: between 3% and 15% of retained austenite, at least 30% of tempered martensite, at most 5% of fresh martensite, at most 35% of bainite, the sum of the surface fractions of tempered martensite, fresh martensite and bainite being comprised between 55% and 92%, and between 5% and 35% of ferrite.

Provided is a steel sheet having a predetermined chemical composition, wherein precipitates having a diameter of less than 0.1 μm are present in a number density of 10 to 200/μm.sup.2 in a depth region of 1 to 10 μm from a surface, an amount of dissolved C in a depth region of 10 to 60 μm from the surface is less than 0.20 mass %, and a tensile strength is 1200 MPa or more. Further, provided is a method for producing a steel sheet comprising a step of hot rolling a steel slab having a predetermined chemical composition, then coiling it at 580° C. or less, a step of pickling the hot rolled steel sheet to remove oxide scale and remove the surface layer of the hot rolled steel sheet down to at least 5 μm, and a step of cold rolling the hot rolled steel sheet, then holding it in an atmosphere of a dew point of −20 to 20° C. at a temperature region of 200 to 400° C. for 20 to 180 seconds and holding it at a temperature region of 740 to 900° C. for 40 to 300 seconds.

Provided is a steel sheet having a predetermined chemical composition and microstructure, wherein a block size in a first depth region of 1 to 10 μm from the surface is 5.0 μm or less, a block size in a second depth region of 10 to 60 μm from the surface is 6.0 to 20.0 μm, and a block size in a third depth region of 60 μm to 1/4 thickness from the surface is less than 6.0 μm. Further, provided is a method for producing a steel sheet comprising a step of hot rolling a steel slab having a predetermined chemical composition, then coiling it at 500° C. or more, a step of pickling the hot rolled steel sheet to remove oxide scale, wherein an amount of removal of the surface layer of the hot rolled steel sheet is less than 5.00 μm, a step of cold rolling by a rolling reduction of 30 to 90%, and an annealing step of holding in an atmosphere of a dew point of −20 to 20° C. at a temperature region of 740 to 900° C. for 40 to 300 seconds.

A method for producing a component made of a steel product coated with an Al—Si protective coating, includes: providing a substrate consisting of a steel produced coated with an Al—Si protective coating, heating the substrate to a temperature T1 such that the Al—Si protective coating is only partially pre-alloyed with Fe of the steel product, cooling the pre-alloyed substrate to room temperature, applying a corrosion protection oil to the surface of the pre-alloyed substrate, wherein the oil consists of a composition containing fatty acid ester, transporting the pre-alloyed substrate to which the oil has been applied, heating the pre-alloyed substrate to which the oil has been applied to a temperature T2 such that the Al—Si protective coating is fully alloyed with Fe of the steel product and the oil is removed without leaving residue, and shaping the re-heated substrate to form the component.

A method for producing a component made of a steel product coated with an Al—Si protective coating, includes: providing a substrate consisting of a steel produced coated with an Al—Si protective coating, heating the substrate to a temperature T1 such that the Al—Si protective coating is only partially pre-alloyed with Fe of the steel product, cooling the pre-alloyed substrate to room temperature, applying a corrosion protection oil to the surface of the pre-alloyed substrate, wherein the oil consists of a composition containing fatty acid ester, transporting the pre-alloyed substrate to which the oil has been applied, heating the pre-alloyed substrate to which the oil has been applied to a temperature T2 such that the Al—Si protective coating is fully alloyed with Fe of the steel product and the oil is removed without leaving residue, and shaping the re-heated substrate to form the component.

High strength steel sheet having a tensile strength of 800 MPa or more comprising a middle part in sheet thickness and a soft surface layer arranged at one side or both sides of the middle part in sheet thickness, wherein each soft surface layer has a thickness of more than 10 μm and 30% or less of the sheet thickness, the soft surface layer has an average Vickers hardness of 0.60 time or less the average Vickers hardness of the sheet thickness ½ position, and the soft surface layer has a nano-hardness standard deviation of 0.8 or less is provided.

A steel sheet having a specified chemical composition and a tensile strength of 1,320 MPa or more, and methods for producing the steel sheet. The steel sheet has a specified microstructure including martensite and bainite, the total area fraction of the martensite and the bainite being 95% or more and 100% or less, the balance being one or more selected from ferrite and retained austenite. The forumulae [% Ti]+[% Nb]>0.007 and [% Ti]×[% Nb].sup.2≤7.5×10.sup.−6 are satisfied in the chemical composition.

A high strength cold rolled steel sheet having excellent burring properties includes: by weight %, 0.13-0.25% of carbon (C), 1.0-2.0% of silicon (Si), 1.5-3.0% of manganese (Mn), 0.08-1.5% of aluminum (Al)+chrome (Cr)+molybdenum (Mo), 0.1% or less of phosphorus (P), 0.01% or less of sulfur (S), 0.01% or less of nitrogen (N), and the balance of Fe and inevitable impurities; and, by area fraction, 3-25% of ferrite, 20-40% of martensite, 5-20% of residual austenite. The ferrite has an average grain size of 2 μm or less at the reference point of 4/t (wherein t refers to a steel sheet thickness), with the average ratio between lengths in the thickness direction and in the rolling direction being 1.5 or less.

A vapor phase growth method of an embodiment is a vapor phase growth method using a vapor phase growth apparatus including a reactor, an exhaust pump, a pressure control valve, and an exhaust pipe. The vapor phase growth method includes: loading a first substrate into the reactor, heating the first substrate, supplying a process gas, and forming a silicon carbide film on a surface of the first substrate and depositing a by-product containing carbon in the first portion or the second portion by adjusting a pressure in the reactor by controlling the pressure control valve; unloading the first substrate from the reactor; removing the by-product by supplying a gas including a gas containing fluorine to the exhaust pipe by controlling a pressure in the exhaust pipe; and then loading a second substrate into the reactor to form a silicon carbide film on a surface of the second substrate.

The invention relates to a method for producing a high strength coated steel sheet having a yield stress YS>550 MPa, a tensile strength TS>980 MPa, and improved formability and ductility. The steel contains: 0.15%≦C≦0.25%, 1.2%≦Si≦1.8%, 2%≦Mn≦2.4%, 0.1%≦Cr≦0.25%, Al≦0.5%, the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities. The sheet is annealed at a temperature between TA1=Ac3−0.45*(Ms−QT) and TA2=830° C. for at least 30s then quenched by cooling it to a quenching temperature QT between 180° C. and 300° C., then heated to a partitioning temperature PT between 380° C. and 480° C. and maintained at this temperature for a partitioning time Pt between 0 sec and 300 sec, then either hot dip coated and cooled to the room temperature with a cooling rate of at least 25° C./s below 300° C., or directly cooled to the room temperature with a cooling rate of at least 25° C./s and further electro-galvanized, or cooled to the room temperature with a cooling rate of at least 25° C./s without coating. The steel according to the invention contains 5% to 25% of intercritical ferrite, at least 50% of partitioned martensite, at least 10% of residual austenite, less than 10% of fresh martensite, and bainite, the sum of partitioned martensite and bainite being at least 60%. It also relates to the obtained coated or non coated sheet.