The apparatus serves for inhomogeneous cooling of a flat object with a first main face and a second main face opposite the first main face. The flat object is cooled by a cooling device from the direction of the first main face. On the second main face, a heating device locally acts upon a first partial face in such a way that the flat object is subjected to heat at said first partial face relative to a second partial face adjoining said first partial face in such a way that said first partial face is cooled more slowly in comparison with the second partial face and, during the cooling process, the second main face of the flat object therefore has an inhomogeneous temperature distribution at least in a partial time period of the cooling.

The present invention proposes a method that can reduce the noise generated by a transformer core and the like when formed by laminations of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet in which core loss has been reduced by a magnetic domain refinement process. In this steel sheet, linear distortion extending with an orientation in which an angle formed with a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction of the steel sheet is an angle of 30 or less is periodic in the direction of rolling of the steel sheet, core loss (W.sub.17/50) is 0.720 W/kg or less, and magnetic flux density (B.sub.8) is 1.930 T. The volume of the closure domain arising in the distortion part is 1.00-3.00% of the total magnetic domain volume within the steel sheet.

The present invention proposes a method that can reduce the noise generated by a transformer core and the like when formed by laminations of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet in which core loss has been reduced by a magnetic domain refinement process. In this steel sheet, linear distortion extending with an orientation in which an angle formed with a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction of the steel sheet is an angle of 30 or less is periodic in the direction of rolling of the steel sheet, core loss (W.sub.17/50) is 0.720 W/kg or less, and magnetic flux density (B.sub.8) is 1.930 T. The volume of the closure domain arising in the distortion part is 1.00-3.00% of the total magnetic domain volume within the steel sheet.

A method for manufacturing an object including the steps of forming layers by adding successive layers of material to form the object by selective laser melting (SLM), and inducing plastic deformation and residual stress into solidified material of at least one of the successive layers of material to improve mechanical properties and a fatigue resistance of the object, wherein the plastic deformation and the residual stress are induced by a laser.

A fast-speed laser scoring method is provided, in which a set of related laser scoring device is used to simultaneously score lines on the upper surface and the lower surface of an oriented silicon steel strip, which is being fed and traveling forwards on a production line, with high-focalized continuous wave laser beam; the lines scored on the upper surface and the lines scored on the lower surface have the same space between every two adjacent scored lines but are staggered each other in order to reduce iron loss evenly. The space between every two adjacent scored lines on the same surface is 6-12 mm, laser power is 1000-3000 W and scanning speed is 100-400 m/min. The machining rate of the scoring method and device attains 1.5-2 times the one of conventional scoring methods which can not simultaneously score the upper and lower surfaces of a steel strip at a time. The lines scored on a steel strip by the method can reduce iron loss of the strip by 10-16%.

A method for heat treatment of an object of sheet metal, includes the step of heating at least one selected portion of the object using an energy beam. The beam is projected onto a surface of the object so as to produce a primary spot on the object, the beam being repetitively scanned in two dimensions in accordance with a scanning pattern so as to establish an effective spot on the object, the effective spot having a two-dimensional energy distribution. The effective spot is displaced in relation to the surface of the object to progressively heat the at least one selected portion of the object. The scanning pattern includes interconnected curved segments.

A method for manufacturing a strip having a variable thickness along its length, comprising the steps: an initial strip of constant thickness is provided; homogeneous cold rolling of the initial strip along its length in order to obtain an intermediate strip of constant thickness along the rolling direction; flexible cold rolling of the intermediate strip along its length in order to obtain a variable thickness strip, having, along its length, first areas with a first thickness (e+s) and second areas with a second thickness (e), less than the first thickness (e+s), continuous annealing of the strip.

The plastic deformation ratio generated, after an optional intermediate recrystallization annealing, by the homogeneous cold rolling and the flexible cold rolling steps in the first areas is greater than or equal to 30%.

A method for manufacturing a strip having a variable thickness along its length, comprising the steps: an initial strip of constant thickness is provided; homogeneous cold rolling of the initial strip along its length in order to obtain an intermediate strip of constant thickness along the rolling direction; flexible cold rolling of the intermediate strip along its length in order to obtain a variable thickness strip, having, along its length, first areas with a first thickness (e+s) and second areas with a second thickness (e), less than the first thickness (e+s), continuous annealing of the strip.

The plastic deformation ratio generated, after an optional intermediate recrystallization annealing, by the homogeneous cold rolling and the flexible cold rolling steps in the first areas is greater than or equal to 30%.