Equipment for the continuous hot dip-coating of a metal strip 9 including an annealing furnace, a tank 2 containing a liquid metal bath 3, a snout connecting the annealing furnace and tank 2, through which the metal strip 9 runs in a protective atmosphere and the lower part of the snout, the sabot 5, is at least partly immersed in the liquid metal bath 3 in order to define with the surface of the bath, and inside this snout, a liquid seal 6, an overflow 7 not connected to the snout, the overflow 7 including at least one tray 8, placed in the vicinity of the strip 9 when entering the liquid metal bath 3 and encompassed by liquid seal 6.

A method for the fabrication of a steel product is provided. The method includes the steps of characterizing a layer of oxides present on a running steel substrate which includes providing a portion of the steel substrate comprising a layer of oxides and the portion defines an oxide surface, collecting light (Lr) from the oxide surface using a hyperspectral camera (20) in order to obtain intensity values (I.sub.,M) respectively representative of an intensity of a part (Lr.sub.,M) of the collected light, each part being respectively collected from one of a plurality of points (M) located on the oxide surface and respectively has a wavelength () from a plurality of wavelengths, comparing the obtained intensity values with reference intensity values obtained for reference oxides, and calculating amounts of reference oxides in the layer. A device for characterizing a layer of oxides present on a steel substrate is also provided.

A method for producing a hot-dip galvanized steel sheet includes supplying humidified gas to the soaking zone 12 in a manner such that: in passes in which the steel sheet moves upward, the humidified gas is supplied from first humidified gas supply ports 40A to 40E provided at positions higher by 1.0 m or more and 5.0 m or less than the centers of lower hearth rolls 54 and overlapping the steel sheet in the passes when viewed from the side of the soaking zone; and in passes in which the steel sheet moves downward, the humidified gas is supplied from second humidified gas supply ports 42A to 42E provided at positions lower by 1.0 m or more and 5.0 m or less than the centers of the upper hearth rolls 52 and overlapping the steel sheet in the passes when viewed from the side of the soaking zone.

Provided is a method for producing a galvannealed steel sheet. When the steel sheet passing through the soaking zone is a type of steel containing 0.2 mass % or more of Si, both dry gas and humidified gas are supplied to the soaking zone, where the humidified gas is supplied only from the humidified gas supply port positioned in a latter part of the soaking zone among a plurality of humidified gas supply ports, where the latter part of the soaking zone is determined considering a sheet passing speed V and a target temperature T on the exit side of the soaking zone.

A method of producing a galvannealed steel sheet includes: annealing a steel strip by conveying the steel strip through a heating zone including a direct fired furnace, a soaking zone, and a cooling zone in this order in an annealing furnace; hot-dip galvanizing the steel strip discharged from the cooling zone; and heat-alloying a galvanized coating formed on the steel strip. Mixed gas of humidified gas and dry gas is supplied into the soaking zone from at least one gas supply port located in a region of lower of the soaking zone in a height direction so that a dew point measured in a region of upper of the soaking zone in the height direction and a dew point measured in a region of lower of the soaking zone in the height direction are both 20 C. or more and 0 C. or less.

A warpage correction apparatus for a metal strip to be used in a continuous plating facility for the metal strip includes a sink roll disposed downstream of a fixed roll, configured to change the conveying direction of the metal strip, with respect to a conveying direction of the metal strip and inside a molten metal pot for plating, and a correction roll disposed between the fixed roll and the sink roll and configured to correct warpage of the metal strip. A ratio D3/D1 of a diameter D3 of the sink roll to a diameter D1 of the fixed roll is not less than 1.5.

A continuous hot-dip plating machine includes: a sink roll provided in a plating bath and configured to upwardly change a transfer direction of the steel strip; a first support roll provided in the plating bath and located above the sink roll, the first support roll being in contact with a first surface of the steel strip in contact with the sink roll; and a second support roll provided in the plating bath and located above the first support roll, the second support roll being in contact with a second surface of the steel strip opposite the first surface. A diameter of the first support roll, a diameter of the second support roll, and a vertical distance between a rotation axis of the first support roll and a rotation axis of the second support roll satisfy specific conditions.

A device minimizes or eliminates surface flaws caused by metal dust on a metal strip to be coated in a continuous hot-dip coating process, where at least some segments of the metal strip to be coated are conveyed through the device in an axial direction. The device may comprise a blowing/sucking unit with blow-in openings for applying protective gas to the metal strip, which blow-in openings are positionable on first and second sides of the metal strip. The blowing/sucking unit may further include suction openings for extracting protective gas laden with metal vapor and/or metal dust, which suction openings are positionable on the first and second sides of the metal strip. The blowing/sucking unit may have a blow-in region in which the blow-in openings are arranged, and a suction region downstream of the blow-in region in which the suction openings are arranged.

A method comprises: annealing a steel sheet by conveying the steel sheet through a heating zone, a soaking zone, and a cooling zone in the stated order in an annealing furnace; and then applying a hot-dip galvanized coating onto the steel sheet discharged from the cooling zone. Reducing or non-oxidizing humidified gas and reducing or non-oxidizing dry gas are supplied into the soaking zone. A CO gas concentration is measured using a CO gas concentration meter provided in an exhaust portion for gas in the soaking zone. A decarburized layer thickness of the steel sheet is calculated from the measured CO gas concentration. At least one of a flow rate and a dew point of the humidified gas is controlled so that the calculated decarburized layer thickness is less than or equal to a predetermined thickness.

[Problem] To enable to stabilize the coating weight of the molten metal on the steel strip.

[Solution] There is provided a method for manufacturing a gas wiping nozzle provided with a pair of lip parts provided facing each other and a slit formed as a gas ejection port between the pair of lip parts and blowing a gas from the slit against a steel strip pulled up from a plating bath so as to adjust a thickness of a molten metal film deposited on a surface of the steel strip, which method for manufacturing a gas wiping nozzle comprising a fitting step of fitting fitting projections provided at one lip part with fitting holes provided at another slip part and a fastening step of fastening the pair of lip parts together in the fitted state where the fitting projections are fitted with the fitting holes, two pairs of the fitting projections and the fitting holes provided separated by a distance in a width direction of the steel strip, relative movement between the pair of lip parts in a thickness direction of the steel strip restricted in the fitted state, the distance between the fitting projections and the fitting holes in the thickness direction of the steel strip satisfying the predetermined condition.