A cooling section for flat rolling stock has a working region, through which the flat rolling stock is guided. The working region can be supplied with a liquid coolant by means of a number of spray beams. The liquid coolant is fed from a reservoir for the liquid coolant to the spray beams by means of a pump and a supply system. Valves are arranged upstream of the spray beams in the supply system. Opening positions of the valves are set by a control unit of the cooling section according to a respective sub-flow that is to be applied to the flat rolling stock by means of each spray beam. Also, the delivery rate of the pump and/or a line pressure generated by the pump in the supply system are set by the control unit according to the total flow that is to be applied to the flat rolling stock by means of all the spray beams.

A method for improving the flatness of a rolled sheet or strip includes the application of differential cooling. A cooling agent can be selectively applied along the width of the strip. More cooling can be applied to the edges of the strip, where tension is greatest, to increase tension at the edges. The strip can be allowed to lengthen at these edges, which can improve flatness. In some embodiments, a closed loop flatness control system is used to measure the flatness of a strip and automatically adjust the differential cooling based on the measurement.

A cooling method for a rolling ingot of aluminum alloy after metallurgical homogenization heat treatment of said ingot and before hot rolling, characterized in that cooling by 30 to 150? C. is performed at a rate of 150 to 500? C./h, with a thermal differential of less than 40? C. throughout the treated portion of the ingot is disclosed. A facility allowing use of said method and said implementation is also disclosed.

Provided is an endless rolling apparatus and method, which have improved cooling conditions for producing advanced high strength steel. The endless rolling apparatus includes: a continuous casting machine for casting a slab; and a cooling bed having at least one piece of water-cooling equipment and at least one rolling mill continuously connected to the continuous casting machine, wherein, in the cooling bed, an initial position (S) at which the water-cooling equipment is provided so as to manufacture advanced high strength steel through at least one water-cooling is defined by mathematical formula 1. Here, H is the thickness (mm) of a slab, V is the casting speed (m/sec) of the slab, h is the product thickness (mm), and t is the target arrival time (sec) until entry into the cooling bed.

A hot-rolled steel sheet is cooled by jetting cooling water from spray nozzles to a steel sheet conveyance region in a width direction of the steel sheet conveyance region. The steel sheet conveyance region is a region that the hot-rolled steel sheet occupies on conveyor rolls, a pair of spray nozzles is arranged on both lateral sides in the width direction of the steel sheet conveyance region, and a plurality of spray nozzle pairs are aligned in a conveyance direction of the hot-rolled steel sheet. In regard to a collision region of cooling water jetted from the spray nozzle at the steel sheet conveyance region, a far end in a jet direction is positioned at an end of the steel sheet conveyance region, and a near end is positioned on an inner side of the steel sheet conveyance region. In the spray nozzle pair, the near ends of two collision regions coincide in the width direction to form a meeting.

A method for cold rolling rolled stock (2) in a mill train (1) with multiple roll stands (3 to 7). An upper limit temperature and/or a lower limit temperature is provided for a rolled stock temperature of the rolled stock (2) for at least one rolling pass, and the rolled stock temperature is controlled and/or regulated by at least one control or regulating measure such that during the at least one rolling pass, the rolled stock temperature does not exceed the upper limit temperature specified for the rolling pass and/or the rolled stock temperature does not fall below the lower limit temperature specified for the rolling pass.

A cooling section for flat rolling stock (1) has a working region (2), through which the flat rolling stock (1) is guided. The working region (2) can be supplied with a liquid coolant (4) by means of a number of spray beams (3i). The liquid coolant (4) is fed from a reservoir (7) for the liquid coolant (4) to the spray beams (3i) by means of a pump (5) and a supply system (6). Valves (9i) are arranged upstream of the spray beams (3i) in the supply system (6). Opening positions (si) of the valves (9i) are set by a control unit (10) of the cooling section according to a respective sub-flow (fi) that is to be applied to the flat rolling stock (1) by means of each spray beam (3i). Also, the delivery rate (M) of the pump (5) and/or a line pressure (p) generated by the pump (5) in the supply system (6) are set by the control unit (10) according to the total flow (F) that is to be applied to the flat rolling stock (1) by means of all the spray beams (3i).

The present invention relates to controlled cooling in manufacture of steel plate, and in particular, to an on-line cooling system for controlled rolling with an inter-pass cooling process, which comprises a rolling mill and on-line cooling equipment. The cooling equipment is accessorily arranged on the exit of the rolling mill, so that the rolling mill and the cooling equipment are combined. One rolling mill and one set of on-line cooling equipment are considered a cooling group, and several such groups are connected in series, so the steel plate can be cooled in any rolling pass. In this invention, both the cooling system and the water supply system are arranged on the main frame, and the rolling process and the cooling process are synchronized by using inter-pass cooling. Consequently, satisfied rolling effect in the condition of a temperature gradient along the thickness direction, grain refinement at the surface and drastic strength improvement without sacrificing toughness are achieved. Besides, better quality of the plate center region is obtained, double bulging is avoided and the yield of steel plate is improved due to the higher deformation permeability.

A method for producing a hardened steel component in which a sheet blank is stamped out and the stamped sheet blank is heated to a temperature Ac.sub.3 and as needed, is kept at this temperature for a predetermined time in order to carry out the austenite formation and then the sheet blank, which has been heated all over or only in some regions, is transferred to a forming die, is formed in the forming die, and in the forming die, is cooled at a speed that lies above the critical hardening speed and is thus hardened or else the sheet blank is completely cold formed and the formed sheet blank is heated all over or only in some regions to a temperature >Ac.sub.3 and as needed, is kept at this temperature for a predetermined time in order to carry out the austenite formation and then the sheet blank, which has been heated and formed all over or only in some regions, is transferred to a hardening die, and is hardened in the hardening die at a speed that lies above the critical hardening speed; the steel material is adjusted in a transformation-delaying way so that at a forming temperature that lies in the range from 450 C. to 700 C., a quench hardening takes place through the transformation of the austenite into martensite; after the heating and before the forming, an active cooling takes place in which the sheet blank or parts of the sheet blank is/are cooled at a cooling speed of >15 K/s; for the homogeneous, contactless cooling of hot sheet blanks or components, a cooling apparatus and an article with a hot surface are moved relative to each other; the cooling apparatus has at least two cooling blades or cooling columns that are parallel to and spaced apart from each other; oriented toward the sheet blank to be cooled or the component to be cooled, the cooling blades or cooling columns have a nozzle edge with nozzles; the nozzles direct a cooling fluid at the surface of the sheet blank or the component and after the cooling fluid contacts the hot surface, it flows away in the space between the blades or cooling columns.

A cooling method for a rolling ingot of aluminium alloy after metallurgical homogenization heat treatment of said ingot and before hot rolling, characterized in that cooling by 30 to 150? C. is performed at a rate of 150 to 500? C./h, with a thermal differential of less than 40? C. throughout the treated portion of the ingot is disclosed. A facility allowing use of said method and said implementation is also disclosed.