Provided is a surface treated steel sheet for a fuel tank, the surface treated steel sheet including: a Zn plated layer or a Zn—Ni alloy plated layer which is formed on at least a surface of the steel sheet to be an inner surface of the fuel tank; and a chromate-free chemical conversion coating layer containing a water-and-oil repellent, the chromate-free chemical conversion coating layer being placed over the Zn plated layer or the Zn—Ni alloy plated layer on the surface to be the inner surface of the fuel tank. A water contact angle on a surface of the chromate-free chemical conversion coating layer is more than or equal to 70 degrees and an n-hexadecane contact angle on the surface of the chromate-free chemical conversion coating layer is more than or equal to 30 degrees and less than or equal to 70 degrees.

A plated steel material comprising a steel base material and an Al—Zn—Mg-based plating layer formed on a surface of the steel base material, wherein the plating layer has a predetermined chemical composition, and in a surface structure of the plating layer, there is, by area ratio, 2.0% or more of an acicular Al—Zn—Si—Ca phase.

A method for reducing surface roughness of an article includes contacting a surface of an article with a molten metal agent, the surface having an initial roughness; altering at least a portion of the surface in the molten metal agent; and removing the surface from contact with the agent; wherein, after the removing step, the surface has a processed roughness that is less than the initial roughness.

A method for reducing surface roughness of an article includes contacting a surface of an article with a molten metal agent, the surface having an initial roughness; altering at least a portion of the surface in the molten metal agent; and removing the surface from contact with the agent; wherein, after the removing step, the surface has a processed roughness that is less than the initial roughness.

A method for producing hardened steel components is provided. Sheet bars are cut out from an alloy-galvanized strip made of a hardenable steel alloy and the sheet bars are heated to a temperature that produces a structural change to austenite, preferably to a temperature above the respective Ac3 point. The austenitized sheet bars are then conveyed to a press hardening tool in which the sheet bars are hot formed in a single stroke or multiple strokes by means of an upper and lower tool, wherein the formed sheet bar is cooled against the tools at a speed above the critical cooling rate so that a martensitic hardening occurs.After the galvanization, which can be hot-dip galvanization of the steel strip and before the temperature increase for achieving the austenitization, tin is applied to the surface of the strip or sheet bar.

A chemical conversion-treated steel pipe has a chemical conversion treatment film on a plated layer on a steel sheet. The plated layer is configured from a zinc alloy comprising 0.05-60 mass % aluminum and 0.1-10.0 mass % magnesium. The chemical conversion treatment film contains a fluorine resin, a base resin, metal flakes and a chemical conversion treatment component. The base resin is one or more selected from a group consisting of polyurethane, polyester, acrylic resins, epoxy resins and polyolefin. The content of fluorine resin with respect to the total amount of fluorine resin and base resin is at least 3.0 mass % calculated as fluorine atoms. The content of the base resin with respect to 100 parts by mass of the fluorine resin is at least 10 parts by mass. The content of metal flakes in the chemical conversion treatment film is greater than 20 mass % up to and including 60 mass %.

An Al-plated steel sheet includes: a steel sheet; an Al plating layer which is formed on one surface or both surfaces of the steel sheet and contains at least 85% or more of Al by mass %; and a surface coating layer which is laminated on the surface of the Al plating layer and contains ZnO and one or more lubricity improving compounds.

An Al-plated steel sheet includes: a steel sheet; an Al plating layer which is formed on one surface or both surfaces of the steel sheet and contains at least 85% or more of Al by mass %; and a surface coating layer which is laminated on the surface of the Al plating layer and contains ZnO and one or more lubricity improving compounds.

A high-strength steel sheet with excellent formability and high yield ratio that has TS of 980 MPa or more and YR of 68% or more is obtained by providing a predetermined chemical composition and a steel microstructure that contains, in area ratio, 15 to 55% of polygonal ferrite, 8% or more of non-recrystallized ferrite, and 15 to 30% of martensite, and that contains, in volume fraction, 12% or more of retained austenite, in which the polygonal ferrite has a mean grain size of 4 μm or less, the martensite has a mean grain size of 2 μm or less, the retained austenite has a mean grain size of 2 μm or less, and a value obtained by dividing an Mn content in the retained austenite (in mass %) by an Mn content in the polygonal ferrite (in mass %) equals 2.0 or more.

A method for manufacturing a hot-rolled and coated steel sheet having a thickness between 1.8 mm and 5 mm. The method contains the steps of: providing a semi-product having a composition containing: 0.04%≤C≤0.38%, 0.40%≤Mn≤3%, 0.005%≤Si≤0.70%, 0.005%≤Al≤0.1%, 0.001%≤Cr≤2%, 0.001%≤Ni≤2%, 0.001%≤Ti≤0.2%, Nb≤0.1%, B≤0.010%, 0.0005%≤N≤0.010%, 0.0001%≤S≤0.05%, 0.0001%≤P≤0.1%, Mo≤0.65%, W≤0.30%, Ca≤0.006%, hot-rolling with a final rolling temperature FRT, to obtain a hot-rolled steel product having a thickness between 1.8 mm and 5 mm, then cooling down to a coiling temperature T.sub.coil satisfying: 450° C.≤T.sub.coil≤T.sub.coilmax with T.sub.coilmax=650−140×fγ, T.sub.coilmax being expressed in degrees Celsius and fγ designating the austenite fraction just before the coiling, and coiling to obtain a hot-rolled steel substrate, pickling and coating the hot-rolled steel substrate with Al or an Al alloy by continuous hot-dipping in a bath, to obtain a hot-rolled and coated steel sheet containing a hot-rolled steel sheet and an Al or an Al alloy coating, having a thickness between 10 and 33 μm, on each side of the hot-rolled steel sheet.