A continuous casting and rolling plant for the continuous production of steel bars or profiles, the plant comprising in sequence, along a processing line, a continuous casting machine adapted to cast a billet; a first cutting device; a second cutting device; a rolling train adapted to roll the billet; wherein the continuous casting machine comprises a crystallizer, and is adapted to cast the billet at least at a first casting speed v.sub.1 and at a second casting speed v.sub.2 greater than the first casting speed v.sub.1; wherein the first cutting device is arranged at a first distance from the crystallizer expressed in meters, along the processing line, calculated according to a specific mathematical relation.

A dual hardness steel article comprises a first air hardenable steel alloy having a first hardness metallurgically bonded to a second air hardenable steel alloy having a second hardness. A method of manufacturing a dual hard steel article comprises providing a first air hardenable steel alloy part comprising a first mating surface and having a first part hardness, and providing a second air hardenable steel alloy part comprising a second mating surface and having a second part hardness. The first air hardenable steel alloy part is metallurgically secured to the second air hardenable steel alloy part to form a metallurgically secured assembly, and the metallurgically secured assembly is hot rolled to provide a metallurgical bond between the first mating surface and the second mating surface.

The invention essentially is characterized in that downstream of the casting machine and upstream of the rolling device, in particular immediately behind shears for cutting the thin slab or the pre-strip, there is provided a scrap removal device, in particular a coiling device that winds the thin slabs or pre-strip into a coil which is removed from the installation as scrap. Therefore, the quality of the coil winding is not important as the wound then slab or pre-strip need not anymore be advanced to the rolling train. The resulting coil can be lifted with a forklift and bind during the emergency maintenance of the rolling train, without use of any personnel. No additional crane is required for scrap removal. In addition, no constructional measures, e.g., construction of a gravel pit for material cut by shears, are necessary.

A non-scaling heat-treatable steel with particular suitability for producing hardened or die-hardened components is disclosed, characterized by the following chemical composition in % by weight: C 0.04-0.50; Mn 0.5-6.0; Al 0.5-3.0; Si 0.05-3.0; Cr 0.05-3.0; Ni less than 3.0; Cu less than 3.0; Ti 0.0104-0.050; B 0.0015-40.0040; P less than 0.10; S less than 0.05; N less than 0.020; remainder iron and unavoidable impurities. Further disclosed is a method for producing a non-scaling hardened component from the steel and a method for producing a hot strip from a steel.

A continuous casting and rolling apparatus includes: a continuous casting device; a cutting device that is disposed at the output side of the continuous casting device and cuts an inner slab produced from the continuous casting device; a rolling device pressing down on the slab and disposed downstream of the continuous casting device in the moving direction of the inner slab; a tunnel furnace which is disposed between the cutting device and the rolling device and heats the slab disposed on the main path of the inner slab that is transferred from the continuous casting device to the rolling device; and a loading adjustment unit which is disposed adjacent to the tunnel furnace and unloads the slab from the main path from the outlet side of the tunnel furnace and loads the slab onto the main path from the inlet side of the tunnel furnace.

An apparatus for the hot production of strip (N) including a casting machine (11) configured to cast a thin slab (TS), a heating device (16) configured to maintain the temperature of and/or heat said thin slab (TS), at least one roughing unit (19) and a finishing unit (20) configured to obtain a strip (N), and wherein said casting machine (11), the heating device (16), the roughing unit (19), and the finishing unit (20) are disposed aligned along a common working axis (Z).

A method for producing long metal products includes the steps of receiving long intermediate products traveling on respective continuous casting lines, to an exit area, and subsequently introducing products from the exit area into a production plant having known layout parameters; the production plant has a rolling mill for rolling the products; interconnected production lines between the exit area of the casting machine and the rolling mill, the production lines define production paths or routes; and a first and a second heating devices. The method associates a mathematical model to the production plant for dynamically calculating a reference value, or Global Heating Cost Index, correlated to heating devices; automatically determining for the intermediate products the production path or route that minimizes the reference value, or Global Heating Cost Index; and eventually automatically routing each of the products along the determined production path which minimizes the reference value, or Global Heating Cost Index.

A combined casting and rolling installation that produces hot-rolled strip with a final thickness<1.2 mm, and includes a first continuous casting installation and a second continuous casting installation, each producing slabs from liquid steel; a slab manipulator that conveys the slabs into a walking beam furnace that conveys the slabs into a rolling installation and heats the slabs to rolling temperature. The rolling installation includes a rough rolling mill forming rough-rolled strips from the heated slabs; a coil box forming a coil from the rough-rolled strip and unwinding the rough-rolled strip; a joining device forming an endless rough-rolled strip by connecting its ends without filler material; a multi-stand finishing rolling mill finish-rolling the endless rough-rolled strip to form a finished strip with the final thickness; a cooling section forming the hot-rolled strip; and a plurality of coiling devices coiling the hot-rolled strip.

A device and a method for producing a continuous strip-shaped composite material. For this purpose, a base material, which is produced using at least one casting machine as a continuous strand, in particular made of steel, and providing at least one cladding material, which is unwound in the form of at least one metal strip by a coil unwinding unit are provided. Subsequently, a slab which has formed by solidification from the strand produced by the casting machine and the metal strip unwound by the coil unwinding unit, in the hot state are brought together, wherein the materials, which are moved in the direction toward one another, formed from the slab and the unwound metal strip are hot rolled, so that a single continuous strip-shaped composite material is thus produced by roll cladding. The base material is continuously cast in the vertical direction in the casting direction.

A continuous casting and rolling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention provides: a continuous caster for generating a steel sheet; a first rolling unit associated with the continuous caster; and a second rolling unit which is spaced apart in the outlet of the first rolling unit and comprises: a rolling mill for pressing down the steel sheet; and a cutter for cutting a portion of the steel sheet, wherein the cutter is spaced from the second rolling unit by a length corresponding to the length of the steel sheet discharged in an at least discontinuous rolling mode, and may comprise a cut withdrawal unit provided between the first rolling unit and the second rolling unit. In addition, a continuous casting and rolling method according to another embodiment of the present invention is a continuous casting and rolling method in which a continuous rolling mode and a discontinuous rolling mode are switched to and from each other, and may comprise: a continuous casting step for generating a steel sheet; a rolling step for pressing down the steel sheet to a rolling mill after the continuous casting step; and a cutting step for cutting the steel sheet between the continuous casting step and the rolling step in a discontinuous rolling mode, and cutting the steel sheet with a cutter provided by being spaced apart from the rolling mill at an interval corresponding to the length of the steel sheet being cut and discharged in an at least discontinuous rolling mode.