The Manufacturing Technology of Steel Plate
The manufacturing technology of steel plates has evolved over the years to meet the increasing demands for high-quality, reliable, and specialized steel products.
The process typically begins with the selection and preparation of raw materials. High-grade iron ore, coke, and limestone are carefully blended and charged into a blast furnace. Inside the blast furnace, the materials are heated to extremely high temperatures, where chemical reactions occur to produce molten iron. This molten iron is then further refined in a basic oxygen furnace or an electric arc furnace to adjust its chemical composition and remove impurities.
After refining, the molten steel is transferred to a continuous casting machine. Here, the liquid steel is poured into a water-cooled copper mold, which solidifies it into a semi-finished slab or billet. The continuous casting process allows for a continuous and efficient production of the initial steel shape, with precise control over its dimensions and quality.
The next step is the rolling process. The semi-finished slabs are reheated to a suitable temperature and passed through a series of rollers in a hot rolling mill. The rollers gradually reduce the thickness and shape the steel into the desired plate width and thickness. This hot rolling not only imparts the required mechanical properties to the steel, such as strength and ductility, but also improves its surface finish.
Some steel plates may undergo additional processes such as cold rolling for further dimensional accuracy and surface quality improvement. Heat treatment processes can also be applied to modify the microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel to meet specific application requirements.
Finally, the steel plates are inspected for quality using various methods, including ultrasonic testing, visual inspection, and mechanical property testing. Any defective plates are either repaired or rejected to ensure that only high-quality products reach the market.