Applications Direct usage
For you as a direct user of steel strip your prerequisite is of high importance. Besides a wide range of grades and dimensions the usage of hot rolled narrow strip from Precision Steel offers you the following advantages:Advantages of the mill edge
- the mill edge is rounded (slit strip = sharp edged)
- the mill edge comes without burr and micro cracks (cannot be avoided by slit strip)
- the mill edge has no embrittled work hardening (slit strip = even after an additional edge dressing work hardening may still remain)
Result:
- leads to a higher fatigue resistance on dynamically stressed parts
Advantages of very tight thickness tolerances
precidur® offers very tight thickness tolerances over the length as well as over the width of the strip due to the limited rolling width. This is necessary to be able to also achieve a very symmetrical cross profile on the hot rolled strip.
Result:
- when the very tight thickness tolerances are consequently utilised this will lead to weight savings on the finished part as well as to a higher output (more parts per tonne of steel)
- extended lifetime of the tools and less downtime necessary for tool and line adjustments
- possibility of replacing cold rolled sheets and strip
Advantages because of the availability of high strength steels even in bigger strip thickness
Because of high yield strength and high tensile strength by a good cold formability, the microalloyed and low-pearlite fine-grained steel got a wide application:
- Because of the problem-free processing against stells with a higher carbon standard,
- the possibility and necessity of the and weight reduction
- as well as the possibility to save the heat treatment after creative forming.
New analysis variants makes possible to present highest strength values.
High yield and tensile strengths combined with a still very good cold formability have opened the way for micro-alloyed low pearlite fine-grained steels to a vast amount of applications:
- because of a less difficult processing compared to high carbon steels
- because of feasibility as well as the necessity ro reduce thickness and weight
- and because of possible savings of heat treating operations.
New analysis options allow to reach even higher strength values.
Applications Cold rolling industry
Application related advantages of hot rolled narrow strip for the cold rolling industry. To enable you to produce a high quality cold rolled strip you need an appropriate hot rolled steel strip as a prerequisite. precidur® is the material of choice with the following advantages:
Advantages of the mill edges
- the mill edge is rounded (slit strip = sharp edged)
- the mill edge comes without burr and micro cracks (cannot be avoided by slit strip)
- the mill edge has a sorbitic edge microstructure in the area of the highest demand
This leads to certain advantages:
- even high carbon grades can be rolled down without edge cracking (no loss of material and production time)
- fewer annealing processes are necessary which means lesser costs. Also extra heat treatment leads to a worse hardening microstructure (coarse grain caused by a longer holding time and higher temperatures) during subsequent hardening processes.
- extended lifetime of the rolls because of natural shaped edges (instead of sharp edged work hardened material)
Advantages of a favourable transverse profile
- precidur® offers very tight thickness tolerances over the length as well as over the width of the strip due to the limited rolling width.
- Wedge shaped strips slit from wide strip cannot be used to produce cold strip with high demands for a symmetric profile and very tight tolerances over the strip width
Result:
- precidur® with its consistent symmetrical shape is an excellent prerequisite for cold rolling
Advantages of a favourable microstructure
precidur® can be produced with a fine perlitic (sorbitic) microstructure over the length and the width of the strip.
Especially the microstructure of the edges – most important is the area of ca. 30 mm – can be produced with a sorbitic microstructure of nearly 100%.
This leads to certain advantages during cold rolling:
- non alloyed as well as alloyed carbon steels can be cold rolled with high reduction levels without initial annealing processes
- fewer annealing processes
- finest cold rolled microstructure
- higher uniformity of the mechanical and technological values
3 questions for ... Barbara Timm
Barbara Timm, Lead Technical Customer Support, explains why precidur® is so popular with our customers and what makes it so special.
For our customers precidur® is a carefree package. The customers receive a tailormade precision strip in terms of strip geometry and material properties.
The customers are able to track the production status of their orders online and via our customer app at all time.
A contact person from our technical customer service department secures that all customer requests are met with the highest priority, thus supporting process reliability.
What does precise strip geometry in the case of precidur® mean?
When manufacturing a precision strip with a thickness of 4 mm, we guarantee a maximum deviation of +/- 0.04 mm over the length and width of the strip. More vividly: In comparison with a human hair this corresponds to less than half of the diameter. This is our worldwide unique selling point and we are particularly proud of our Smart Crown* technology, which enable us to assure this.
What does SmartCrown® technology in the case of precidur® mean?
The SmartCrown® technology enables us to minimize the strip thickness reduction from the center up to the rolled mill edge upon customer's request. This leads to an increased material usage, improved quality and finally to a reduction of costs.
3 questions for ... Michele li Bergolis
Michele li Bergolis, Team Manager Sales Cold Rolling Industry, explains how precidur® helps customers to simplify processes, optimize results, reduce costs and improve quality.
precidur® is synonymous with tightest thickness tolerances as well as homogeneous material properties and best surface quality. This leads to high production reliability and stable processes. The specific advantages in the stamping process are longer tool lives, less machine downtimes and the possibility to increase the number of strokes. Moreover, the reject rate is significantly reduced, and precidur® allows to save material owing to the shift of the tolerance zone to the lower thickness range.
What are the advantages of precidur® for re-rollers?
Owing to precidur®’s rounded edges and its specific microstructure, crude strip and intermediate annealing in the cold rolling process can be dispensed with. The extremely tight profile and thickness tolerances allow higher rolling speeds and thickness reduction degrees in the cold rolling process. Moreover, the wide variety of grades combined with batch sizes meeting demand and production requirements permit to significantly reduce the necessary feedstock inventories.
What other advantages does precidur® offer?
Industry 4.0, which we have been practicing for many years, ensures constant transparency and data availability for our customers. Customers can place their orders with us via EDI and influence the production process until shortly before completion of their orders, in order to change the width and thickness of the material at short notice, for example. This offers enormous flexibility and avoids incorrect planning in an increasingly volatile market environment. Our experienced engineers supervise the customer projects from the prototype stage until they are ready for series production. Especially in the project stage, it is important to provide sample material as early as possible. With our business model, we are well prepared for this and can thus significantly accelerate the start of series production.
