METAL-COATED STRIP

摘要

A method of producing a metal-coated, recovery annealed, and thereby high tensile strength, steel strip is disclosed. The includes the steps of heat treating the steel strip in a heat treatment furnace (5), thereafter hot-dip metal coating the strip in a bath (6) of molten coating metal and thereby forming a metal coating on the steel strip, and thereafter conditioning the surface of the metal-coated steel strip at a conditioning station (8) by smoothing the surface of the strip. The method is characterised by controlling the temperature of an outlet end section of the heat treatment furnace to be (i) sufficiently high to minimise condensation of metal vapour in the outlet end section and/or (ii) substantially constant to minimise destabilisation of metal/metal oxide deposits on the walls of the outlet end section that could release deposited material onto strip passing through the outlet end section.