JFE Steel Corporation announced today that it has developed the world’s first hot-continuous-rolling (endless-rolling) process for high-tensile-strength steel sheets (HITEN). Mass production has already started at the hot-rolling mill of JFE Steel’s Chiba facility, part of the company’s East Japan Works, for the highly stable and productive manufacturing of high-tensile steel.
In 1996, JFE Steel developed the world’s first endless-rolling process (Fig. 1) in which the leading and trailing ends of adjacent sheets that have been wound into coils are joined after roughing, which allows the coils to be inserted continuously into the finishing mill. The endless-rolling process has been deployed at JFE Steel’s Chiba facility.
Link to press release