Hot-dip galvanized steel from Salzgitter Flachstahl: Thicker, thinner, wider, stronger!

In addition to soft, deep-drawn steels, the hot-dip galvanizing lines at Salzgitter Flachstahl also produce higher and maximum strength steels (for example, dual-phase steels). Depending on the grade of the steels, thicknesses of between 0.4 and 4.00 mm and widths of up to 1850 mm can be produced. In individual cases, after separate testing, even widths of up to 1860 mm are possible. The large widths allow customers more effective use of material when cutting blanks.

In this context, optimizing the use of material for the hood of a passenger car is one salient example. Turning the blank clearly reduced the amount of scrap.

For Salzgitter Flachstahl, the challenge was to produce the dimension 0.65 x 1860 mm in grade HX260BD+Z on the hot-dip galvanizing line as the “thin and wide” combination is particularly difficult to achieve. After numerous optimizations on hot-dip galvanizing line 2, this width and thickness combination can now be reliably produced. The primary strip cleaning facility that has just been installed ensures that the highest demands are met - both in terms of surface quality and appearance.
The dimension 2.5 x 1623 mm in HCT600XD+Z is an example of the “thick, wide and very strong” combination. One customer uses this dimension to manufacture longitudinal members for an all-terrain vehicle. Dual-phase steel can be used to produce other highly complex geometries as required in reinforcing beams, for example. Dual-phase steel is high strength and exhibits very good forming properties thanks to its two structural constituents, ferrite and martensite. These are set by means of a specific heating and cooling rate in the annealing furnace.
As a result of improvements to the hot-dip galvanizing line 2, this combination of quality and dimensions can now also be produced.

Hot-dip galvanizing line 1 also enables thicknesses of up to 4 mm. Salzgitter Europlatinen GmbH supplies steel grade HX260LAD in dimensions 3.0 x 1150 mm for the trailing arm of an all-terrain vehicle.

These are just a few examples of how the close collaboration between customers and the Salzgitter Group can lead to successful solutions for both parties.

The large range of dimensions gives customers much greater freedom in the design and construction of the blank.

For further information about the range of available dimensions, please refer to the Salzgitter Flachstahl online product range. Should you have any questions, our contact staff active in the Sales and our Technical Customer Services areas will be happy to help!