Sheet Steel

cold rolled annealed sheets of steel 0.08–0.32 μ thick. Protective paint and lacquer coatings (tin, special lacquers, and so on) are applied to its surface to prevent corrosion.

Sheet steel coated with a layer of tin (tinplate or tinned sheet) is the most common type. According to the application method of the protective coating, it is subdivided into hottinned sheet (with a tin coating 1.6–2.5 μ thick) and sheet steel tinned by the method of electrolytic deposition (with a tin layer 0.34–1.56 μ thick). The use of sheet steel with tinless coatings is promising; such coatings consist of a layer of electrolytically deposited chromium 0.01–0.05 μ thick covered by a layer of phenol-epoxy lacquer 3–8 μ, thick.

In the USSR, sheet steel is produced in sheets measuring 512–1,000 × 712–1,200 mm or in rolls up to 1 m wide and weighing up to 15 tons. Sheet steel is rigid and may be deep pressed. Because of these properties it is widely used in the fabrication of metal containers (mainly cans for food products).

steel sheets 600–5,000 mm wide or strips in roll form up to 2,350 mm wide produced from slabs or ingots in sheet rolling mills by hot rolling (> 1 mm thick) and cold rolling (<3.5 mm thick). A distinction is made between sheet steel (< 4 mm thick) and heavy-gauge steel (> 4 mm thick). The following varieties of sheet steel are distinguished according to use: structural steel (including automotive steel), roofing steel, transformer steel, and steel for the construction of bridges, boilers, ships, storage tanks, and pipes. Large quantities of sheet steel are made with anticorrosion coatings, including zinc, tin (tin plate), lead, aluminum, and plastic. The surface of sheet steel may be smooth, fluted, or corrugated.