A quarter century of steel cord manufacture. State of the art technology and critical topics for the future

By the early 1970's, ingot casting was predominant for critical applications. In the 1980's continuous casting of large blooms became the metallurgical standard in a production route blast furnace / basic oxygen furnace / ladle metallurgy By the early 1990's, the steel industry began to consider a new compact, cost effective production route comprising electric are furnace steelmaking in line,vith direct billet casting. Concurrently new developments, as higher strength grades, put a more stringent demand on wire rod quality. This paper reviews the changing situation, and highlights critical topics towards horizon 2000.