Very basically speaking, recrystallization temperature is the point at which a metal becomes sufficiently ductile to be shaped without breaking. Ductility is the measure of a material’s capacity to be shaped without breaking. Generally, the higher the temperature to which a metal is heated, the higher its ductility. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
Falcon Steel, Inc.
Springfield, MO | 800-999-0987Using state-of-the-art technology, Falcon Steel is a full-line steel service center that offers both stock length materials and a wide range of processing services including plate cutting, hole punching, shearing, galvanizing and waterjet cutting. Providing a variety of products such as flats, angles, channels, beams, tubing, rounds and more, Falcon Steel can meet many diverse steel requirements.

California Steel Services
San Bernardino, CA | 800-323-7227As a major supplier of hot rolled steel sheets for over 15 years, California Steel Services uses state-of-the-art equipment and top of the line customer service to provide quality components for customers throughout the Western United States. In addition to hot rolled steel sheets, plates and coils; California Steel Services offers a range of services to ensure your exact specifications are met.

INTSEL Steel East
Bridgeport, CT | 855-446-8735In business since 1829, INTSEL Steel East is a unique and accomplished manufacturer of stainless steel tubing. Approximately 750,000 square feet of warehouse space and round the clock loading and processing of material enables us to serve well a multitude of steel products users whose requirements demand prompt service. Visit our website or call INTSEL Steel East today – for the metal you need tomorrow.

Chapel Steel
Lower Gwynedd, PA | 800-570-7674Over three decades of heritage with a new vision of steel and state-of-the-art steel services. We are steel plate specialists offering Structural, Carbon & HSLA Steel Plate; Alloy & Abrasion Resistant Steel Plate; Marine & OffShore Steel Plate; PVQ Steel Plate and Armor & Ballistic Steel Plate.

When steel is heated beyond its recrystallization temperature and pushed between a set of rollers, the sheets that emerge from the rolling process exhibit qualities of high strength and good formability. This type of steel is not as hard as cold rolled steel, but is often used for high strength and structural applications within the automotive, appliance, railroad and ship building industries.
Hot rolled steel is used for a wide variety of products, such as frame components for cars, wheels, tubing, agricultural equipment parts and machinery parts. It is usually a blue-grey color and is only painted if it has been pickled with zinc or iron phosphates. This type of steel is available in yield strengths up to 60 ksi.
To produce hot rolled steel, steel service centers heat semi-finished slabs of steel nearly to their melting point in a furnace, where they become easily moldable. The slab is pushed through a set of rollers, a process comparable to rolling cookie dough with a rolling pin. Its thickness is cut down from eight or nine inches to between one and 1.5 inches.
The steel is then cropped into different shapes by a pair of steel drums with large shearing blades and left to return to room temperature. As it cools, a metallurgical transformation in the steel's crystal structure takes places, which hardens the steel considerably. Outside processing, such as pickling, temper rolling, re-squaring, slitting and cutting-to-length is done after the rolling process is complete.
Pickling, for example, is the process of surface treating hot rolled steel with strong acids. Because steel is susceptible to oxidization, especially when exposed to heat, hot rolling can cause an undesirable film to form on the surface of the steel. Pickling can remove this film without risking deformation to the steel's surface. Other physical machining processes can also be used to remove such films.