Sheet steel coated with a mixture of lead and tin. Terne principally is used in the manufacture of gasoline tanks, although it also can be found in chemical containers, oil filters, and television chassis.

This is where molten steel is continuously cast into slabs. These are either allowed to cool before reheating for hot rolling, or kept hot in a nearby furnace before being sent on to the hot mill. 

Tin-free steel is a chromium-coated, corrosion-resistant steel which, like tinplate, is used for food and other packaging applications. The coating is applied to a cold-rolled, low-carbon steel coil in a continuous electrolytic process using chromic acid. The result is a very thin layer of chromium and chromium oxide. 

This is thin sheet steel with a very thin coating of metallic tin. Tin plate is used primarily in canmaking. It has good corrosion resistance and food compatibility – although many products require a thin coating of lacquer to maximise the shelf life of the contents. 

The ton is a unit of weight, but takes various forms. A metric ton (usually written tonne) is 1,000 kilograms (kg) and is the most widely used. A long ton is 2,240 pounds (lb).

Carbon and alloy steels that have high resistance to abrasion. As the name suggests this product group is especially well suited to the manufacture of tools (including stamping dies, shear blades, and hand tools such as spanners, machine tool bit holders etc).

Cylindrical railcar lined with bricks and used for transporting the hot metal from the blast furnace to the steel shop (steelworks).

Toughness is a measure of a material’s ability to resist fracture by absorbing the stress and strain imposed by sudden loading/impact. It tends to improve with increasing temperature. Tough material may undergo some deformation in absorbing sudden impacts, and a very tough material will have high strength (ability to resist deformation) and high ductility (ability to change shape without failure). Toughness is the opposite of brittleness.

Intermediate vessel used during casting to allow for changing over from one ladle to another without interruption in the process.

These are long, horizontal, refractory-lined, heated rectangular enclosures which are used to maintain steel semis leaving the caster at rolling temperature as they are transferred to the rolling mill. Their function is to save energy and raise productivity by avoiding the usual cooling and subsequent reheating of semis prior to hot rolling. The furnace also acts as a buffer between caster and mill to assist rolling mill scheduling. As semis move slowly through the tunnel, conveyed by a series of rolls, their temperature is maintained by burners mounted at intervals along the sidewalls.

A joint initiative undertaken by vehicle designers and steelmakers to create a lighter stronger autobody, improve vehicle fuel efficiency and improve emission performance.

An advanced steel refining facility that removes oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen under low pressures (in a vacuum) to produce ultra-low-carbon steel for demanding electrical and automotive applications. Normally performed in the ladle, the removal of dissolved gases results in cleaner, higher quality, more pure steel.

A ladle steelmaking process in which oxygen is injected into molten steel under vacuum. This allows carbon to be removed from the steel without oxidising chromium. A method of refining stainless steel.

This is made from hot rolled or cold reduced strip, sheet or plate. Small and medium diameters are produced in continuous, multiple-roll mills that progressively bend incoming, unheated strip into a circular cross-section prior to welding along the longitudinal seam. Tube may subsequently be cold-drawn through dies to achieve precise dimensions and finish. This is cheaper than the seamless process but welded tube generally has a lower mechanical and pressure performance.

This method of joining metals is essential for certain types of pipemaking and is widely used in structural steel fabrication, shipbuilding etc. The workpieces are melted at the point where they are to be joined using a very localised, high temperature energy source, and a filler material is added to create a small additional amount of molten metal. When this cools the workpieces fuse together to form a strong joint.