3. Description of heavy-duty sheet metal

3.1 Semi-finished products yard

The role of the slab yard is to bring prepared semi-finished products to the reheating furnaces, in the order specified by the order scheduling office.

To save energy, some semi-finished products are fired hot (500 to 600°C) and are therefore prepared at high temperature, often after being stored in heat-insulated boxes (incubators) in which hydrogen is diffused (for a period of time depending on the hydrogen content at pouring).

Slab preparation involves :

• total or partial torch-writing, with machines replacing tedious manual work;

• cutting the mother slabs with a blowtorch to obtain daughter slabs corresponding to the planned...