Patent ID: 8444780

Claim:
A method of making hot rolled steel strip, the steps comprising: assembling an internally cooled roll caster having laterally positioned casting rolls forming a nip between them, and forming a casting pool of molten steel supported on the casting rolls above the nip and confined adjacent the ends of the casting rolls by side dams, the molten steel of such composition that hot rolled thin cast strip produced has a composition comprising by weight, greater than 0.25% and up to 1.1% carbon, between 0.5 and 2.0% manganese, between 0.05 and 0.50% silicon, less than 0.01% aluminum, counter rotating the casting rolls to solidify metal shells on the casting rolls as the casting rolls move through the casting pool, and forming from the metal shells downwardly through the nip between the casting rolls a steel strip, hot rolling the steel strip such that mechanical properties at 10% and 35% reduction are within 10% for yield strength, tensile strength and total elongation; and coiling the hot rolled steel strip at a temperature between 550 and 750° C. to provide a majority of the microstructure comprising pearlite, along with bainite and acicular ferrite in the microstructure.