Tinmill Steel Products
Tinmill steel products are light-guage carbon steel products that are coated in tin, coated in chrome, or uncoated.They included Electrolytic Tinplate (ETP), Tin Coated Sheet (TCS), Tin Free Steel / Electrolytic Chrome Coated Steel (TFS/ECCS), and Tinmill Blackplate (TMBP).
Tinmill products are available in thicknesses from 0.005″-0.040″ (0.12-1.00mm) and widths up to 48″ (1,225mm). This material can be single reduced (T1-T5), or double reduced (DR7-DR9).
As extremely highly-engineered, light-gauge, surface-critical products, the processing and handling of tinmill steel products differ significantly from other flat rolled products. Titan Steel’s long history with tinmill steel products allows us to deliver deliver cost-effective material that meet the requirements of the end use.
Electrolytic Tinplate
Electrolytic Tinplate (ETP) is a thin, cold-rolled carbon steel sheet coated with tin. The steel substrate provides the necessary strength and formability for specialty fabrication. The alloy layer provides the bond between the steel and free tin layer. The free tin layer is not only responsible for the attractive bright finish and ease of solderability but is also non-toxic, a factor of vital importance in food packaging.
Tinplate’s corrosion resistance, light weight and malleability make it ideal for many precision end uses, including food packaging and consumer products. The special properties of tinplate and improved manufacturing technology is allowing for the utilization of tinplate in many new end products.
Tin Coated Sheet
Tin Coated Sheet (TCS) is similar to ETP, except the thickness of the material is greater than 0.015″. The substrate is Cold Rolled (CR) steel instead of Tinmill Blackplate (TMBP), so the product uses flat roll specification designations instead of tinplate designations.
Tin Coated Sheet is often used in industrial products as well as automotive parts. Often, the tin coating provides advantages to the manufacturing process, such as acting as lubricant during stamping, while have minimal impact on the end product.
Tin Free Steel
Tin-Free Steel (TFS) or Electrolytic Chromium Coated Steel (ECCS) is a thin, cold rolled carbon steel sheet coated by electrolytic deposition with metallic chrome overlaid with a film of chrome oxide. Unlike tin, the chromium layers cannot be reflowed into a brighter state and will have a more dull and matte finish.
As its properties are similar to tinplate, TFS is often used as a lower-cost replacement for crown caps, screw caps and can ends. However, TFS is never used without any organic protection (lacquer, polymer) for food products. The lacquer provides lubrication in the production phase and protection against corrosion. Organic coatings generally have excellent adhesive properties on TFS.
Tinmill Blackplate
Tinmill Blackplate (TMBP) is thin annealed Cold Rolled (CR) steel, which is often used as substrate for tinplate (ETP) and tin-free steel (TFS/ECCS).
Cold Rolled (CR) steel is manufactured from hot rolled coils by pickling to remove the surface oxide produced during the hot rolling stage, and cold reducing through a cold mill to the desired thickness. Cold reducing steel produces a low ductility product that is usually processed further to develop desired end use characteristics. These further reprocessing steps include annealing and temper rolling for formability and surface texture, and in some cases, tension leveling for flatness.
CR and TMBP are popular for end uses that require malleability, but not corrosion resistance. TMBP in particular can have very tight tolerances and enhanced performance characteristics for specialized end uses.
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