Method for the production of hot-rolled steel strip and combined casting and rolling plant for carrying out the method

A method for production of a hot-rolled steel strip in bundles or in sheets from a steel melt in a continuous manufacturing process, with an uninterrupted strip runthrough, having the following steps in sequence:

• continuous casting a steel strand in a continuous casting mold of a continuous casting plant,
• roll-forming the cast steel strand in a first group of roll stands into a pre-rolled hot strip,
• roll-forming of the pre-rolled hot strip in a second group of roll stands into a hot-rolled steel strip,
• descaling the pre-rolled hot strip after the first group of roll strands and immediately before entry of the hot strip into a temperature setting device,
• setting the pre-rolled hot strip to a rolling temperature in a temperature setting device after the hot strip passes the first group of roll stands and after the descaling and before the second group of roll stands,
• holding the pre-rolled hot strip in a protective gas atmosphere in the temperature setting device,
• immediately after the pre-rolled hot strip runs through the temperature setting device, roll-forming the hot strip in the second group of roll stands, and
• winding the hot-rolled steel strip into bundles or dividing the hot-rolled steel strip into sheets.