Book excerpt: This book outlines the basic principles of metallurgical design of flat rolled steels to obtain flat steel products with required metallurgical and mechanical properties. These principles establish the requirements for steel chemical composition and the process parameters, including steelmaking, reheating, hot rolling, annealing and cold rolling. Metallurgical Design of Flat Rolled Steels reviews the current theories and experimental works conducted in this area, and gives a comparative analysis of the obtained results in application to a large variety of steels produced around the world. This guide presents essential material in a fashion that permits rapid application to practical problems while providing the structure and understanding necessary for long-term growth. It first explains how the components fit and work together to make a successful experimental design, then analyzes each component in detail, presenting the various approaches in the form of menus of different strategies and options. Then the text illustrates equations developed by various researchers and compares them in both table and graphic forms. Written in a clear and concise manner, the material is presented using a modular or "building block" approach so readers get to see how the entire structure fits together and learn the essential techniques and terminology necessary to develop more complex designs and analyses.