Vanadium microalloying is highly effective in high strength strip steels produced by thin slab casting and direct rolled process.Because of the high solubility of V(C,N)in austenite,vanadium is likely to remain in solution during casting,equalisation and rolling.Vanadium microalloyed steels have better hot ductility and are less prone to transverse cracking than niobium containing steels.Despite a coarse as-cast austenite grain size before rolling,significant grain refinement can be achieved in vanadium microalloyed steels by repeated recrystallization during rolling,resulting in a fine uniform ferrite microstructure in final strip.Almost all vanadium present in microalloyed steels is available to precipitate in ferrite as very fine particles,contributing to precipitation strengthening.Vanadium microalloyed steels show less sensitivity to rolling process variables and exhibit excellent combination of strength and toughness.