136

ESTIMATION OF LOAD AND TORQUE IN THE

HOT ROLLING PROCESS
By J. W.Green* and J. F. Wallacet
A shear plane theory of hot rolling is proposed, based on the well-known observation of
localized deformation during the rolling process.
Equations of simple form in terms of yield stress and geometric functions enable roll
load and torque to be readily evaluated with or without tensions.
Comparison with the experimental results of Wallquist suggests that the theory gives a
more satisfactory indication of the influence of the R / h ratio on load and torque than does
the Sims analysis.
Equations are presented in four forms :
(1) the general case with tensions;
(2) the more common case without tensions;
(3) simplified equations which are valid for most practical conditions; and
(4) graphical functions for use with the Cook and McCrum yield stress data.

INTRODUCTION

of rolling mill assemblies it has

been sufficient to estimate roll loads and torques for a
particular critical situation from empirical formulae and
data. A typical example of this is the use of the Mogiljanskij
slide rule, which is based on the work of Ekelund. However, for continuous automatic control it is desirablethat the
mechanics of deformation and the characteristics of the mill
are expressed accurately in a generalized form suitable for
automatic computation.
The earlier theories of the deformation in hot rolling,
such as that of von KBrm6n (I)$, assume homogeneous
compression and within the assumptions of yield stress and
friction lead to underestimates of the rolling forces.
Orowans (2) comprehensive theory attempts to avoid this
restriction but the evaluation of the equations is too laborious and complicated for practical use. The Sims (3)
simplifications of these equations have found considerable
practical applications, particularly in conjunction with the
Cook and McCrum data (4) but, as shown in Figs 7-11, the
prediction of the influence of Rlh ratio is not satisfactory.
Attempts have been made by Alexander ( 5 ) to obtain a
slip line field which would give a complete solution within

WITH MANUAL CONTROL

The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution on lSth September 1961.
* Postgraduate Student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheftietd.
t Senior Research Engineer, Pressed Steel Co. Ltd, Oxford. Formerly
Senior Research Fellow,. Department
of Mechanical Engineering,
.
University of Shefield.
$ A numerical list of references is given in the Appendix.
IOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING S C I E N C E

its range of application but an entirely satisfactory configuration has not yet been obtained.
Current interest in cogging and slabbing operation and
in the use of small rolls for sheet operations has promoted
the application of limit analysis techniques to the problem.
One of these methods proposed by Westwood and Wallace
(6) considers the equilibrium of quasi-rigid blocks of
material on the boundaries of which the specific shear stress
is limited to the shear strength, K/2, of the material.
Orowan (2), in fact, illustrated (Fig. 1) that the deformation
in hot flat rolling appears to take place in regions of shear
emanating from the lines of contact of the roll and the stock
at entry and exit and intersectkg on the stock axis. The
region between is instantaneously rigid and remains stationary with respect to the roll. This pattern is in agreement
with Alexanders solution (5) and is similar to that which
exists in forging and other compression operations.
If this is so, then whilst the effective roll diameter will
determine the arc of contact, the precise roll shape should
have a secondary influence on the deformation and the
rolling forces. Moreover a substantial simplification may
be made in the theoretical treatment of the process by
assuming that the roll has a plane surface between the inlet
and exit lines.
This postulation obviously destroys the confidence that
an analysis similar to Westwood and Wallace ( 6 ) will lead to
an over-estimate of the rolling load and torque but in view
of the unreliability of the knowIedge of strain rate and its
influence on yield stress the Satisfactory agreement of the
computed analysis outweighs this theoretical weakness.
VOI4 No 2 1962

ESTIMATION OF LOAD AND TORQUE IN THE HOT ROLLING PROCESS

*
4

137

Angular ordinate in roll throat.

Inclination to stock axis of exit side
shear plane.

Subsmpts

P
g

Fig. 1. Regions of plastic flow suggested by Orowan

Shear Plane Theory of Hot Rolling

Notation
a = R'/h

f
G

H
h
J P Jg

K = 2Y/43

Ratio of deformed roll radius to thickness of rolled stock.

Ratio of back tensile stress to shear
yield stress in plane strain, K/2.
Mean stock width.
Dimensionless functions used with
Cook and McCrum data to calculate
load and torque.
Engineering strain at angular ordinate
from exit of arc of contact.
Ratio of front tensile stress to shear
yield stress in plane strain, K/2.
Total roll torque, per unit width of
stock.
Initial thickness of stock.
Thickness of rolled product.
Functions of yield stress in equations
by Cook and McCrum.
Yield stress in plane strain compression.

Yield stress used in load and torque

calculations.

R'
RO
Y
CL

e
h

Projected length of arc of contact.

Roll speed in revolutions per minute.
Stresses normal to shear planes.
Roll separating force, per unit width of
stock.
Mean specific stress functions.
An approximation to Qp.
Roll radius.
Radius of deformed arc of contact.
Radius of mid-point in chord of contact.
Yield stress in uniaxial compression.
Angle of contact of stock on roll.
Ratio of distance of neutral point from
exit to total length of contact.
Inclination to stock axis of entry side
shear plane.
Mean strain rate in rolling.

JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Denotes functions used to calculate

load.
Denotes functions used to calculate
torque.

I n plane strain forging, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the neutral

point is symmetrically positioned. So resolving forces on
AACE gives nlh = KL/2 and on AABC, nL =
2(Kh/4+nlL/2). Thus
K
n =2 (h/L+L/h) or n/K = Q = +(h/L+L/h) (1)
It can be shown that for inclined dies on free material
Q = +(h'/L+L/h') where h' is the mean distance of
separation of the dies. The position of the neutral point will
be influenced by the geometry of the system, and obviously
these staticalequationsare limited by the neutral point falling
within AC.
It is apparent that on the above assumptions this case of
wedge compression is analogous to rolling without tensions.
In the general case of rolling with front and back tensions,
shown in Fig. 3, the neutral point is positioned at j3L from
the exit along the length of contact, L. Then from the
equilibrium of the forces acting on the rigid blocks defmed
by the planes AD, AC and CD, the values of By Qp, P and G
can be found.
For unit length along the roll axis, let fK/2 be the front
tensile stress and bK/2 be the back tensile stress. From the
geometry tan CL = (H-h)/2L, 1 = [R'(H-l~h)-(H-h)~/4]
and Cot JI = (2L-Hcot O)/h.
Resolving forces vertically on AACD gives
n = K(H+h)/4L+(n2-nnl)Hcot 8/2L
+nl -K(1- 2 P W- h ) / a (2)
Resolving horizontally on the block to the right of AD,
nl = [f+(2L-Hcot O)/h]K/2 . . (3)

Fig. 2. Plane strain forging

V o l 4 No 2 I962

J. W. GREEN AND

138

I. F. WALLACE

Equations (a), (7), (8) and (9) give a complete solution for
the general case of hot rolling with front and back tensions.
The equations can be presented as follows in terms o f t and
a for rolling without coiler tensions:

P = Karh

+4 .

2 -r -r2/(2-r )
4ar(l--s)
2-r

(11)

G = ---dz/[ra(l-r)-r2/21[
Karh2
1-r

Fig. 3. Application of force field to rolling

Resolving horizontally on the block to the left Of CD,
n2 =@+cot 6')K/2
. . * (4)
and further, by resolving all horizontal external forces on
the stock,
(5)
(1-2/3)K/2 = n(H-h)/2L-(fh-bbH)K/4L
From the above equations the relation is obtained
n = KA/(B+C Cot e+D Cot2 e),
where A = L/2[L2+(H-h)2/4],
B = (H+ h)/2+L( f+ 2L/h)+(fh-bH)(H- h ) / G
C = (b--f-4L/h)H/2 and D = (H+h)H/2h.
It is easily shown that n is a minimum when cot 6' = -C/2D,
and so n / K = Qp = A(B-C2/4D) is the optimum value
of $3,. Also, for the case off = 0 and b = 0, 0 = $ at the
optimum.
Expanding,
Qp

Qp above may be compared with the similar function due

to sims

. . * (14)
where Y (in this equation) is the thickness of the stock at
the neutral point, which requires further computation.
Values of Qpobtained fiom the shear plane theory and the
Sims theory are compared in Fig. 4.
By using the approximation L = 2/[R'(H-h)] in
equations (6), (8) and (9) these can be reduced to the
following simple forms :

= [(H+h)/2+LCf+2L/h)+Cfh--bH)(H--)/4L
-hH(b--f-44L/h)2/8(H+I~)]L/2(L'+(H--)2/4)(6)

and from equation (5)

fl = QP(H-h)/2L+Cfh-bbH)/U . (7)
The roll separating force per unit width of stock is
P = nL+K/2(1-2/3)Ltancr,
which becomes

P =?f,Q',d[R'(H-h)]

. . .

(16)

. . . .

(17)

and

+-

G = I?EQ',R'(H-h)

2.0

For the purposes of calculating the total torque per unit

width of the stock, forces on the roll are assumed to act at
radius Ro, the radius of the mid-point of chord AC, where
Ro = R'.\/(l-(H-h)/2R).
Thus,

G = ROK
-[ b H - f h + 2 ( 1 - 2 / 3 ) d L 2 + ~
2

%
I

19

or

08:,

10

I
20
REDUCTION

40
-30
pUr C e n t

50

Fig. 4. Comparison of Q p values obtained from the shear

plane and Sims theories
JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE

v o l 4 No 2 1962

139

ESTIMATION OF LOAD AND TORQUE IN THE HOT ROLLING PROCESS

Table 1. Ratio Q',/ Qp over the range of rolling

conditions
Reduction, r

0.1

0.3

-=I i: 1 1 1

Roll radius
Final stock hickness
-

1.009
1.003
1.001

0.5

1.049
1.015

1.130
1.043
1.010

1.007

From Table 1 it can be seen that no significant error is

incurred by using the approximate value Q', for practical
ranges of r and Rlh values. R, and xKare defined by Cook

's"

and McCrum (4)asRp= a

K d + and

a,

100

Fig. 5. Cook and McCrum function C,

being the angle of contact, and e the engineering strain at

any angular ordinate in the roll throat.
CL

METHOD OF CALCULATION
As the constant strain rate compression data compiled by
Cook and McCrum are becoming widely familiar it is useful
to present the shear plane theory in a form convenient for
use with this information.

. . . . . . .

J = R'J,C,

and

(18)

G = 2RR'J,CK
(19)
where J p = R,J(--)
l+r
and J g =
1-r
1-r
Jp and JKare quantities dependent on the yield characteristics of the material being rolled and are given by Cook
and McCrum for 15 different steels at temperatures of 900,
1O00, 1100 and 120O0C, between values of % = 1 and 300,
at reductions between 0.05 and 0.5.
The mean strain rate % is plotted for rolling Configurations varying between a = 1 and 500 and r = 0-05 and 0.5,
using

Fig. 6. Cook and M c C m function C,

C, and C, are dimensionless quantities determined by

the geometry of the rolling configuration. Cook and McCrum
have used the Sims theory to obtain these functions.
Similar coefficients are obtained by modifying equations
(1 1) and (12), i.e.
1 ]Jr~(l-r)-r2/2
c, = - 2-r-rz/(2-r)
4ar(l-r)
2-r
1 -r2
. .
(21)
and
2-r-rz/(2-r)
1 Jr[ra(l-r)-r2/4]
cp=
4ur(l-r)
2-r
a(l+r)
. .
(22)
which are plotted in Figs 5 and 6 for use in conjunction
with the published values of Jg and J,.

Example
Rolling 0.15 per cent carbon steel at 1OOO"C in chilled cast
iron rolls of 6.7411. radius at a speed of 100 rev/& reduction, t = 0.3, H = 0.394 in., h = 0.276 in. Taking
R' = 6.7 in. a = R'/h = 24.28, giving h = 27.9 sec-1 and
from Fig. 5 C, = 0.148.
Referring to the Cook and McCrum data for 0-15per cent
carbon steel at 1000C, = 27.9 sec-1 and r = 0-3,
J p = 15-7 ton in-2.
Thus P = R'C,J, = 6.7 x 0.148 x 15.7
= 15-57 ton per in. width.
Correction for roll flattening can be made using the formula
R'
due to Hitchcock, - = 1
where c is a factor deR
pending on the modulus of elasticity of the roll metal. For

J O U R N A L ME C H .4NI C AL E N G I N E E R I N G S C I E N CB

z!h),

( +-

V o l 4 No 2 1962

140

J. W. GREEN AND J. F. WALLACE

C O M P A R I S O N OF RESULTS
Figs 7-11 show the comparison of roll loads and torques
obtained by the shear plane and Sims theories, with the
experimental results of Wallquist (7). The graphs are a
selection from the results for five steels, the analysis of the
two chosen being given in Table 2.

chilled cast iron c = 1.91 x 10-4 in2 per ton. This gives
R' = 6.7 x 1.0503 = 7.04 in., from which is obtained the
corrected value of a = 25-5;i
,
C, and J p are redetermined
for a = 25.5, giving P = 16.28. Further correction would
only increase the value of P by about 1 per cent.
G is now calculated from the corrected values of h = 28.7
and a = 25.5. From the data Jg= 14.63 and from Fig. 6
c, = 0.009 45.
G = 2RR'CgJg = 2 x 6.7 x 7.04 x 0.009 45 x 14.63
= 13-07ton in. per in. width of stock.

Data Chilled cast iron rolls, R = 6.7 in.

Roll speed, N = 100 rev/min.
Strip width, b, = 1.97 in.
Initial strip thicknesses, H = 0.0985, 0.197, 0.394
and 0.788 in.
Wallquist presented a series of curves for each steel, at four
different temperatures, plotting p against H/2R for 10, 20,
30 and 40 per cent reductions and t against reduction for
each initial thickness. p is the roll pressure coefficient and t
the torque arm coefficient such that the roll load, F =
p x b, x 2R and the total torque, T = 2 F x L x t. The
Table 2. Analysis of steels used in experiments by Wallquist
compared with steels tested by Cook and McCrum

Wallquist
steel No.

Carbon.
Silicon

. . .

. .
Manganese .
Phosphorlls.
Sulphur. .
chromium.
Nickel . .
Molybdenum
70

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
. .

1-00
0.19
0-17

1a03
0.22
0.27
0.03
0.024

0.023

0.027
0.10
0.09

0.08
0.45
0.67
0.015
0015
18.2
9-9
0.60

0.07

0.43
0.48

18.6
7.7

I-WALLQUIST I
---SHEAR

PLAN

60

50

n40

6
I

230

20

l'
0

20

40

$0

80

100

120

Fig. 9. Load curves for steel 12: stainless llOO"C,

corrected for roll flattening
Vo14 No 2 1962

ESTIMATION OF LOAD AND TORQUE I N THE HOT ROLLING PROCESS

Fig. 10. Torque curves for steel 12: stainless, ll#"C,

corrected fm roU&ttm*ng
60

50

141

of the shear plane theory with the experimental results.

Even at high reductions the Sims theory suggests that the
roll load decreases continuously with decreasing final stock
thickness, whilst the shear plane theory is in agreement
with the results of Wallquist, which indicate an optimum
value of R/h which varies with reduction.
It must be pointed out that much of the inconsistency in
the comparison of the shear plane theory with experimental
results could arise from the use of the Cook and McCrum
data, which are based on the assumption of homogeneous
deformation. In both the data and in the application of the
data to the shear plane theory it has been necessary for the
purpose of estimating the mean strain rate to assume homogeneous compression. The actual deformation in the
compression test and in hot rolling, as previously discussed,
appears to be limited to narrow regions which must suffer
a greater strain rate than that calculated on the assumption
of homogeneous compression. It would be fortuitous if the
ratio of the homogeneous and actual strain rates were
similar in simple compression and in hot rolling.
An increase in strain rate with relation to the rate of recrystallization could cause the yield stress to increase. On
the other hand, at high rates of deformation the heat
generated by the work done on the material is retained
during the period of deformation and so reduces the yield
stress. A more realistic estimation of the influence of strain
rate on yield stress may be obtained by impact torsion
tests, but even so, the inclusion of these results in rolling
theory would still require an estimation of the true strain
rate in the rolling operation.

40
Y)

CONCLUSIONS

+
0
I30
n

20

10

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

RIA

Fig. 11. Load curves for steel 12: stainless, 1100C

theoretical results were calculated from the Cook and
McCrum data as described except that only the results for
stainless steel were corrected for roll flattening, Figs 9
and 11.
It can be seen that the shear plane theory gives results
which compare favourably with those of the Sims theory.
I n particular the prediction by the shear plane theory of the
influence of R/h improves on that of the Sims theory, which
tends to underestimate greatly the roll loads for thin
materials. Correction for roll flattening will increase the
calculated loads by up to 30 per cent in the region of
R/h = 100 and by about 3 per cent where R/h = 10. In the
majority of cases tested this would improve the agreement
J O U R N A L MECHANICAL E N G I N E E R I N G S C I E N C E

Owing to the complicated inter-relation of strain rate, roll

flattening and yield stress factors, the best that may be
expected of a theory of rolling is that it predicts the form
of influence of geometrical and material variables on the
rolling load and torque. The shear plane theory appears to
do this to a more satisfactory degree than do previous
theories, and the simplicity of its evaluation is attractive for
its application on the mill floor and, more important, to
electronic computation for automatic control. Obvious
refinements are to use different yield stresses for entry and
exit, and to allow for front and back tensions in cases of hot
strip rolling.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank Sendzimir Ltd, the Steel

Company of Wales Ltd, and United Steel Companies Ltd,
for their co-operation.
APPENDIX
REFERENCES

TH. 1925 z. ungew. Math. Mech., vol. 5 ,

p. 139, 'On the theory of rolling'.
OROWAN,
R. 1943 Proc. Instn mech. Engrs, Lond., vol. 150,
p. 140, 'Calculation of roll pressure in hot and cold flat
rolling'.

(I) VON KhRiuAN,

(2)

VoI 4 No 2 1962

142

J. W. GREEN AND J. F. WALLACE

(3) S m , R. B. 1954 Proc. Znstn mech. Engrs, Lond., vol. 168,

p. 191, Calculation of roll force and torque in hot rolling
mills.
(4) COOK,P. M. and MCCRUM,A. W. 1958 B.I.S.R.A. Publication The calculation of load and torque in hot Rat
rolling.
(5) ALEXANDER,
J. M. 1955 Proc. Znstn mech. Engrs, Lond., vol.

JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE

169, p. 1021, Slip line field for the hot rolling process.
(6) WESTWOOD,
D. and WALLACE,
J. F. 1960J . mech. Engng Sa.,
vol. 2, No. 3, p. 178, Upper bound values for the loads
on a rigid-plastic body in plane strain.
(7) WALLQUIST,
G. 19543. Iron St. Imt., vol. 177, p. 142, Roll
pressure and energy consumption in hot rolling.

V o l 4 No 2 1962