Rolling of Metals

Chapter 13
 Introduction

 This chapter describes

Flat rolling
Shape rolling
Production of seamless tubing & pipe
 Rolling – process of reducing the thickness of a
long work piece
 Plates – having thickness greater than 6mm
 Sheets – generally less than 6mm thick
 Flat Rolling
Flat Rolling Process
 Flat Rolling Process
• Metal strip enters the roll gap
• The strip is reduced in size by the metal rolls
• The velocity of the strip is increased the metal strip is reduced in size
• Factors affecting Rolling Process
– Frictional Forces
– Roll Force and Power Requirement
 Frictional Forces

Friction Forces acting on strip forces

• Max Draft
• h0-hf = µ2R
Roll Force
• F= W0.L.Yavg
• L=̃ sqrt{R(ho-hf)}
 Flat-Rolling Practice
• Hot rolling
– The initial break down of an ingot
– Continuously cast slab
– Structure may be brittle
– Converts the cast structure to a wrought structure
• Finer grains
• Enhanced ductility
– Reduction in defects
• Continuous Casting
– Is replacing traditional methods
– Faster & better

Product of the first hot-rolling operation - Bloom or slab

– Square cross section of 150mm (6in) on one side
– Processed father by shape rolling
• I-beams
• Railroad rails
 Flat-Rolling Practice Cont'd
• Billets – smaller than blooms and rolled into bars and rods
• Cold rolling
– carried out at room temperature
– Produces sheet and strip metal
– Better surface finish – less scale
• Pack rolling – when two or more layers of metal are rolled together

Changes in grain structure during hot-rolling

 Defects in Rolled Plates & Sheets
• Undesirable
– Degrade surface appearance
– Adversely affect the strength
• Sheet metal defects include:
– Scale, Rust, Scratches, Gouges, Pits, & Cracks
– May be caused by impurities and inclusions
• Wavy edges – result of roll bending
• Alligatoring – complex phenomenon
 Other Characteristics
• Residual stresses – produces:
– Compressive residual stresses on the surfaces
– Tensile stresses in the middle

• Tolerances
– Cold-rolled sheets: (+/- ) 0.1mm – 0.35mm
– Tolerances much greater for hot-rolled plates

• Surface roughness
– Cold rolling can produce a very fine finish
– Hot rolling & sand have the same range of surface finish

• Gauge numbers – the thickness of a sheet is identified by a

gauge number
Schematic Illustration of Various Roll arrangements
Schematic Illustration of various roll arrangements : (a) two-high; (b)
three-high; (c) four-high; (d) cluster mill
 Shape-Rolling Operations

• Various shapes can be produced by shape rolling

– Bars
– Channels
– I-beams
– Railroad rails

• Roll-pass design requires considerable experience in order

to avoid external and internal defects
 Stages in Shape Rolling of an H-section part. Various other structural
sections such as channels and I-beams, are rolled by this kind of process.
 Ring Rolling
• A thick ring is expanded into a large diameter ring
– The ring is placed between the two rolls
– One of which is driven
– The thickness is reduced by bringing the rolls together
• The ring shaped blank my be produced by:\
– Cutting from plate
– Piercing
– Cutting from a thick walled pipe
Various shapes can be produced by shaped rolls
• Typical applications of ring rolling:
– Large rings for rockets
– Gearwheel rims
– Ball-bearing and roller-bearing races
• Can be carried out at room temperature
• Has short production time
• Close dimensional tolerances
RING ROLLING

(a) Schematic illustration of

Ring-rolling operation.
Thickness reduction results
in an increase in the part
diameter.
(b) Examples of cross-sections
that can be formed by ring-
rolling
 Thread Rolling
• Cold-forming process
• Straight or tapered threads are formed on round rods by passing the pipe
though dies
• Typical products include
– Screws
– Bolts
 Thread Rolling Cont'd
• Threads are rolled in the soft condition
• Threads may then be heat treated, and subjected to final machining or
grinding
• Uncommon or special-purpose threads are machined
 Production of Seamless Pipe & Tubing
• Rotary tube piercing (Mannesmann process)
– Hot-working process
– Produces long thick-walled seamless pipe
– Carried out by using an arrangement of rotating rolls
• Tensile stresses develop at the center of the bar when it is subjected to compressive forces
 Continuous Casting & Integrated Mills & Minimills
• Continuous casting
– Advantages
• Highly automated
• Reduces product cost
• Companies are converting over to this type of casting
 Continuous Casting & Integrated Mills & Minimills Cont'd

Integrated Mills utilize everything from the production of hot metal to the casting and
rolling of the finished product

Minimills
– Scrap metal is melted
– Cast continuously
– Rolled directly into specific lines of products
– Each minimill produces one kind of rolled product
• Rod
• Bar
• Structural steel
Spray Casting : In spray casting the molten metal is sprayed over a
rotating mandrel to produce seamless tubing and pipe
THE END