UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
SYLLABUS: Classification of Rolling processes. Types of rolling mills, expression for
RoIling load. Roll separating force. Frictional losses in bearing, power required in rolling,
Effects of front & back tensions, friction, friction hill. Maximum possible reduction. Defects
in rolled products. Rolling variables, simple problems.
Typical Rolling Process
In Rolling the workpiece is drawn by friction through regulated opening of two
rotating cylindrical rolls and reduction in the thickness is obtained.
The two cylindrical rollers are supported on bearings and are driven by a powerful
motor. The opening between the rolls can be adjusted as required. This gap is normally
referred to as roll gap or regulated opening.
The work piece is subjected to compressive forces and is deformed plastically. The
cross section decreases and length gets elongated where as the total volume.
It is the main metal working process and offers itself to mass production. Close
control of the final product is possible.
Rotating rolls will squeeze the work piece inducing direct compressive stress in it.
Friction dominates the process.
Rolling of work piece can be carried out in hot or cold condition.
Components produced through rolling have higher mechanical properties than cast
products. Slabs, Sheets, Bars, Rods, Structural components like I, U, L etc., in long lengths
can be produced easily.
StepsinRollingProcess
The staring raw material in rolling is the ingot which is obtained by using a metal die.
Ingot will have a length of about 1 meter and a cross section of 100x100mm or 250x250mm
etc, Ingot may have any geometrical cross section. The details of Ingot production are:
*Prepare molten metal in a furnace.
*Pour clean well prepared molten metal with correct temperature into a metal die
cavity and allow it to cool.
*Take out the solid metal.
* This solid metal is referred to as Ingot or Ingot casting.
*The Ingot is then passed through the rolls to get the next set of products blooms,
billets, bars, slabs, plates, sheets or Structural components.
* The same is shown in the flow chart.
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
ClassificationofRollingProcess
RollingProcesscanbeclassifiedeither
Basedonthetemperatureofthemetalduringrollingor
Basedonthearrangementoftherollsandtheirnumberor
BasedontheProductsrolled.
i)Basedonthetemperature:
Rolling can be classified as Hot Rolling or Cold Rolling. Hot rolling is carried out above
RCT and cold rolling is carried out below RCT.
Hot rolling is used to convert ingots to blooms and blooms to billets to slabs to plates,
billets to bars, and billets to structural shapes. It is used for heavy or thick sections. Surface
finish will be poor but the mechanical properties will be uniform.
Cold rolling is used for converting small sections plates to sheets to foils or bars to wires.
Good surface finish is obtained with enhanced properties.
ii)BasedonRollarrangement
Theminimumnumberofrollsrequiredforrollingtotakeplaceistwoandthehigherend
isdictatedbytheamountofreductionrequired,typeofmetalbeingrolled,configurationofthe
productetc.,therollsarecylindricalshaped.Thearrangementofrollscouldbe:
*2 high roll mill- two rolls are used here.
*3 high roll mill- three rolls are used here.
*4 high roll mill- four rolls are used here.
*Cluster roll mill- a number of rolls are used in conjunction.
*Planetary roll mill- rolls are arrangement in the form of planetary movement.
*Tandem roll mill- continuous arrangement of rolls are used for continuous rolling.
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
*Sendizmer roll mill-similar to a cluster mill but large number of rolls are used.
Greatest reduction in the material is obtained.
All these arrangement are discussed below:
The term mill is generally used while referring to while referring to the type of rolling
process. It signifies the station involving the arrangement of rolls contributing for rolling and
type of rolling operation carried out. The term high signifies that the rolls are placed above the
ground level.
As already discussed the starting raw material is the ingot. Ingot is rolled to bloomsbillets-rods-wires in the first route.
In the second route Ingot-bloom-slab-plate-sheet-foil is obtained. In the third route Ingotbloom-structural configuration like I, U, V etc, is obtained.
a. Two high mill
It consists of two rolls located one above the other with their centers in vertical plane. A
controlled opening or gap is provided between the rolls. This gap represents the required
thickness of the product. The rolls are cylindrical and mounted on bearings. They are driven by
motor and rotate in opposite directions as shown.
The rolling direction can be changed by changing the direction of rotation of the rolls.
The center distance between the rolls (C) can be changed to change the roll gap to vary the
thickness of the product. This is mainly used for producing blooms and billets.
b. Threehighmill
The arrangement consists of three rolls located one above the other, with their centers in a
vertical plane. Outer rolls will be rotating in one direction and the center one will be rotating in
the opposite direction. Here two passes of the work is possible unlike one pass in two roll mill.
Work piece is fed between the gap of top set of rolls and its thickness is reduced. The out put of
this is fed into the gap between the bottom set of rolls. One reduction in thickness of the work
piece is obtained. Thus rolling will take place in both directions. Since the out put of one is taken
and fed into the second set of rolls, the work forms a loop as shown. Hence, it is also named as
looping mill. The mill has higher out put. Gap between roll1 and roll2= t1 and between roll2 and
roll3=t2. Where t1 > t2
c. Four high mill
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
Here four rolls are used. Two smaller form the main rolls and come in contact with the
work piece and cause deformation. These rolls are backed up by larger diameter rolls. Thus the
mill is more rigid and can be used for higher reductions in the work. Back up rolls prevent roll
deflection.
high mill
Three
Fourhigh
mill
d.
Cluster
Mill
Here the main rolls are small and are backed up by two sets of rolls on each side. Higher
rigidity and stability is imparted to the mill. Higher reductions are possible. Better deformation
will take place.
e. PlanetaryMill
Here the large roll has very small rolls located along the circumference. A number of
them will be arranged on each roll of a virtually two high roll mill. The arrangement looks like
planets on the rolls. Hence the name planetary mill. In fact the small rolls come in contact with
the work piece and the big roll act as back up roll. Higher reduction of the order 25:1 is
possible in one pass. The mill provides forging action as well as rolling action at the same
time.
There will be two high mill at the beginning feeding the work piece to the planetary
mill. At the out let end there will be another set of two high mill to take the out coming work.
This arrangement provides roll tension at the beginning and at the out let. The mill is mainly
used for converting slab to sheet or strip.
PlanetaryMill
Cluster
Mill
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
f. Tandem Mill
A series of four high mills are used one after the other. The work piece passes through
each one of them. Reduction in the thickness will take place at each point. Each one of the mill
is referred to as stand. There may be as many stands as necessary. This arrangement is referred
to as Tandem Mill. Continuous reduction will take place at each stand. Therewillbecoiler
anduncoilerwhichprovideswindingupoftheworkattheoutletendandactasfeedrollby
releasingtheworkpiece.Normallythisarrangementisusedforconvertingthicksheettovery
thinsheet.Normallyacoldrollingmill.Coileranduncoilerprovidethenecessarytensioninthe
workpiece.Verysmoothandgoodsurfaceisobtainedintheworkpiece.
g. Sendizmer Mill
It is basically a cluster mill. It is used to produce thin sheets and foils. Very strong metals
can be rolled very easily. Basically a cold rolling mill. Stainless steels, Alloy steels etc., can be
rolled easily. Very high reduction ratio is obtained.
TandemMill
SendizmerMill
iii)Basedontheproduct
Blooming Mill- Here only blooms are produced from the Ingot. Blooms will have a
dimension of approx.150x150mm.
Billet Mill- Here Billets are produced from Blooms. Billet will have a dimension of
approx. 100x100mm.
Rod/Bar Mill - Here bars or rods are produced from billets. Bar will have a dimension of
40x40mm.
Slab Mill- Here slab is produced from the bloom. t>b and b=100mm Plate Mill- Here
plate is produced from the slab. t>4mm.
Sheet Mill Here sheet is produced from plate. t<4mm.
Structural Mill- Here structural shapes like I, U,L or channel sections are produced.
Metal flow pattern in Rolling
When the metal is rolled it is seen that the outer surface of the metal is deformed to a
greater extent. This is due to the fact that the metal will be in direct contact with the roll surface.
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
The frictional forces will be dragging it in the direction of rolling. The center portion of the
metal is not at all deformed as it is free from any contact with the roll surface.
To study the effect of rolling on the deformation process grid markings are made in the
vertical and horizontal directions. The deformation pattern is observed after rolling. It is
observed that distance between the horizontal grids decreases and they come closer. The
distance between the vertical grids increases and are bent forward in the direction of rolling.
The velocity of the work piece as it leaves the rolls is greater than the circumferential
velocity of the rolls due to stretching of the layers.
Thickness of the work piece is reduced and the length is increased as it passes out of the
roll gap.
DifferencebetweenHotrollingandColdrolling.
HotRolling
Is Carried out above RCT
Grain will be uniform even after rolling.
Surface finish will be poor.
Semi finished products like Blooms,
Billets are produced. Structural shapes
are also produced.
Load required for deformation is less.
ColdRolling
Is Carried out below RCT
Grains will be elongated after rolling.
Surface finish will be good.
Finished items like plates, flats, sheets
and foils are produced.
Load required for deformation is more.
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
GeometricRelationshipsinRolling
NNBB istheleadingzone
Asthemetalisdrawnbetweentherolls,itiscompressedverticallyduetofriction,startingat
AA.Thisistranslatedintoelongationinthedirectionofrolling.
Thereexistsrelativeslidingbetweentherollsurfaceandtheworkpiece.
Volumerateofthemetalflowisconstant.ie.,thevolumeofthemetalpassingthroughapointis
constantperunittime.
Sincethereisnolateralspreadb=constant
V0t0b=V1 t1b
V1 = V0{ t0/ t1}
Therefore V1 is > V0 as t0> t1
Similarly Vn>V0
and V1>Vn>V0
PhenomenonofSlip
Due to the variation in the velocities of roll surface and work surface there will be
relative motion between them.
This relative motion between the roll and the work piece is referred to as
slip. There will be this slip taking place at the front and the back of the rolls.
They are;
Backward slip = (Vn - V0)/ Vn
Forward slip = (V1 Vn)/ V1
The velocity of the work piece increases steadily from entrance to the exit. At one point
along the contact surface of the roll and work, the surface velocity of the roll will be equal to the
velocity of the work. This point is referred to as Neutral point or No Slip Point.
UNIT 4
ROLLING
10ME55
Volume rate of Deformation = (Volume of work)/(Time taken for deformation)
Where
= {b (t0-t1)Lp}/ T
b= Width of the work
(t0-t1)=thickness of metal deformed
Lp =Length of work
T = time taken for deformation
ExpressionforAngleofbite
UNIT 4
ROLLING
LengthofDeformationZone
10ME55
