HIGH TECH FOR

HIGH-STRENGTH PLATE
Heavy plate production at MMK

SMS SIEMAG

FLAT ROLLING PLANTS

Heavy plate mills

 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

TECHNOLOGY
FROM ONE SOURCE
THE CUSTOMER THE TECHNOLOGY

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel (MMK), with a raw steel Reflecting the new facility’s broad range, the plants
production volume of more than 11 million t per we supplied are designed to produce and process
year, ranks among Russia’s largest steel producers. pipe and tube grades as well as other challenging
Founded in 1932, the company based in Magnito- steels. The secondary metallurgy plants make high-
gorsk in the southern Urals today covers the entire purity steel containing a minimum of unwanted alloy-
process chain of iron and steel making – from ore ing elements. The vertical-bending continuous caster
through to strip processing. manufactures high-quality slabs of top internal and
surface quality. Next in line is the heavy plate mill
that turns out plate with exact mechanical and tech-
THE PROJECT nological properties to close geometric tolerances.

Keen to supply equally high quality in the heavy plate SMS Siemag supplied both the continuous caster
sector, MMK decided to build a modern complex fea- and the heavy plate mill with our complete X-Pact®
turing new secondary metallurgy plants, a continuous electrics and automation package. Receiving all the
caster, and a 5.0-m heavy plate mill – all supplied equipment from one source means our customer
by SMS Siemag. This order was one of the largest benefited from systems perfectly meshed with
in the corporate history of SMS Siemag, and it effec- each other right from the start. Furthermore, there
tively demonstrated our expertise in all aspects of was just one contact for MMK in all projects, leading
heavy plate production. to much simpler project management and reduced
interfaces.

Secondary metallurgy. Continuous casting.

2
CONTENTS

TECHNOLOGY
FROM ONE SOURCE 2 MILL STAND 16

SECONDARY METALLURGY 4 PLATE COOLING 20

CONTINUOUS CASTER 6 HOT PLATE LEVELER 22

HEAVY PLATE MILL 8 COOLING BED 24

ELECTRICAL AND AUTOMATION SHEARING LINE 26

SYSTEMS 10
COLD PLATE LEVELER 28
PRE-INSTALLATION
AND PLUG & WORK 12 HEAT TREATMENT LINE 30

FAST RUNUP, EXCELLENT QUALITY 14

Hot rolling. Ideal basis for success: close cooperation between MMK
and SMS Siemag.

3
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

SECONDARY METALLURGY
Steel for the highest requirements

Equipped with the secondary metallurgy plants from

SMS Mevac, MMK can offer a broad range right up
to sophisticated heavy plate steels for large pipes
and shipbuilding. SMS Mevac supplied a 370-t swivel
ladle furnace with a 56-MVA transformer, a 370-t
duplex RH-TOP plant, a ladle treatment station (LTS)
and various auxiliary equipment such as the steam
generator and dedusting system.

Special about the ladle furnace treatment is its focus

on extreme reduction of sulfur in the liquid pig iron to
contents of under 10 ppm.

The 370-t duplex RH-TOP plant achieves ultra-low

hydrogen contents and can also produce minimum
carbon values if required. Apart from a complex alloy-
ing plant, the duplex-RH-TOP plant at MMK features
an automated temperature and sample taking sys-
tem. The steam jet vacuum system is one of the
world’s largest of its type. Equally remarkable is the
vessel lifting system because it can move masses
weighing more than 1,000 t.

TECHNICAL DATA

Swivel ladle furnace

- Ladle size: 370 t
- Annual production: 2 million t
- Commissioning: 2010

Duplex-RH-TOP plant
- Ladle size: 370 t
- Annual production: 2 million t
- Commissioning: 2010

RH-TOP plant.

4
Immersion tubes of the RH plant.

Overview of the secondary metallurgy

systems at MMK.

5
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

CONTINUOUS CASTER
How to produce quality slabs

Depending on the formats required, the slab continu- Various ISC® (Intelligent Slab Casting) modules make
ous caster supplied by SMS Siemag is designed for it possible to produce top-quality slabs while ensur-
an annual production of 1.65 million t of quality slabs. ing the caster is extremely reliable and flexible.
The maximum slab cross-section is 300 millimeters The resonance oscillation system with variable stroke
thick and 2,700 millimeters wide, one of the largest frequency, stroke height, and curve shape ensures
formats made in Russia. consistently good slab surfaces. Also ready for use
here is a Mold Monitoring System (MMS) that maps
Included in our scope of supply and services were the mold temperature and enables early detection
the mechanical systems complete with slab trans- of break-out risks. Adding to the plant’s efficiency
port equipment, electrical and hydraulic components, are hydraulically controlled cyberlink segments and
the entire X-Pact® electrics and automation, and the dual-medium cooling. Furthermore, our Dynamic Soft
drive technology. Reduction and Dynamic Cooling Model packages are
installed.
What particularly stands out is the turret:
Capable of lifting a load of 2 times 535 t, it’s the
largest S-shaped ladle turret built by SMS Siemag
anywhere in the world.

All systems, including the continuous caster,

work with X-Pact® electrics and automation.

6
 TECHNICAL DATA
Continuous caster
- Type: 1-strand vertical bending plant
- Ladle size: 380 t
- Metallurgical length: 34.2 m
- Machine radius: 11.0 m
- Number of segments: 15
- Commissioning: 2009
- Annual production: 1.65 million t
- Slab dimensions: 190 / 250 / 300 mm x
1,400 - 2,700 mm

The ladle turret is the largest built by SMS Siemag so far.

Designed for 1.65 million t of quality slabs per year: Quality slabs for heavy plate production.
the continuous caster.

7
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

5.0-M
HEAVY PLATE MILL

Overview of the 5.0-m heavy plate mill at MMK.

200,000 SQUARE METERS The plant is designed for an annual production of

OF HIGH-TECH 1.5 million t of plates up to 4.800 mm wide and
between 8 and 160 mm thick.
The MMK heavy plate mill is pure SMS Siemag tech-
nology. That’s because the entire technological equip- Now, with the new heavy plate mill, MMK special-
ment, from the mill stands to the plate adjusting line, izes in the production of high-strength plate and in
comes from us. This also applies to the reheating particular pipe grades. That’s why thermo-mechanical
furnaces, the heat treatment line, and the roll work- rolling is especially important. What happens here is
shop – all supplied by SMS Siemag. that final rolling in the non-recrystallizing temperature
range followed by controlled cooling in the plate cool-
We integrated the single-stand 5.0-m heavy plate ing section precisely set the mechanical properties
mill into the existing MMK complex in Magnitogorsk, such as strength and ductility, also achieving a fine-
where it occupies an area of 1,080 meters by grain microstructure. It’s also possible to reduce the
200 meters. proportion of expensive alloying elements, which
cuts costs and improves weldability.

8
 TECHNICAL DATA

Commissioning: July 2009

Annual capacity: 1.5 million t
Steel grades: pipe grades (up to X120),
pressure vessel steel, bridge construction steel,
shipbuilding steel

Slabs
- Thickness: 190, 250, 300 mm
- Width: 1,400 to 2,700 mm
- Weight: max. 30 t

Fertigbleche
- Thickness: 8 to 160 mm
- Width: 1,500 to 4,800 mm
- Length: 6 to 24 m
- Weight: max. 25.7 t

Production processes for heavy plate

Conventional processes Temperature-controlled processes

Normalizing rolling Temperature-controlled rolling Thermo-mechanical rolling

Hardening and Temperature-controlled rolling and Thermo-mechanical rolling and accel-

tempering accelerated cooling / direct hardening erated cooling / direct hardening

- Construction - High-strength Alternative to normalizing rolling, Micro-alloyed high-strength steels

steel steel hardening and tempering with high ductility
- Ship plate - High-strength construction steels - Pipe grades
- Engineering steel - Ship plate, - Pressure vessel steel - High-strength ship plate

Overview of the various production processes.

9
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

ELECTRICAL AND
AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
Holistic systems expertise

The heavy plate mill is controlled using X-Pact® They work by applying mathematical-physical
electrics and automation from SMS Siemag. Included models that precisely describe the various process-
in the supply package were the technological mea- es. Material tracking makes the logistics within the
suring systems, instruments, sensory systems, plant, from the rolling mill to the finishing line, per-
Level 1 and Level 2 systems with process models, fectly transparent. Combined with the pass schedule
and the HMI for the entire plant. SMS Siemag also model as well as the profile and flatness control, it
supplied the complete drive technology with trans- facilitates thermo-mechanical rolling in multi-plate
formers, converters, main and auxiliary drives as operation with groups of up to six plates. That
well as the roller table motors. ensures high productivity.

Crucial for productivity and product quality are the New on the scene was the rolling mill control desk
technological process models. This means above developed for MMK. It stands out for its excellent
all Pass Schedule Calculation (PSC), Profile and ergonomic design. The HMI systems are arranged to
Flatness Control (PFC) and the cooling and leveling match the operator’s view, giving him a production-
models. oriented representation of the process showing all
the relevant systems.

X-Pact® electrics and automation from SMS Siemag.

Clear-cut HMI masks visualize the processes.

10
The ergonomically designed control desk enables
an unrestricted view of the rolling process.

11
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

PRE-INSTALLATION AND
PLUG & WORK
for fast and reliable commissioning

What makes plants from SMS Siemag stand out is

fast and efficient commissioning, plus good perfor-
mance right from day one. There are many reasons
for this: meticulous, tried-and-tested design of all
components, top-quality manufacturing standards,
and pre-testing of the mechanical and automation
systems.

We manufactured the core components such as

the CVC® shifting systems, the hydraulic controls,
and the drive spindles at our Hilchenbach location.
This production shop is equipped with a powerful Erecting the stands in the SMS Siemag assembly hall.

machine stock consisting of more than 70 modern

machine tools. It’s capable of almost complete pre-
assembly of even giant mill stands such as that for
MMK, guaranteeing hitch-free delivery.

To smooth the commissioning process, we tested

the X-Pact® automation with our unique Plug &
Work process before shipment to the customer. The
heart of Plug & Work is simulation of the production
process. Essential for running these simulations is
that we set up the customer-specific plant models
including the kinematic and dynamic parameters of
the plant behavior as well as the sensor systems.
That creates a model which maps reality as precisely During the Plug & Work tests, the automation systems were
tested and pre-optimized prior to commissioning.
as possible. Then we use the simulation to test and
optimize the operational procedures of the plant.

Furthermore, Plug & Work provided the perfect

opportunity to train the MMK operating personnel in
preparation for their future work on the plant. Aided
by the simulations, they were able to control produc-
tion virtually and to learn what the plant can do, how
it works, and how to operate it in realistic working
situations.

Operator training at the original control desk.

12
Pre-assembly of the entire mill stand
in the SMS Siemag workshop.

13
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

FAST RUN-UP,
EXCELLENT QUALITY
Right on schedule, the new MMK heavy plate mill
went on line in July 2009. The successful start was
followed by a rapid run-up with an early focus on
pipe grades.

Producing high-strength pipe grades got under way

just five weeks after the first plate was rolled. As
early as the seventh month after commissioning,
MMK was exclusively making thermo-mechanically
rolled plate for oil and gas pipelines. MMK produced
up to 90 % of this material in multi-plate mode,
around half of them in groups of four to six plates.

Thanks to CVC® plus technology, the steelmaker

achieved precise, reproducible plate geometry even
under difficult conditions. That included highly chal-
lenging rolling campaigns to produce the plates of
identical width and thickness typically used for pipe
production. Here, MMK attained consistent, extreme-
ly narrow tolerances of profile and flatness. Straight
away, during commissioning, the results far exceed-
ed current market requirements of plate geometry.

Equipped with the new heavy plate mill, MMK also

entered the shipbuilding, automotive, heavy machin-
ery, and boiler construction markets. It didn’t take
Multi-plate rolling with up to six plates
long before the ship plates were certified by major was standard after just a few months.
quality testers such as the Russian Sea Register
(RS), Det Norske Veritas, or Germanischer Lloyd.

100
90 Total monthly production
Pipe grades
Production [1,000 t]

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Months after commissioning

Right from the start, MMK focused on pipe grades.

14
Control desk for the transport beds. Plate transport by rail.

15
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

THE MILL STAND

The heart of the heavy plate mill

Once the slabs have been heated in two reheating Central to the CVC® plus technology is the combina-
furnaces, a high-pressure descaler with a maximum tion of work roll bending, axial shifting of the work
pressure of 200 bar removes the primary scale. The rolls with special CVC® plus grinding, and the PFC
upper spraying beams are height-adjustable so that (Profile and Flatness Control) technological process
all slabs can be effectively descaled from the ideal model. The PFC model adjusts the shift position and
distance. bending force from pass to pass, taking into account
the rolling force. Due to the optimal setting of the roll
The rolling line consists of a four-high mill stand with gap, the plant can achieve higher reductions, optimal
an edging stand on the exit side. Capable of applying pass numbers, and very narrow geometrical toler-
a rolling force of 120 MN, the horizontal stand ranks ances of even thin and wide plates.
among the world’s most powerful. It’s the first heavy
plate mill stand in Russia to feature CVC® plus tech- To be capable of handling rolling forces of up to
nology and is also equipped with hydraulic adjust- 120 MN, the backup rolls are held in Morgoil® roll-neck
ment and work roll bending. Two 12,000-kW motors bearings of the latest KLX® type, a further develop-
drive the work rolls. Adding to the strength of the ment of this oil-film bearing for extremely high loads.
plant are robust SMS Siemag flat-neck spindles that They ensure optimal running accuracy of the rolls
reliably transfer even extreme rolling torques. coupled with excellent operational reliability.

Final width
5000
Plate width / mm

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451

Final thickness / mm
45
Thickness / mm

35

25

15

0
1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451

Final profile
0.100

0.080
Profile / mm

0.060

0.040

0.020
Target profile Measured profile
0.000
1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451
Number of plates
The flat-neck spindles feature length compensation for shifting Even in extreme rolling campaigns, MMK achieves
the work rolls with the CVC® system. very narrow geometric tolerances with CVC® plus.

16
The entry side of the 5.0-m mill stand.

Descaling the slab after heating.

17
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

The mill housings consist of several parts, with the Work-roll changing is fully automatic and takes just
housing posts and yokes firmly joined together with a few minutes. The work rolls are transported by
tension rods. It’s a multi-part design because this locomotive between the rolling hall and the roll work-
makes it easier to cast the housing, shortens delivery shop.
times, and facilitates transport. Simultaneously, con-
trolled pre-stressing of the tension rods reduces
necking during rolling. TECHNICAL DATA

There is a vertical edging stand on the exit side of Reheating furnaces

the finishing stand to achieve good width accuracy - Walking-beam furnaces
of the plates. This applies a rolling force of 5,000 kN. - Heating with: natural gas or coke oven gas
A special “short stroke” of the edger ensures good - Slab temperature: max. 1,250 °C

right-angularity at the plate ends, increasing the

- Furnace capacity: 175 t/h

plant’s yield. Primary descaler

- Operating pressure: approx. 200 bar

Finishing stand
- Work rolls: 1,210 / 1,110 x 5,300 mm
- Backup rolls: 2,300 / 2,100 x 4,950 mm
- Rolling force: 120,000 kN
- Main drive:
– Type: twin drive
– Nominal power: 2 x 12,000 kW
– Rated torque: 2 x 1,910 kNm
- Technical characteristics
– Multi-part housing design
– CVC® plus
– Hydraulic adjustment
– Morgoil® bearings
– Flat-neck spindles with length compensation

Edging stand
- Diameter: 1,000 / 900 mm
- Barrel length: 600 mm
- Edging force: 5,000 kN
- Width reduction: max. 50 mm
- Main drive: 2 x 1,250 kW
- Technical characteristics
– Hydraulic adjustment

X-Pact® electrics and automation

with Pass Schedule Calculation (PSC) and
Work-roll changing is fully automated
with a locomotive. Profile and Flatness Control (PFC)

18
The edging stand on the exit side improves width
accuracy.

The control station with control desk for the stand

and the operating unit up to the cooling section.

19
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

PLATE COOLING
High cooling rates, exact cooling strategies

The plate cooling section at MMK is a combination

of spray and laminar cooling with a pre-leveler in the
entry area. This gives MMK the capacity for very
high cooling rates as well as a particularly large range
of cooling strategies, which allows the company to
gradually develop its product spectrum, above all in
the area of high-strength steels.

The upstream 5-roll leveling machine improves the

evenness of the plates before they enter the cooling
section. That’s how the pre-leveler contributes to a
uniform cooling result over the entire plate length
and width.

The 30-meter cooling line consists of the high-pres-

sure spray cooling and the laminar zone. Fitted with
special nozzles, the spray cooling achieves very high
cooling rates and is therefore ideal for DQ (Direct
Quenching) as well as ACC (Accelerated Cooling).
Important here is to ensure – even during very rapid
cooling – that the plate is even. Therefore there are
squeeze rolls between the cooling beams to regulate
the plate travel as well as the water flow. That leads
to perfect temperature distribution and cooling effi- The combined spray and laminar cooling, a highly flexible
metallurgical tool.
ciency. The water quantities in both cooling zones
can be controlled freely and separately for precise
management of the cooling process. To balance out
temperature differences, the plant features width
masking as well as front and back end masking.

The course of cooling is controlled by our X-Pact®

process model, set according to an exact description
of the cooling process. That’s where the cooling
model comes in. It applies true-to-life material mod-
els and algorithms to formulate temperature equa-
tions, in this way precisely determining the tempera-
ture distribution and microstructure components,
and ultimately the mechanical properties.

The 5-roll pre-leveler contributes to homogeneous cooling

results.

20
 TECHNICAL DATA

Pre-leveler
- Number of leveling rolls: 5
- Leveling force: 17 MN

Spray cooling
- Type: Spray nozzle cooling
- Length: 6.4 m
- Water pressure: max. 5 bar
- Cooling beams: 4 upper and 4 lower
(double beams)
- Control units: 4 upper and 4 lower
- Number of squeeze rolls 5 upper and 5 lower

Laminar cooling
- Type: U-pipe cooling
- Length: 24 m
- Water pressure: approx. 0.8 bar
- Cooling beams: 15 upper (double beams), 30 lower
- Control units: 15 upper and 15 lower
- Technical characteristics
– Individually controlled cooling ramps
– Squeeze rolls in spray cooling zone
– Width masking
– Front and back end masking

X-Pact® electrics and automation

including cooling model

The laminar cooling plant. The cooling system and mill stand must form a unit for
thermo-mechanical rolling.

21
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

HOT PLATE LEVELER

High leveling forces for even plates

The hot-plate leveler evens out irregularities by

shaping the plates between offset leveling rolls.
This 9-roll machine with a leveling force of 40 MN is
designed to cope with high stresses, so it can level
even directly hardened plates fed in at low tempera-
tures in one pass. There is a wide scope of applica-
tion because the leveling range spans plate thick-
nesses of 10 to 100 millimeters.

The upper pressure frame of the leveler is adjusted

purely hydraulically. It’s possible to level each plate
individually: by tilting and inclining the upper roll set
and separately setting the feed and runout rolls in
the bottom roll set.

Potentially, problems can arise from high leveling

forces that cause elastic distortion in the machine
that alters the leveling gap and the gap profile. Com-
pensating this distortion is vital for a good leveling
result. A so-called hinged frame does this by counter-
bending the leveling rolls. The parallel share of the
machine’s expansion and compression distortions is
conveyed as an additional target value to the main
The hot plate leveler with drives and control station.
adjusting system.

Then the X-Pact® leveling model calculates the opti-

mal leveling strategy for each plate. Ranking among
key parameters for the calculation are the mechanical
properties of the material, the current plate tempera-
ture, and the plate dimensions.

The operating side.

22
 PRODUCT DATA

- Plate thickness: 10 to 100 mm

- Plate width: 1,500 to 4,900 mm
- Plate length: max. 52 m
- Yield strength: max. 1,000 N/mm 2

TECHNICAL DATA

- Leveling rolls: 9
- Leveling roll diameter: 360 mm
- Leveling force: 40,000 kN
- Leveling rate: max. 2.5 m/s
- Main drive: 3 x 650 kW
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

- Purely hydraulic adjustment

- Individual adjustment of the feed and runout rolls
- Bending system
- Inner cooling of the leveling rolls
- X-Pact electrics and automation including
®

leveling model

Control station of the hot plate leveler. Leveling rolls.

23
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

COOLING BED
Cooling and plate
inspection

The walking beam cooling bed covers a total area of

some 4,400 m². This is where the plates cool slowly
from a maximum of 1,000 °C to a temperature of
some 100 °C.

Downstream of the cooling bed is an inspection bed

for surface inspection. Here, minor flaws are directly
ground out. There is a plate turner in the center of
the inspection bed so that the underside of the plate
can also be checked. Next in line, an ultrasonic scan-
ner examines the plates for internal flaws.

Right beside the hot plate leveler and the cooling

bed, MMK has plenty of room to stack plates. Yet,
when pipe-grade plates are stacked, the lower cool-
ing rate means that effusion expels hydrogen atoms
trapped in the microstructure. These would other-
wise make the material brittle.

Thick plates, i.e. plates over 50 mm thick, roll off the

line before the cooling bed.

Walking beam cooling bed.

The walking beam mechanism transports the plates without Ultrasonic scanner and plate measuring
damage. system downstream of the cooling bed.

24
 PRODUCT DATA

- Plate thickness: 8 to 50 mm
- Plate width: max. 4,900 mm
- Plate length: max. 52 m
- Plate temperature: max. 1,000 °C
TECHNICAL DATA

Cooling bed
- Type: Walking beam cooling bed
- Dimensions: 52 x 84 m
- Total capacity: 850 t

Plates between 50 and 160 mm thickness

roll off the line before the cooling bed.

25
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

SHEARING LINE
Efficiency and precision

The four shears in the shearing line process high-

strength plates up to a cold tensile strength of
1,200 N/mm2 and a maximum thickness of 50 mm.
Cropping, double trimming, slitting, and cut-to-length
shears all work according to the rolling-cut principle
that prevents plate distortion during cutting and
guarantees clean cut edges. The cutting gap can
be freely adjusted to suit the thickness and quality
of the material. All the shears come with automatic
scrap removal.

Immediately before the shearing line, a contour All shears work according to the rolling-cut principle.

measuring device precisely measures the plates and

checks them ultrasonically. Based on this data, the
X-Pact® automation optimizes the cutting scheme,
reducing scrap losses.

When they pass through the cropping shear, the

plates are cropped at both ends to facilitate transport
through the shearing line. Like the cut-to-length
shear, the cropping shear is built in a closed stand
design. That’s because the high rigidity of this type
additionally improves cutting accuracy and edge
quality.

The double trimming and slitting shears are arranged

Plate alignment in front of the double trimming shear.
in tandem. They trim the plate edges and divide
them lengthways. Invaluable here is that narrow
plates can be rolled at double widths, which increas-
es the rolling mill’s productivity. Combining the two
shears makes sense as the plates only have to be
positioned once. This involves magnetic aligning
tools, then laser beams show the operating person-
nel the exact cutting lines. The cut-to-length shear
cuts the trimmed plates to their finished lengths.
Furthermore, it also removes test strips for analysis
of the mechanical properties of the plate.

The result: perfectly cut plates.

26
Cropping shear as well as slitting and trimming shear
(in the background).

PRODUCT DATA Cut-to-length shear

- Plate thickness: 8 to 50 mm - Shearing force: 16,000 kN

- Plate width (finished plate): max. 4,800 mm - Number of cuts: max. 24 strokes/min

- Plate length (initial plate): max. 52 m - Main drive: 2 x 800 kW

- Plate length (finished plate): max. 24 m TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

TECHNICAL DATA - Rolling-cut principle

Cropping shear
- Closed shear stand
(cropping and cut-to-length shear)
- Shearing force: 16,000 kN - Automatic scrap transport
- Number of cuts: max. 18 strokes/min - X-Pact electrics and automation including
®

- Main drive: 2 x 600 kW cutting optimization

Double side trimmer
- Shearing force: 6,500 kN
- Number of cuts: max. 30 strokes/min
- Main drive: 4 x 350 kW

Slitting shear
- Shearing force: 11,000 kN
- Number of cuts: max. 30 strokes/min
- Main drive: 2 x 400 kW

27
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

COLD PLATE LEVELER

Large leveling range for high-strength plates

Following cutting or heat treatment, MMK can level

the plates again in the cold plate leveler. This opti-
mizes them even further and minimizes residual
internal stress. That’s why the cold plate leveler from
SMS Siemag features numerous options for adjust-
ing the leveling gap.

Each leveling roll in the patented 9/5-roll machine is

controlled not only by the main hydraulic system, but
also by a separate hydraulic roll adjuster and individ-
ual roll drive. The X-Pact® leveling model calculates
the ideal bending curve for every plate to reduce
residual stress. Wherever there is any edge or center
waviness, the upper pressure frame swivels and tilts
to support the leveling process. High leveling forces
can bend the pressure frame, but a compensation
mechanism balances this out to ensure a parallel
leveling gap at all times.

Individual roll adjustment ensures that some of the

rolls can be removed from the leveling process.
That increases the roll separation and expands the
machine’s leveling area. Specifically, thin, high-
The cold plate leveler.
strength plates are leveled in 9-roll mode, while the
larger roll gap in 5+2-roll mode is ideal for leveling
thicker plates. The plant switches between the two
modes automatically and without time losses from
one plate to the next.

The leveling model uses mathematical-physical

mapping of the processes inside the plate and the
machine. Based on the material properties such as
yield strength, tensile strength, and elasticity as well
as plate dimensions, it calculates the correct setting
of the leveling rolls and the drive torques.

All the leveling rolls are individually driven.

28
 PRODUCT DATA

- Plate thickness: 8 to 50 mm
- Plate width: max. 4,800 mm
- Plate length: max. 24 m
- Plate temperature: max. 100 °C
TECHNICAL DATA

- Leveling rolls: 9
- Leveling modes: 9-roll and 5+2-roll modes
- Leveling roll diameter: 220 mm
- Leveling force: 35,000 kN
- Main drive: 9 x 180 kW
- Leveling rate: 60 m/min
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

- Operation with 9 or 5+2 leveling rolls

- Purely hydraulic adjustment
- Individual adjustment of all leveling rolls
- Individual drive of all leveling rolls
- Bending system
- X-Pact electrics and automation including
®

leveling model

Operator workplace. In 9-roll mode, the machine levels thin plates, and in 5+2-roll
mode it levels thick plates.

29
 SMS SIEMAG Heavy plate mills

HEAT TREATMENT LINE

Flexibility for top requirements

The heat treatment line consists of a furnace with

a continuous quench to harden the plates, plus an
annealing furnace for normalizing and tempering.

First in line is the roller hearth furnace which heats

the plates, then comes the continuous quencher
that completes the hardening stage. Quenching
involves spraying vast amounts of water onto the
plates through special nozzle systems to achieve
extremely high cooling rates. The result? Plates
that meet the highest demands of strength and
toughness. The upper squeeze rolls control the
water flow during cooling, ensuring homogeneous
temperature reduction. Simultaneously, they pre-
vent unevenness, especially of thin plates. There
is the option after hardening of annealing to sys-
tematically determine the final properties of the
product.

The temperatures in the annealing furnace during

normalizing are between 920 and 960° C. Usually,
a holding phase follows the heating. This heat
treatment breaks up irregular and coarse micro-
The thermal treatment line with the hardening furnace and
structures to produce a uniform, fine-grained struc- quencher (left) and the normalizing furnace (right).
ture. The annealing furnace is 81 meters long and
is heated with recuperative burners.

The quenching unit was supplied by Drever International, a subsidiary

of SMS Siemag AG.

30
 PRODUCT DATA

- Capacity (hardening and tempering): 100,000 tpa

- Capacity (normalizing): 250,000 tpa
- Plate thickness: 8 to 60 mm
- Plate width: 1,500 to 4,650 mm
- Plate length: 6,000 to 20,000 mm
- Plate weight: max. 30 t
TECHNICAL DATA

Hardening furnace
- Type: Roller hearth furnace
- Length: approx. 24 m
- Burners: Recuperative burners in radiant tubes

Quencher
- Type: Continuous quencher
- Length: approx. 24 m
- Water quantity: 60 m3/min (high-pressure
zone), 125 m3/min (low-pressure zone)

Normalizing furnace
- Type: Roller hearth furnace
- Length: approx. 81 m
- Burners: Recuperative burners in radiant tubes

During heat treatment, systematic heating and cooling

further adjust the microstructure.

31
 © SMS Siemag AG · Published on 01.02.2015 · Circulation 1000 · Printed in Germany · Ky

SMS SIEMAG AG
MEETING your EXPECTATIONS
Flat Rolling Plants Division
Wiesenstrasse 30
57271 Hilchenbach, Germany
Phone: +49 2733 29-1616
Telefax: +49 2733 29-2832
W5-305E

E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.sms-siemag.com

“The information provided in this brochure contains a general description of the performance characteristics of the products concerned. The actual products may not always have these
characteristics as described and, in particular, these may change as a result of further developments of the products. The provision of this information is not intended to have and will
not have legal effect. An obligation to deliver products having particular characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of the contract.”