I.1.

1 Rolling

a) General

Metal rolling is one of the most important manufacturing processes in the modern world and it is
often the first step in creating raw metal forms. The ingot from the continuous casting is hot
rolled in to blooms and slabs which are the basic structures for the creation wide range
intermediate forms such as plate, sheet, strip, coil, billets, bars and rods.

b) Principal of hot rolling

Rolling is the most rapid method of forming metal into desired shapes by plastic deformation
through compressive stresses using two or more than two rolls. It is one of the most widely used
of all the metal working processes. The main objective of rolling is to convert larger sections
such as ingots into smaller sections which can be used either directly in as rolled state or as stock
for working through other processes.

Significant improvement is accomplished in rolled parts in their various mechanical properties

such as toughness, ductility, and strength and shock resistance and the majority of steel products
are being converted from the ingot form by the process of rolling.

Slabs which are rectangular in cross section are rolled to billets in a billet mill or large sections in
a structural mill to be further rolled to bar and structural sections in which the crystals in parts
are elongated in the direction of rolling, and they start to reform after leaving the zone of stress
as shown in the following figure:
Figure:7.1 Grain refinement in hot rolling process

Hot rolling involves plastically deforming a metal work piece by passing it between rolls which
provides high production, higher productivity and close control of final product than other
forming processes which is particularly important in the manufacture of steel for use in
construction and other industries.

c) Hot Rolling & Re-crystallization

During rolling the temperature is monitored to make sure it remains above the re-crystallization
temperature. To maintain a safety factor, the finishing temperature is usually 500 ⁰C to100⁰ C
above the re-crystallization temperature.The austenite grains get deformed and elongated in the
rolling direction however; these elongated grains start re-crystallizing as soon as these come out
from the deformation zone.
Figure 7.2: re-crystallization during hot rolling

It is usually accompanied by a reduction in the strength and hardness of a material and a

simultaneous increase in the ductility and also re-crystallization may occur during or after
deformation.

d) Rolling Mills & Arrangement of Rolls

A set of rolls mounted in a pair of housings constitutes a 'stand' and stands are combined in
various ways to produce different types of mill layout for special functions and commonly the
speed (RPM) of each set of rolls is synchronized so that the input speed of each stand is equal to
the output speed of preceding stand. The different types of rolling mills arrangement are
described under.

1) Two-High Rolling Mill

A stand which is a set of rolls having two horizontal rolls one above the other is called a two-
high stand and in this arrangement two rolls may rotate only in one direction (non-reversing) or
in two directions (reversing) where the stock is returned to the entrance for further reduction and
the space between the rolls can be adjusted by lifting and lowering the upper roll

2) Three-High Rolling Mills

It consists of three parallel rolls, arranged one above the other and the directions of rotation of
the upper and lower rolls are the same but the intermediate roll rotates in a direction opposite to
both rollers.

This type of rolling mill is used for rolling of two continuous passes in a rolling sequence
without reversing the drives of roller and allows a series of reductions without the need to change
the rotational direction of the rolls resulting higher rate of production than the two-high rolling
mill.

3) Four-High Rolling Mill

Small-diameter rolls with less strength and rigidity are supported by larger-diameter backup rolls
and using of small rolls reduces power consumption. In this arrangement
Two small rolls called working rolls are used to reduce the power and another two called backing
rolls, are used to provide support to the working rolls and prevent the deflection of the smaller
rolls.
The common products of these mills are hot or cold rolled plates and sheets which are either
reversing mills in which the steel passes back and forth between the same rolls in which the steel
passes through several stands in tandem.

4) Cluster Mill

It is a special type of four-high rolling mill in which each of the two smaller working rolls are
backed up by two or more of the larger back-up rolls and for rolling of hard thin materials, it may
be necessary to employ work rolls of very small diameter in which adequate support of the
working rolls can be obtained. This type of mill is generally used for cold rolling work.

Figure 7.3: Hot rolling stand arrangements

5) Continuous /Tandem Rolling Mill

It consists of a number of non reversing two-high rolling mills arranged one after the other, so
that the material can be passed through all of them in sequence which is suitable for mass
production due to quick changes over/ set-up required that consumes lot of time and labor.

Continuous bar mill consists of a number of independent stands and each has its own motor and
the bar can be twisted in the HV mill configuration (with definite passes in vertical stands) with
freely altered rotational speed. Continuous bar mill can have either an even or an odd number of
stands and contains three distinct mills namely the roughing mill, the stretching mill and the
finishing mill.

The rolling process starts from a short bar with a large section area, to obtain a long product with
a small sectional area and in a mill stand the peripheral speed of a work roll remains constant
however, the surface speed at the point on the surface of the work piece increases as it passes
through the contact angle until usually on exit and the work piece exhibit forward slip.

The following figure shows twelve different roll arrangements in mill housings as more
discussed below:

Figure 7.3 types of roll arrangement in rolling mill stand

 The stand shown in arrangement 1 is the most common arrangement for continuous rod,
bar, and section mills,
 The stand shown in arrangement 2 is a two high reversing mill common in breakdown mills
and in special section and alloy mills,
 the stand shown in arrangement 3 is called a double duo mill that functions in same way as
the stand shown in arrangement 4 only with four rolls so that the passes do not share a
middle roll and both of these arrangement allow for the reversing of the bar direction
without reversing the mill drive motor.
  The stand shown in arrangements 5 to 9 is for the production of strip and plate and the
small diameter work rolls reduce the spread but bend easily. The larger diameter backup
rolls provide the bending strength to keep strip as flat as possible.
 The stand shown in arrangements 10 to 12 are used in the production of beams, channels,
and rails.

e) Rollers and roller pass design

There are two types of roll namely plain and grooved which are consists of three parts such as
body, neck and wobbler. The necks rest in the bearings provided in the stands and the star shaped
wobblers are connected to the driving shaft through a hollow cylinder which are acting as a
safety device and saves the main body of the roll from damage during load.

Figure 7.4: types of rolls and roller parts

The rolls are generally made from a special variety of cast iron; cast steel or forged steel and
plain rolls have a highly finished hard surface and are used for rolling flats, plates and sheets
where as grooved rolls have grooves of various shapes cut on their periphery.

Half of the required shape of rolled product is sometimes cut in the lower roll and another half in
the upper roll, so that when the rolls are assemble into its stands, the required shape will be
produced on the work material,
However it should be understood that the desired shape of the rolled section is not achieved in a
single pass. The work material has to be rolled again and again through several passes and each
pass brings the cross-section of the material closer to the final shape required.

These passes are carefully designed to avoid any rolling defect from creeping as would be
noticed from the scheme of passes for conversion of a steel billet into a round bar

Figure 7.5: stages of rolling and number of passes for converting a steel billet into around bar

Various passes fall into the following groups:

 Breakdown or roughing passes,
 Leader/intermediate passes, and
 Finishing passes.
Roughing passes are meant to reduce the cross-sectional area and the leader passes gradually
bring the cross-section of the material near the final shape. The final shape and size is achieved
in finishing passes and allowance for shrinkage on cooling is given while cutting the finishing
pass grooves.
The most modern of the bar mill designs is the continuous mill with alternate horizontal and
vertical rolls, an arrangement which, curiously enough, was embodied in the first continuous mill
built by Bedson in 1862.

The use of alternate horizontal and vertical stands obviates the necessity for twisting the bars and
the twist guides with their tendency to scratch bars are eliminated. The stands of the mill are
spaced far enough apart so that a slight loop can be formed between stands. Individual variable-
speed drives for practically every stand permit regulation of speed relationships to take care of
bar elongation between stands, and the slight loop eliminates all push and pull between stands.

Depending upon the product being rolled, billet sizes for the mill are 83-, 102- and 127-mm
(3¼-, 4- and 5-inch) squares, 12.2 meters in length. The first section of the mill has twelve
tandem stands. Stands # 1,3, 6, 8, 10 and 12 are vertical, and stands # 2,4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 are
horizontal. A crop and cobble shear is in line between Stands # 8 and 9. Bars leaving the #12
stand can be directed to either a right or left rolling line of six tandem stands each for continuous
rolling to finished size. In each line, stands #13, 15, and 17 are horizontal stands and # 14, 16 and
18 are vertical stands. Product leaving Stand #18 in either line may be guided to pouring reels for
coiling or over the hot run out table to the cooling beds for cut length product.

The rolls for Stands # 1 through 4 are 457 by 914 mm, for Stands # 5 through 8,356 by 711 mm
for Stands # 9 through 12, 305 by 610 mm and for Stands # 13 through 18, in the right and left
rolling lines, 254 by 508 mm. Roll-changing time at the mill line is minimized by roll cartridge
units and by having the inner-housing assemblies of the stands by moving into and out of the
housings on steel tracks.
 Figure
7.13:
modern

continuous mill
 a) Reheating

Reheating is a continuous process where the cold stock is charged at the cold rear end of the
furnace and heated. The hot billets come out from the front which is discharging end of the
reheating furnace and then proceed in the direction of rolling.

Heat energy from the hot burner flames and flue gases is transferred to the cold input steel billet
during their travel across from the rear to the discharge end of the furnace and this exchange of
heat energy takes place by means of conduction, convection and radiation by/from the hot
flames, hot flue gases and the hot furnace walls.

Reheating for achieving the rolling temperature depends on the quantum of fuel burnt and the
quality of reheating depends on the criteria mentioned below:

 The furnace throughput, i.e., the capacity of the furnace.

 The time duration of travel of the cold stock from charging end to the discharging end.
 The dimension of the input stock being heated and the steel composition.
 Location of fuel burners in the hearth area, i.e., soaking zone and the discharging end of
the reheating furnace
 The heat transferring of hot flames by conduction and convection from the roof and the
walls.

Cold stocks are heated to make them soft and thus suitable for rolling furnace which commonly
has three parts: walls, roof and hearth. Furnace is lined with several layers of refractory bricks
and is insulated by glass wool. The initial heating zone of the furnace has temperature of about
1000⁰C which is lined with low alumina refractory bricks.

The type of reheating furnace for long-product mills are:

  Pusher furnaces
 Walking hearth furnaces
 Walking beam furnaces

The furnaces could be either top fired or top or bottom fired accordingly the top-fired furnace is
characterized by a heavy duty, simple design which is the typical furnace where low-production
mill rates for simple products, like re-bars, are demanded very low cooling water flow is
requested.

However the top- and bottom-fired pusher furnace is capable of achieving high production rates.
For simple products it is the most cost-effective alternative to a more sophisticated walking beam
furnace.

A long product rolling mill typically uses a gas/oil fired reheat furnace and the furnace shown
has three heating zones with a bottom fired zone as well. This furnace can be a pusher type
where the billets enter the furnace lined up side by side being pushed by the next billet entering
and after reaching rolling temperature in the last zone, the last billet in the furnace is pushed out
and slide down onto the mill entry roller table.

Another method for moving the billets through the reheat furnace is by lifting and moving the
billets, thereby leaving space between the billets which are necessary for certain grades such as
high carbon steel grades that have the tendency to stick together.

The billet is heated in stages, gradually brought up to rolling temperature in the different heating
zones and it is then held at rolling temperature for the shortest time possible to use the least
amount of fuel and to limit the scale loss.

There are other methods for heating rolling stock. Induction heating is the process of heating an
electrically conducting material, the rolling stock in this case, by electromagnetic induction,
where eddy currents are generated within the metal and resistance leads to heating of the metal.
An induction heater has the advantage of heating on demand in which a single cold billet can be
heated to rolling temperature as needed.

For efficient reheating furnaces for long product mills pusher furnaces of top-fired or Top- and
bottom-fired is recommended with

 Billet size range: 120 mm -160 mm

 Production range: 50 to 120 t/h
 I.1.2 The selected technology and production process

Based on the technology assessment modern continuous bar mill is selected which is capable of
producing reinforced bar and structural sections in two separate production lines with heating
effect of the reheating furnaces type of top/top bottom fired pusher furnace. Accordingly the
production process is presented below:

a) Cut to length

The steel billet/cold stock will be cut to a calculated length which in turn depends on the mass of
steel required to be rolled for getting the required rolled product either reinforced bar or
structural sections before it is charged to the reheating furnace. The cutting operation could be
performed with either hack saw or oxy-acetylene torch.

b) Heating of Cold Stock

Here the cut to length cold stock will be charged to the preheating furnace to effect heating up
which is one of the perquisites of the hot rolling practice from the room temperature to the
working (rolling) temperature where the steel is transformed from dual phases of perlite and
cementite in to a single austenite phase

Therefore, the ultimate temperature to which the work piece depends on the amount of total
draft, the number of steps where the drafting is provided and the composition of the steel stock.

Heating of the cold stock commences at the charging end of the furnace. The outer surface of the
steel stock comes in direct contact with hot flue and so its temperature rises. As the stock travels
forward towards the discharging end, it comes in contact with still hotter flue possessing higher
heat content and the surface temperature of the stock further rises rapidly.

Heat is transferred from the outside surface to the core of the stock by conduction which is a
slow and time consuming process. During this period of heating, therefore, maximum
temperature difference between the outside surface and the core exists.
As the steel travels towards the discharging end it comes in contact with flue having highest
temperature. While the temperature of the outside surface of the stock increases progressively,
the temperature difference between the outside surface and the inner core also builds up
considerably.
I.1.3 The selected technology and production process

Based on the technology assessment modern continuous bar mill is selected which is capable of
producing reinforced bar and structural sections in two separate production lines with heating
effect of the reheating furnaces type of top/top bottom fired pusher furnace. Accordingly the
production process is presented below:

c) Cut to length

The steel billet/cold stock will be cut to a calculated length which in turn depends on the mass of
steel required to be rolled for getting the required rolled product either reinforced bar or
structural sections before it is charged to the reheating furnace. The cutting operation could be
performed with either hack saw or oxy-acetylene torch.

d) Heating of Cold Stock

Here the cut to length cold stock will be charged to the preheating furnace to effect heating up
which is one of the perquisites of the hot rolling practice from the room temperature to the
working (rolling) temperature where the steel is transformed from dual phases of perlite and
cementite in to a single austenite phase

Therefore, the ultimate temperature to which the work piece depends on the amount of total
draft, the number of steps where the drafting is provided and the composition of the steel stock.

Heating of the cold stock commences at the charging end of the furnace. The outer surface of the
steel stock comes in direct contact with hot flue and so its temperature rises. As the stock travels
forward towards the discharging end, it comes in contact with still hotter flue possessing higher
heat content and the surface temperature of the stock further rises rapidly.
Heat is transferred from the outside surface to the core of the stock by conduction which is a
slow and time consuming process. During this period of heating, therefore, maximum
temperature difference between the outside surface and the core exists.

As the steel travels towards the discharging end it comes in contact with flue having highest
temperature. While the temperature of the outside surface of the stock increases progressively,
the temperature difference between the outside surface and the inner core also builds up
considerably.
 e) Rolling

Billets are heated to the rolling temperature in a reheating furnace which is the starting point of
the hot rolling mill practice and hot rolling takes place in a number of steps and drafting /
reduction is given in every stage in which the ultimate draft is at a temperature above the re
crystallization or phase change temperature.

The heated billet stock will be fed to continuous rolling mill and it passes through the roughing,
intermediate and finishing mill blocks sequentially depending on the size reduction to be
achieved to get the final shape and form of rolled product. The rolling operation will be effected
through both vertical and horizontal roller with no intermediate heating in the process. More over
the continuous rolling process is centrally controlled and a series of dies depending on the size
and sectional profile will be arranged.

As the bar progresses through a continuous mill where the bar is rolled in multiple stands
simultaneously, the stand speed will be controlled to ensure tension free rolling. The main
methods of controlling the tension in the mill involves a tension free rolling speed control
system and manually monitoring the current drawn by each motor as the bar proceeds through
the mill.
 f) Cooling:

Rollers change temperature all the time and there is considerable variation in the surface
temperature, where too high thermal gradient increases the risk of roller breakage due to herbal
stress. Cooling water is used for temperature control, direct and indirect cooling, de-scaling and
scale transport.

More water must be supplied to the earlier passes than to the finishing passes and in case of flat
products and more cooling water concentrated in the centre part of the rolls than on the edges.
More water is applied to the grooves and anti collars of section mill rolls than to the rest portion
of the roll.

As the hot stock comes in contact with the rolling rolls, the temperature of the latter rises and
continues to increase as further rolling takes place. At high temperature elongation of the steel
rolls takes place in all directions. Moreover, considerable heat is produced during the rolling
processes and water also serves to maintain the temperature of the steel rolls.

Cooling water is sprayed on the rolls during hot rolling to prevent distortion and to reduce
erosion of the roll surfaces and also hot scales get stuck in the rolls and acts as a lubricant posing
difficulty in drafting. If not removed before rolling, this scale is rolled into the steel causing
surface defects and it is removed by spraying water under pressure on the steel immediately
before it enters the rolls.
Several types of cooling beds are used for long products so that the bar enters the cooling bed
slides onto the first notch on the rakes which will provide continuous support for the bar on a
casting called a grid casting.

The length of the cooling bed is determined by the maximum run out bar length, optimized by
the selling lengths to minimize crop losses and the width of a cooling bed is determined on the
basis of mill productivity (tons/hour) and the time required for cooling.

a) Finishing

Once the product has been rolled, it must be cut to a length that fits onto a cooling bed cooled,
possibly straightened and cold sheared. After cooling structural sections are typically
straightened in a straightening roller and cut to selling length by a cold shear and either stacked
or bundled and after the bundle is stacked it is banded and moved to the shipping bay.Smaller
products exit the cooling bed in multiples so that a row of products cut at the cold shear and a
cold shear will be set up for cutting multiple angles

Several types of shears can be employed by a mill to cut the product as it rolls, as it exits the
finishing stand, and cold shearing before stacking or bundling. Depending on the product shape
and material grade, shears may be used to cut the front of the bar as it proceeds through the mill
typically flying shears.
Figure 7.14: process flow diagram reinforcement bar production