To weld or not to weld the face of kiln rollers?

 
Is it possible to weld repair the face of a kiln roller?
 
The repair involves partial or complete coverage of the rolling face to
build up material to replace worn off material by welding. This type of
repair is frequently attempted but does not give satisfactory results in
most instances. There are many factors involved which determine the
success or failure of the repair. In order to understand where it may
succeed and where it may fail an understanding of the mechanics of
the rolling surfaces is necessary. Hertz pressure is the contact
pressure between the rolling surfaces of the tire and the roller. For
any given load that a roller must support, the maximum allowable
Hertz pressure must not be exceeded. The diameter of the tire is
mostly dictated by the diameter of the vessel it must circumvent and
the thickness it must have to provide sufficient beam strength and
stiffness to support the weight of the shell and its contents. The tire
must therefore have an adequate section modulus. But both the
thickness and the width of the tire determine the section modulus.
The diameter of the roller is a determining factor for Hertz pressure.
The larger the diameter of the roller the more the Hertz pressure is
reduced. But the length of the line of contact between the tire and
the roller (tire face width) has a more direct effect on Hertz pressure
than does roller diameter. Therefore the wider the tire the lower the
Hertz pressure. The line of contact between the tire and the roller, the
pinch point, when viewed closely enough, is actually an area rather
than a line. This is necessarily so because even steel has elasticity.
Like the tire on a car, where it flattens slightly as it meets the surface
of the road, so do both tire and roller surfaces flatten when they pass
through the pinch point. See fig. 1. The line of contact between the
tire and the roller, the pinch point, when viewed closely enough, is
actually an area rather than a line. This is necessarily so because
even steel has elasticity. Like the tire on a car, where it flattens
slightly as it meets the surface of the road, so do both tire and roller
surfaces flatten when they pass through the pinch point. See fig. 1.
The force of contact begins as the curved surfaces meet. The force of
contact rises to a maximum at the center of the width of contact. This
would be the point on the surface intersecting the line joining the
center of the tire to the center of the roller. See fig. 2. Then there is
the phenomenon defined as Poisson's Ratio, which states that if
material is compressed in one direction it grows in the other. See fig.
3. When the surface of the roller is welded, the new layer of metal
will have different mechanical properties than that of the base
material. No matter how carefully the metallurgy of the welding rod
was matched to the base metal, no matter how thoroughly the work
was preheated, post heated etc. there will be a difference. Often none
of these precautions are taken which makes matters worse. See fig.
4. As the surface passes through the pinch point the metal
compresses as shown. The depth of compression varies with
geometry and total load. But the upper layer compresses differently
from the underlying material because of the differences in their
mechanical properties. Poisson's ratio is the measurement of this
difference. Shear stresses in the transition zone can therefore easily
act to separate the materials. Microscopic cracking develops and soon
the weld material spalls, peels or otherwise separates itself from the
base metal no matter how well the welding was done. If the roller is
large enough to make repairs worth while, machining away the
remaining portion of the rim is the first step to lasting repair. A new
sleeve, usually a newly forged rim is then shrunk fit onto the old
machined roller. This assembly is then finish machined. This is a
superior type of repair. The final assembly will provide good
serviceability.