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-h f = µ2R
 Roll Force
•  F= W 0.L.Y avg 
•  L=̃ sqrt{R(ho-h )}
 f 
  Flat-Rolling Practice
 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

  Def 
ects in Rolled Plates & Sheets
 Defects
• 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
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 
 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 C 
ont'd 
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 &
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