Mechanical engineering department

Manufacturing Technology

Dr. Ahmed Al-Zahrani

Assistant Professor

Lecture 05 MEE-332
Processing of Metallic Materials Metal
Chapter 13
Rolling Processes and Equipment

Rolling Processes
Rolled Products Made of Steel

- Bloom, slab and billet shap! Differences ?

Rolling process

 Rolling is the process of reducing the thickness or changing the cross

section of a long workpiece by compressive forces applied through a set of
rolls
 This process is similar to rolling dough with a rolling pin to reduce its
thickness.
 Rolling, which accounts for about 90% of all metals produced by metal
working processes, was first developed in the late 1500s.

Rolling dough 1500s rolling mills Flat Rolling

Introduction

 Flat-rolling
 Shape-rolling
 Special rolling, cross rolling, ring rolling, thread rolling,
tube rolling and tube piercing.

Alternative processes: Continuous casting, extrusion, drawing, machining of

threaded components
Types of Rolling
 Based on workpiece geometry
 Flat rolling - used to reduce thickness of a rectangular cross
section
 Shape rolling - square cross section is formed into a shape
such as an I-beam
 Based on work temperature
 Hot Rolling – can achieve significant deformation
 Cold rolling – produces sheet and plate stock

- Plate and sheet ! Differences ?

A rolling mill for hot flat rolling;
the steel plate is seen as the
glowing strip extending
diagonally from the lower left
corner
(photo courtesy of Bethlehem
Steel Company)
Rolling Mills
 Equipment is massive and expensive
 Rolling mill configurations:
 Two-high – two opposing large diameter rolls
 Three-high – work passes through both directions
 Four-high – backing rolls support smaller work rolls
 Cluster mill – multiple backing rolls on smaller rolls
 Tandem rolling mill – sequence of two-high mills
Rolling Mill Configurations
(a) Two-high, (b) three-high, (c) four-high

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuuP8L-WppI (c)

(d) Cluster mill, (e) tandem rolling mill

 Roll Force, Torque and Power requirements

 Reducing Roll Force

Roll forces can cause significant deflection and flattening of the
rolls
Roll forces can be reduced by the following means:
✓ Reducing friction at the roll-workpiece interface
✓ Using smaller diameter rolls to reduce the contact area ( L )
Rubber tire.
✓ Taking smaller reductions per pass to reduce the contact area
✓ Rolling at elevated temperatures to lower the strength of the material
✓ Applying front and/or back tensions to the strip.

a) Four-high rolling mill showing various features. The stiffness of the housing, the rolls, and the roll bearings are all important in controlling
and maintaining the thickness of the rolled strip; (b) two-high mill; (c) three-high mill; and (d) cluster (or Sendzimir) mill.
Flat-rolling process
 Roll Force, Torque and Power requirements
 Geometric considerations.
 Vibration and chatter.
Roll Force, Torque and Power requirements

t0 − t f = u 2 R

t0 F =  wL,
e = ln
R (t0 − t f )
True rolling strain:
tf L=
T = 0.5FL
P = 2NFL
Roll Force, Torque and Power requirements
Example 13.1:
An annealed copper strip 250 mm wide and 25 mm thick is rolled to a
thickness of 20 mm in one pass. The roll radius is 300 mm, and the rolls rotate
at 100 rpm. Calculate the roll force and the power required in this operation.
- Annealed copper
- Stress = 80 MPa at unstrained , Stress = 280 MPa at strained time.
- Width (w) = 250 mm
- Contact length
L = R (t0 − t f ) = 38.7mm

Force Power

F =  wL, P = 2NFL
EXAMPLE:13.l Calculation of Roll Force and
Torque in Flat-rolling

• The average true stress, Yavg, for annealed copper is determined as follows: First note that the
absolute value of the true strain that the strip undergoes in this operation is
 EXAMPLE |3.l Calculation of Roll Force and
Torque in Flat-rolling
 Referring to figure 2.6 the
annealed copper has true
unstrained stress 80 MPa
and at 0.223 true strain, the
true stress is 280 MPa, then
the average true stress is
180 MPa.
Geometric considerations.

Bending Spreading

t0 − t f = u 2 R F = wL,
Spreading increases with:
(a) decreasing width-to-thickness ratio of the
entering strip (because of reduction in the
width constraint),
(b) Increasing friction,
(c) Decreasing ratio of the roll radius to the
strip thickness.
Vibration and chatter.

Vibration and chatter can have

significant effects on product quality
and the productivity of metal working
operations.
Shape Rolling
 Work is deformed into a contoured cross section rather
than flat (rectangular)
 Accomplished by passing work through rolls that have the
reverse of desired shape
 Products
 Construction shapes such as I-beams, L-beams, and
U-channels
 Rails for railroad tracks
 Round and square bars and rods
Thread Rolling
Bulk deformation process used to form threads on cylindrical parts by rolling them
between two dies
 Most important commercial process for mass producing bolts and screws
 Performed by cold working in thread rolling machines
 Advantages over thread cutting (machining):
 Higher production rates
 Better material utilization
 Stronger threads due to work hardening
 Better fatigue resistance due to compressive stresses introduced by rolling
 Thread Rolling

 (1) Start of cycle, and (2) end of cycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t41lLv0B7AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH8ujNE9ZIo
Ring Rolling
 As thick-walled ring is compressed, deformed metal
elongates, causing diameter of ring to enlarge
 Hot working process for large rings and cold working
process for smaller rings
 Products: ball and roller bearing races, steel tires for
railroad wheels, and rings for pipes, pressure vessels, and
rotating machinery
Ring Rolling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDyWyDP3cvs
HW assignment

 Reading assignment: Chapters 13

 Review Questions: 13.2, 13.5, 13.8, 13.16, 13.17,

 Problems: 13.1, 13.3, 13.5, 13.8, 13.18, 13.20,
Important Announcement

 Major Exam 1
 Course: Lectures 1 – 10
 Proposed Date: xxxxxx, 2018
 Flat rolling practice - Effects of Hot Rolling
• A cast structure is typically dendritic, and it includes coarse and
non-uniform grains, is usually brittle and may contain porosities.
• HR converts the cast structure to a wrought structure (F13.6),
which has finer grains and enhanced ductility.
• Temperature ranges for HR from 450oC for Al alloys to 1250oC for
alloy steels, and up to 1650oC for refractory alloys.
 Flat rolling practice
• Pack rolling: two or more layers of metal are rolled together to improve
productivity (Al foil)
• To improve flatness, the rolled strip is passed through a series of
leveling rolls (F13.7)

Figure 13.7 (a) A method of roller leveling to flatten rolled sheets. (b) Roller leveling to
straighten drawn bars.
 Flat rolling practice - Defects
• Scale, rust, scratches, and cracks may
be caused by inclusions and impurities in
the original cast material, or due to
surface and material conditions
• Wavy edges are the results of roll
bending: the strip is thinner along its
edges than at its centers (F13.3a).
Because the edges elongate more than
the center, they buckle because they are
restrained from expanding freely in the
long. direction.
• cracks shown in F13.8b and c are due to
poor material ductility at the rolling temp.
• Alligatoring (F13.8d): caused by non-
uniform deformation or by the presence
of defects in the original cast billet. Figure 13.8 Schematic illustration of
typical defects in flat rolling: (a) wavy
• Edge defects are removed by shearing edges; (b) zipper cracks in the center of
and slitting operations. the strip; (c) edge cracks; and (d)
alligatoring.