Scandinavian Journal of Metallurgy 2002; 31: 20–24
Printed in Denmark . All rights reserved
Improvement in the surface quality of ball bearing steel
rounds at Bar Mill
Roylen Topno, D. S. Gupta, U. P. Singh, B. Roy and S. Jha
Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Doranda, Ranchi, India
The rejection of ball bearing steel rounds had increased at Bar
Mill due to surface defects following an increase in the demand
for a better surface quality. The genesis of surface defects in
ball bearing steel rounds is attributed to steel-making and rolling
processes. The steel-making defects are exogenous in nature
with the presence of non-metallic inclusions in steel. The rolling
defects are generated due to poor quality of the input billets,
improper thermal regime of reheating, incorrect setting of entry
and exit guides, misaligned roll pass line and inappropriate
rolling schedule. This paper discusses the generation of surface
defects and the formulation of a strategy to reduce these defects
In the recent past, the rejections of 45- and 56-mm ball
bearing steel rounds had increased at the Bar Mill due
to stringent demands for surface quality by the cus-
tomers. The surface defects were mainly seams, cracks
and laps. In steel, these defects are a culmination of
technological errors in the steel-making and rolling
processes
During steel-making, the quality of ball bearing
steel is influenced by its oxygen content, type of non-
metallic inclusions and its ability to control segre-
gation in the cast structure [1]. The non-metallic in-
clusions are present due to the entrapment of slag,
mould powder and eroded refractory at the time of
ingot casting [2]. Blow holes, pipes, shrinkage cavities,
segregation and localized concentration of impurities
in ingots eventually lead to seams and shallow cracks
in the billets. This happens because non-metallic in-
clusions and blow holes cause localized stress concen-
trations in the steel [3]. The non-metallic inclusions
(NMIs) have lower plasticity than the steel. During
rolling, NMIs become elongated in the direction of
rolling, leading to surface defects. This affects the steel
on the basis of its size, volume and the distribution in
steel. Large, hard and isolated NMIs offer greater
threat [4].
While conditioning of the input billets, heavy
scarfying or grinding causes deep or sharp grooves in
20
Copyright C Munksgaard 2002
SCANDINAVIAN
JOURNAL OF METALLURGY
ISSN 0371-0459
at Bar Mill. The improvement in the surface condition of the input
billets, correct entry/exit guide setting and modification in roll
pass design have reduced the rejection rate by 34.6%.
Key words: cracks, former pass, laps, non-metallic inclusions
(NMIs), oval pass, seams.
C Munksgaard, 2002
Accepted for publication 25 June 2001
the billets, which leads to the formation of laps during
rolling, tears formed during grinding on the surface
of the billet often cause seams on subsequent rolling.
In the square-oval rolling sequence, when a square
is fed into the oval pass, there is an uneven drafting
from the centre to the edges. This results in differen-
tial elongation across the cross-section in the oval
pass. The resultant excessive shear forces in the bar
ultimately lead to cracking [5]. The concentration of
maximum draft on the side of the square also leads
to wrinkle formation. Such wrinkles occur due to the
roughness of the roll surface generated by roll wear
and shedding of scale. These wrinkles on the edge of
the oval result in the generation of hairline cracks dur-
ing the next pass. In high chromium and nickel grades
of steel, broken scales from the bars are heavily
crushed in an oval pass. When such an oval bar is
rolled into a round, it produces seams as four percep-
tible lines [6]. Rough grooves also tend to produce
marks on the bars. Heavily worn-out passes produce
bars with deep impressions in the form of burrows.
In some instances, these reappear in the finished
product as seams. The intensive wear of oval passes
at the point of maximum reduction is also likely to
lead to pitting which, on subsequent working, pro-
duces surface defects as folds [7].
Therefore, to improve upon the surface quality, an
 Reduction of ball bearing steel rejections

Table 1. Rolling schedule of 110 ¿ 110 mm into 65 ¿ 77 mm billets is given in the Table 1. Then, the billets are rolled in
Pass no. Cross-section (mm ¿ mm) 110 box, edging, 90 box, former, pre-finishing and fin-
ishing passes, as shown in the Fig. 1. In the case of
110 ¿ 110
1 95 ¿ 115 56-mm rounds, the Reversing Mill rolls 130 ¿ 130 mm
2 78 ¿ 120 billets into 65 ¿ 77 mm flat billets (Table 2). These flat
Tilt billets are further rolled in 110 box, former, pre-fin-
3 100 ¿ 80
4 80 ¿ 80 ishing and finishing pass, as shown in the Fig. 2.
5 75 ¿ 83 During rolling, the samples were taken from the fi-
6 62 ¿ 85 nal products containing surface defects for a detailed
Tilt
7 65 ¿ 65 investigation. The micrograph (magnification 100¿)
of the samples revealed two types of surface defect:
(i) cracks (Figs. 3a, b); and (ii) laps (Fig. 3c). The maxi-
mum depth of sharp crack was 0.336 mm as shown in
Table 2. Rolling schedule of 130 ¿ 130 mm into 65 ¿ 65 mm billets Fig. 3a, whereas the depth of surface defect due to the
Pass no. Cross-section (mm ¿ mm) lap was 0.156 mm (Fig. 3c).
130 ¿ 130
1 105 ¿ 135
Tilt
2 110 ¿ 110
3 95 ¿ 115
4 78 ¿ 120
Tilt
5 100 ¿ 80
6 80 ¿ 80
7 75 ¿ 83
8 62 ¿ 85
Tilt
9 77 ¿ 65

improvement in casting and secondary steel-making

processes was made by adopting bottom pouring,
using quality mould powders, quality refractories and
cleaner moulds. Nevertheless, higher rejection due to
surface defects still persisted. Hence a detailed inves-
tigation into the rolling process for 45- and 56-mm
ball bearing steel rounds was carried out. This paper
discusses the generation of surface defects and the
corrective measures taken in the Bar Mill.

Processing route and defects analysis

The ball bearing steel rounds are produced through
the electric arc furnace route. After ingots are rolled
into billets at the Blooming and Billet Mill, billets are
inspected for surface and subsurface defects. Billets
with minor and repairable surface defects are refur-
bished at the conditioning shop. Then selected billets
are sent to the Bar Mill for rolling into rounds.
The Bar Mill is a semi-continuous rolling mill with
a continuous reheating furnace. The input billet sizes
for rolling 45- and 56-mm rounds are 110 ¿ 110 and
130 ¿ 130 mm, respectively. It has a square-oval se-
quence of roll pass design. While rolling 45-mm
rounds, 110 ¿ 110 mm billets are rolled into 65 ¿ 65
mm billets in the Reversing Mill; the rolling schedule Fig. 1. Roll pass sequence of 45-mm round.

21
Topno et al.

Modifications
A strategy was worked out to closely monitor pro-
cessing parameters with meticulous inspection of in-
put billets and entry/exit guide alignment during
rolling. The modifications in the roll pass design were
also done in the former rolling passes.

Surface inspection and conditioning

All billets were thoroughly inspected for surface de-
fects. Input billets with only minor surface defects
were conditioned by spot grinding. Billets with irrep-
arable defects and those requiring heavy grinding
were rejected. Then, after final inspection, billets were
charged into the reheating furnace.

Guide setting
During rolling, entry and exit guides of all finishing
passes were checked at regular intervals to prevent
misalignment of the rolling line. This minimized the
generation of tool mark defects in the bars.

Roll pass design

Fig. 2. Roll pass sequence of 56- mm round.
As mentioned earlier, a square-oval sequence of roll
pass design is practiced in the Bar Mill. It has been
shown that the input bar, going into the former pass,
has a rectangular shape. It is followed by pre-finishing
oval and finishing round passes. The roll pass modi-
fication has been done only in the former pass of 45-
and 56-mm rounds. The pass design modification fa-
cilitates proper shedding of broken scales without
changing the basic pass configuration. It also ensured

Fig. 3. Micrograph of surface defects in ball bearing steel rounds (magnification 100¿) (a) Crack – 0.336 mm; (b) crack – 0.168 mm; (c)
lap – 0.156 mm.

22

pass filling of approximately 96%, up from existing
pass filling of approximately 93%. The details are as
follows.
45-mm rounds. Two design modifications have been
carried out in the former rolling pass of 45-mm
rounds: (i) the clearance angle has been increased
from 25æ to 27æ; (ii) the groove radius has been in-
creased from 18 to 20 mm. The roll pass designs before
and after modification are shown in the Fig. 4.
56-mm rounds. Two design modifications have been
carried out in the former rolling pass of 56-mm round:
(i) the clearance angle has been increased from 25æ to
27æ; (ii) the groove radius has been increased from 21
to 25 mm. The roll pass designs before and after modi-
fications are shown in the Fig. 5.
Results and discussion
Improvement in surface conditioning of input billets,
proper guide setting and design modification in the
Fig. 4. Roll pass design of 45-mm round before and after modification.
Fig. 5. Roll pass design of 56-mm round before and after modification.
Reduction of ball bearing steel rejections
roll pass design of the former pass have reduced the
rejection rate by 34.6%.
Meticulous inspection of input billets has mini-
mized the needless further processing of defective bil-
lets. The surface conditioning of input billets by light
grinding has reduced formation of swarf and gouge,
and thus reduced the likelihood of being rolled over
and forming slivers. The absence of heavy scarifying
or grinding has also reduced laps and seams.
The design modification in the former rolling pass
has ensured that the disparity in the percentage re-
duction across the section in the oval pass is mini-
mized, with a reduction in the shear forces on the sur-
face of the bar. An increase in the groove radius of the
pass has increased the percentage reduction across the
diagonal in the square pass and reduced the prob-
ability of cold edge formation. After modification of
the former rolling pass, the square going into the pre-
finishing oval pass is in the form of a bulging oval. It
reduces the intensity of wear in the oval pass corners
and reduces wrinkle formation. Consequently, the
chances of producing rolled-in seams or wrinkles in
later passes are minimized.
The finish rolling temperatures of 45- and 56-mm
rounds are 819–871 and 865–939æC, respectively. The
temperature gradient along the length of the bar is a
matter of great concern, as a large variation does not
fill the pass groove uniformly along the length. When
pass filling is good at the middle of the bar, the colder
ends may overfill and lap. and under-filled square bar
causes the square bar to lean over on one side as it
enters the oval pass and therefore the oval pass is un-
evenly filled. Laps are formed by rolling of bars con-
taining sharp overfills or fins [8]. The factors which
lead to lap formation are roll pass design, percentage
reduction, pass setting, guide setting and the thermal
regime of the bar. Subsequently, an increased clear-
ance angle in the square pass has minimized over-
filling of succeeding oval passes. Optimum filleting of
the pass groove yields advantages, such as preventing
one-sided undercuts in the case of faulty entry of
stock into rolls. The resulting fins due to a slight over-
filling will have gentle sloping faces and are not likely
to be rolled over into laps [9].
Increases in the pass groove radius and pass clear-
ance angle have also improved the pass filling. With
the modified roll pass design, with the existing tem-
perature condition during rolling, pass filling has in-
creased. It has reduced the generation of marks and
seams resulting from improperly filled passes and
breaking of scales at the opening of the former rolling
pass. The latter condition often results in rolled-in
scale or wrinkle of considerable depth.
23
Topno et al.
High carbon and certain alloy steels are more sus-
ceptible to thermal shock if they are heated or cooled
too quickly. They are prone to develop cracks or rup-
ture. Improvement in the soaking regime minimizes
the extent of corner or edge cooling of the bar cross-
section. It also eliminates the shear at the sectional
surface in the case of improper lateral drafting in
forming passes. An increase in the groove radius of
the former rolling pass has reduced the cooling rate
of corners and intensity of the scale formation. If scale
is formed, it does not stay after being crushed in the
next forming pass due to its round corner, but falls
off. Thus it prevents the generation of sharp lines.
Conclusion
The surface defects in rounds are caused by exoge-
nous entrapment, bad surface condition of input bil-
lets, non-uniform thermal profile during rolling, in-
correct guide setting, improper reduction schedule
and improper roll pass design. Improvement in the
processing methodology and modification in the roll
pass design have improved the surface quality of bars.
The surface defects can be minimized further through
improvement in the heating regime of billets, im-
provement in quality of the refractories and mould
fluxes, using cleaner mould boxes, prevention of slag
entrapment and bottom pouring casting.
24
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge support and help
extended by Alloy Steels Plant, Durgapur, during the
investigation and implementation of the modifi-
cations. Acknowledgements are also due to the Metal-
lography Laboratory for testing defective samples
and, finally, this work would not have been possible
without the help of the Director, RDCIS.
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Address:
R. Topno, Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel
Steel Authority of India Ltd, Doranda
Ranchi-834 002
India
Fax: 0651 501489