Elimination of ELLIPTICAL COIL SHAPE PROBLEM in

HIGH CARBON Grades

Objective: Elimination of Elliptical coil shape (sagging of coils) in high carbon grades
Problem background details:
The coil shape becomes elliptical especially when rolling high carbon grades (0.2 to 0.8% carbon)
for the last 10 years (from 1999 onwards). The coil cannot be used for further processing when
the intensity of the elliptical nature is severe. The less intensity elliptical coils are re-coiled in
slitting lines & sent to the customers that add additional cost to the production of high carbon
grades rolling.
As a temporary measure, we have reduced the specific coil weight for the high carbon grades
that has given some relief in coil sagging. However the problem was not completely eliminated.
The reduction of specific coil weight from 18 Kg/mm to 12 Kg/mm (i.e. considering 1000 mm
width, the weight change is from 18 MT to 12 MT) & the loss of 6 MT/coil which invariably affects
HSM productivity. Hence the major impact of rolling high carbon grade rolling are summarized as,
1. Low coil weight- hence effect in HSM productivity
2. Rework load- increase of recoiling load in slitting (additional process)
Analysis & actions taken:
Due to the major impact in productivity & increased processing cost, high carbon grades rolling
were kept off from the production plan for years and sometimes produced very less quantity.
Owing to the market conditions & the requirements for high carbon grades, we have planned to
solve the problem of coil sagging & supply the material in full weight (maximum specific coil
weight) to the customers.
Detailed literature surveys on the problem were carried out. However there was no clue on the
mechanism by which the sagging can be eliminated was not found out. Through meticulous
approach on the fundamentals of transformations & competitors process replications, the
mechanism of coil sagging was deeply understood.
Mechanism of coil Sagging/ elliptical coil shape:
Among all the literatures, there were two main literatures that have publicized the transformation
fundamentals. They are as follows,
1. Modeling of Incubation Time for Austenite to Ferrite Phase Transformation,
ZHOU Xiao-guang' , LIU Zhen-yu' , WU Di' , WANG We, JIAO Si-ha from State Key
Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang & Institute of
Research and Development, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd, Shanghai, published in
JOURNAL OF IRON AND STEEL RESEARCH, INTERNATIONAL. 2006, 13(4)
2. Phase transformations in steel studied by 3DXRD microscopy, S.E. Offerman a,*,
N.H. Evan Dijk b, J. Sietsma a, E.M. Lauridsen c, L. Margulies c, d, S. Grigull d, H.F. Poulsen
c, S. van der Zwaag, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of
Technology, Rotterdamseweg 137, 2628 AL Delft, The Netherlands & published in Nuclear
Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 246 (2006).

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Concept 1:
According to the classical nucleation theory, the nucleation rate (I) is expressed as,

Where I0 is steady state nucleation rate, is incubation time & t is isothermal reaction time.
High incubation time: Longer time needed for the transformation to start
Low incubation time: Shorter time needed for the transformation to start
The literature explains the relationship of incubation time and cooling rate, indicating that the
cooling rate does not affect significantly.
The relationship of carbon content and incubation time, , indicating that increases with the
increase of the carbon content. When carbon content is increased, the chance for ferrite
nucleation is reduced because the precipitation rate decreases due to the fact that more carbon
atoms need to move from ferrite to austenite by diffusion.
The effect of hot deformation on the incubation time , that decreases with decreasing
temperature when it is above 680C. ( decreases when the specimen is hot deformed, and the
nose temperature is around 680C). increases with the decrease of temperature when the
temperature is lower than 680C.
Concept 2:
The ferrite grain nucleation mechanism during the austenite/ferrite phase transformation is
studied in situ in the bulk of three different steel grades by three-dimensional X-ray diffraction
(3DXRD) microscopy. The main difference between the three steel grades is the carbon
concentration. For each steel grade the ferrite fraction, nucleus density and nucleation rate are
measured simultaneously during continuous cooling. The steel grade used for phase
transformation study is given below,

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The figure shows the measured ferrite fraction as a function of temperature during continuous
cooling from 900C to 600C. The austenite/pearlite transformation starts at approximately the
same temperature of 685C for all three steel grades which were derived experimentally through
3DXRD microscopy.
Mechanism of coil sagging:
Concept1:
- Incubation time increases with % carbon
- Incubation time decreases when the temperature exceeds 680C
- Incubation time increases when the temperature lower than 680C
- Incubation time decreases when the amount of hot deformation increases.
Concept 2:
- Austenite/pearlite transformation starts at approximately the same temperature of 685C
for different grades of steel (with varying carbon C22, C35 & C45).
When the coiling temperature is less than 680C, the incubation time is increased (longer time
needed for the transformation to start) and results in longer time for completing the
transformation (Austenite/pearlite). Hence the transformation starts during coiling which
results in coil sagging. If the coiling temperature is above 680C, then the incubation time is
decreased & the transformation completes in less time. There is enough time for transformation
to complete before coiling and hence coil shape becomes better & coil sagging is avoided.
Controlled Field trials:
The coiling temperature of high carbon grades were increased to 690C from the range of 620660C. Though we got the improvement in coil shape, we found that the coil shape become
elliptical but with less intensity in majority cases.
The reason for the problem was later identified that the actual achievement of coiling
temperature was less than 680C (~630-660C) due to lesser laminar header requirements & the
speed was relatively low to co-up with laminar banks opening. Hence the finishing temperature
was increased to 890C to match the speed & laminar banks opening. Now the actual coiling
temperature achievement is in the range of 670-700C which has given superior results with
respect to coil shape.
Effect of temperature change on properties/bend test:
In order to study the impact & adverse effect (if at all any) of coiling temperature change on high
carbon grades, samples were collected for mechanical properties testing & close bend testing.
There are no adverse effect on mechanical properties (slight reduction YS & TS which are falling
within the customer specification limit) & bend test (satisfactory & no cracks). Microstructural
analysis is also been done on the trial coils in order to understand the effect of CT change. There
were no significant changes in the microstructures.
Results & Discussions:
Fig.1. shows the trend of elliptical coils in high carbon grades. There were no elliptical coils after
Oct-09 onwards. The average coil weight of high carbon grades were increased from 14 Kg/mm
(14-15 MT) to 18 Kg/mm (17-19 MT) which is shown in Fig.2.

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No elliptical coils from

Oct-09 onwards

Fig.1. Trend of Elliptical coils in high carbon grades

Fig.2. Trend of average coil weight in high carbon grades

Report Submitted By:

R. Sundara Bharathy
Emp. No: 20001672
ESTL- R&D
Date: 10-December-2009

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