ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10, pp.

1458–1466

A New Analytical Model for the Calculation of Mean Roll Radius

in Round-oval-round Alloy Bar Rolling

Yong-gang DONG,1) Wen-zhi ZHANG1) and Jian-feng SONG2)

1) College of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China, 066004. E-mail: d_peter@163.com
2) College of Eletromechanical Engineering, Haerbin Institute of Technology, Haerbin, China, 150001.
(Received on May 16, 2006; accepted on July 4, 2006 )

In rod (or bar) rolling process, the roll surface is not flat for the groove on the roll, so the roll radius is not
constant along the roll axis direction. In this paper, a suitable spread formula was determined to calculate
the maximum spread of alloyed steel, then the surface profile of outgoing workpiece and the critical point
on the contact boundary has been predicted. Furthermore, the formula of the equivalent contact section
area has been proposed and the mean roll radius has been obtained.
The validity of the new model has been examined by the bar rolling experiment and the rigid-plastic FEM
simulation. Compared with the existing models, the mean roll radius obtained by the new analytical model
approach the experiment data more closer than other models. So, it can be used as a available reference in
practice and the theoretical derivation.
KEY WORDS: alloy rod rolling; mean roll radius; maximum spread; critical point; rigid-plastic FEM; round-
oval-round.

1. Introduction 2. Calculating Models of Mean Roll Radius

In strip (or plate) rolling process, it is easy to get rolling
speed by multiplication of roll rpm and roll radius. How-
ever, in rod (or bar) rolling process, the roll surface is not
flat for the groove on the roll, so the determination of
rolling speed becomes difficult because the roll radius is not
constant along the roll axis direction. Consequently, for cal-
culating the rolling speed of the workpiece in the grooved
roll, the “mean roll radius” has been used as equivalent ra-
dius to replaces the varying roll radius along the roll groove
profile.
For determining the mean radius of the grooved roll , an
research about that had already been carried out by some
scholars.
Wusatowski1) presented a method for the calculation of
the mean roll radius when the maximum spread and the
cross sectional area of a deformed workpiece in the groove
were known beforehand. Meanwhile, Saito et al.2) proposed
a method for the mean roll radius, anchored in the geome-
try of an incoming workpiece and that of a roll groove pro-
file at a given pass.
Mathematical rationale, however, was not given to the
aforementioned methods. Y. Lee3) presented another
method to determine the mean roll radius. His analytical
model is based on the mapping technique that transforms
the definition of rolling speed in strip rolling onto that in
rod rolling.
This paper studies the deformation law of the bar (or rod)
in the groove, and a new model is proposed to calculate the
mean roll radius. The mean roll radius calculated by this
formula was compared with those by the existing models.
In this section, the existing models for the calculation of
the mean roll radius are reviewed and the derivation proce-
dure of the proposed analytical model is described.
2.1. The Existing Models for Mean Roll Radius
2.1.1. Wusatowski Model1)
Figure 1 illustrates the physical meaning of the mean
roll radius in an oval and a round pass. It is a single value
which replaces the varying roll radius along the groove pro-
file. As can be seen, key point is how to determine the de-
duction value, H̄ . Wusatowski model can calculate the
mean roll radius when one knows information regarding the
deformation of workpiece, i.e., the maximum spread and
cross sectional area of the deformed workpiece. The mean
roll radius is
Rmean
RmaxG/2H̄/2 ........................(1)
H̄
Ap/Wmax .................................(2)
Ap is the cross sectional area of deformed workpiece at a
given pass. Here, the value, H̄, is calculated by using the
equivalent rectangle approximation method which trans-
forms a curved cross section into a rectilinear one while net
cross sectional area is maintained.3)
2.1.2. Saito Model2)
Saito et al. proposed that the deduction value, H̄, could
be obtained by knowing the cross points of a roll groove
profile and an incoming workpiece at a pass when they are

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10

Fig. 1. The parameter signifacation for the calculation of the

mean roll radius by Wusatowski model.

overlapped (Fig. 2). Then the mean roll radius is

Rmean
RmaxG/2H̄/2 ........................(3) Fig. 2. The parameter signifacation for the calculation of the
mean roll radius by Satio model.

A0 As Ah
H
............................(4) rolling. The mean roll radius proposed by Y. Lee is repre-
2CY 0 sented by

Ah is the area of the hatched section. Equation (3) is of the  N  1

same form as Eq. (1), but the value, H̄, of Eq. (4) is differ- Rmean
( R1 R2L RN 1 RN ) / N

 i
1
∑
RN  ⋅
 N
ent from that of Eq. (2). It should be noted that the mean
roll radius by Saito model depends on the cross sectional ...........................................(5)
shape of the incoming (undeformed) workpiece. On the
other hand, that by Wusatowski model does on that of the 2CY
outgoing (deformed) workpiece. N
.................................(6)
∆l
2.1.3. Youngseog Lee Model4)
γ
Y. Lee’s analytical model has been developed based on C 
the mapping which transforms the definition of rolling ∆l
C y ⋅  Z  .............................(7)
speed in strip (or plate) rolling onto that in rod (or bar)  wf 
rolling. Moreover, Y. Lee consider the available contact sec-
tion between the workpiece and the work roll at the exit wf
section. So the mean roll radius, obtained by Y. Lee, de- γ
...................................(8)
G
pends on the location of the critical point (CY , CZ) on the
contact boundary at the exit section. Figure 3(a) illustrates
the cross sectional shape of workpiece at the exit section in N: the number of the point-wise roll radii along the pe-
strip rolling. Figure 3(b) describes the non-flat cross sec- riphery
tional shape of the deformed workpiece at an oval pass g: an integer and a non-dimensional constant

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10
Fig. 3. Schematic of discrete distribution of the radius at the exit
section (front view).
Fig. 4. The parameter designation of the round-oval pass for
solving the critical point (CY, CZ).
Dl: the interval between the point-wise radius R1, R2, R3,
..., RN
2.2. Building the New Model for Mean Roll Ridus
This paper represent a new model to calculate mean roll
radius on the base of summarizing and improving the
Wusatowski model and Y. Lee model.
The profile of the outgoing workpiece in grooved roll
was considered in the Wusatowski model, but the contact
status between the workpiece and grooved roll was not
taken into account. So, the contact boundary should be con-
sidered because the surface of workpiece does not cantact
entirely with the grooved roll surface. The contact bound-
ary’s influnce on the mean roll radius was thought over in Y.
Lee model. However, it is not practical to calculate the
mean roll radius using Eqs. (5)–(8) because this method
© 2006 ISIJ
Fig. 5. The parameter designation of the oval-round pass for
solving the critical point (CY, CZ).
Fig. 6. The parameter designation of the round-oval pass for the
calculation of the mean roll radius.
Fig. 7. The parameter designation of the oval-round pass for the
calculation of the mean roll radius.
needs a great deal of calculation.
In this paper, the critical point is defined as the point on
the contact boundary at the exit section. It affects the con-
tact status and the shape of the outgoing workpiece directly,
so it is indispensable for determining the mean roll radius.
Once this point is known, the available contact zone (hatch-
ing zone abcd) at the exit section can be determined, and
furthermore the equivalent contact zone (rectangular zone
ABCD) can be obtained (Figs. 6 and 7).
Consequently, the model of solving the critical point
(CY, CZ) should be built firstly.
2.2.1. The Model of Solving the Critical Point
As can be seen in Fig. 5, Rs, the radius of the curvature
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of the outgoing cross-section, must be determined firstly Ah and As may be given by

when solving the critical point (CY, CZ). According to the
research of Y. Lee,5,6) Rs can be predicted as the linear inter- Ah/2
arctg(CY0/CZ0) · Ra2
polation of Ra and Rf (Fig. 4) or R1 and Rg (Fig. 5) once
 CY 0 
Wmax is known. Wmax is the maximum spread of the exit
cross-section, which can be calculated on the base of Shi-
nokura and Takai’s equation.7)

 ∫ CY 0
( R12 y 2  DZ )dy CY 0 ⋅ C Z 0  ........(16)


(1) The Maximum Spread in Round-oval-round Pass As /2
arctg(CZ0/CY0) · RaCY0 · CZ0 ..............(17)
Rolling
In rod or bar rolling, the lateral flow of deformed work- In oval-round pass rolling, the reference point (CY0, CZ0)
piece is complicated. The spread is influnenced by many can be formulated as
factors, such as roll diameter, reduction ratio, length of con-
tact arc, the groove profile, the width of workpiece, the fric- (D0CY0)2C 2Z0
R12 ........................(18)
tion coefficient, the material of workpiece. Some scholar
studied the law of the lateral flow of deformed workpiece in C 2Z0C 2Y0
Rg2..............................(19)
the groove, and represented their empirical-theoretical any-
latical model on the base of the rolling experiments, such as D0
R1Wi/2 ..............................(20)
Smirnov spread formula,8) Wusatowski spread formula,9) Ji-
ujin and Keliwencuov spread formula.10) These model was Solving the Eq. (36) and Eq. (37) yields
derived by rolling plain carbon steel in groove, moreover,
the equivalent reduction and roll mean radius was not been R12 Rg2 D02
determined exactly. So it can’t be used directly to predict CY 0
........................(21)
the spread of alloyed steel in groove. Shinokura and Takai 2 D0
studied the process of round-oval-round pass rolling and
proposed a spread formula for rolling plain carbon steel.
C Z 0
Rg2CY2 0 ..........................(22)
the Gubujin and Qixikov11) considered the influence of the
workpiece’s material upon the spread, and gived the value
of influence coefficient m. For calculating the spread during Ah and As may be given by
alloy bar rolling, Shinokura and Takai Spread Formula
should be modified as follows (Fig. 2): As/2
arcsin(CZ0/R1) · R12(DZCY0) · CZ0 ........(23)

R ⋅ ( H i  H ) Ah π A
∆b
m ⋅ γ ⋅ w0 Ah / 2
Wmax ⋅ H p  s
w00.5H 0 A0 ...............(9) 8 2
A0 As  arccos(C Z 0 / Rg ) ⋅ Rg2CY 0 ⋅ C Z 0 ..................(24)
H0
.............................(10)
2CY 0

A0 As Ah W0, H0 and A0 represent, respectively, the maximum

H
..........................(11) width, the maximum height and area of incoming work-
2CY 0 piece. Ah and As represent the compressed area along the
In round-oval pass rolling, the reference point (CY0, CZ0) height direction and the area of non-contact section. R̄, H ¯i
can be formulated as and H̄ represent, respectively, the equivalent roll radius,
equivalent height of incoming workpiece, equivalent height
(DZCZ0)2C 2Y0
R12 ........................(12) of outgoing workpiece. g is a correction factor, in round-
oval pass rolling, g is 0.97, in oval-round pass rolling, g is
C 2Z0C 2Y0
Ra2 ..............................(13) 0.83.8) m is the influence coefficient of steel’s component.
For the plain carbon steel Q195, m is 1.0. For the pearlite-
Solving the Eq. (23) and Eq. (24) yields martensite type steel (for example GCr15, 4Cr13, 40Cr), m
varys from 1.24 to 1.30.11)
R12 Ra2 DZ2 For choosing a proper spread model, the value of spread
CZ 0
........................(14) obtained from different spread formula was compared. As
2 DZ can be seen in Table 1, the modified Shinokura Formula is
more suited for the alloy bar rolling than other spread for-
CY 0
Ra2C z20 ..........................(15)
mula.

Table 1. The spread comparison of different formula.

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In this formula, the influence factor of spread was all DZ2

taken into account except the friction coefficient. The fric- a
1 ..............................(34)
DY2
tion coefficient is affected mainly by rolling velocity and
rolling temperature other than the roll surface status and lu-
k 0 ⋅ DZ
bricate condition.10) However, the rolling velocity and tem- b
2 DZ  .........................(35)
perature is not uniform in the groove. So the friction coeffi- DY2
cient can’t be expressed by a constant. Actually, The fric-
tion coefficient and other else influence factor, which is not k 02
c
DZ2  R12  ........................(36)
considered in this modified Shinokura Spread formula, is 4 DY2
embodied in the correction factor g on the base of a great
deal of rolling experiments. where k0 is shown as

(2) The Critical Point (CY , CZ) in Round-oval-round Pass k0
R12DY2Rs2DZ2 ........................(37)
Rolling
As can be seen in Fig. 4, Rs and Rf may be given by Solving the simple binomial equation, Eq. (33), CZ can
be expressed explicitly in terms of a, b, c as
Rs
Ra · wtRf · (1wt) .......................(25)

R1 ⋅ H p(Wf2 H p2 ) / 4  b  b 2 4ac
Rf
..................(26) CZ
......................(38)
2 R1Wf 2a

Wf Wmax According to the Eq. (38), two solutions CZ will be ob-

Wt
...........................(27)
Wf Wi
Wmax
WiVb .............................(28)
where Ra is the radius of the curvature of the incoming
cross-section. Wt is a weighting function, Wi the width of
the inlet cross-section, Wf the width of the roll groove area,
Db the maximum spread of the outgoing workpiece.
The critical point (CY, CZ), at which the oval groove inter-
sects the surface profile of outgoing workpiece, can be for-
mulated as two simultaneous circular equation
(CYDY)2C 2Z
R2s .........................(29)
tained. However, in these two solutions, only one is effec-
tive or available. In other words, one of two solutions have
to be excluded.
For the spread of the workpiece in rod rolling, the CZ0 is
bigger than CZ without doubt. So, the criterion to determine
the only effective value CZ can be shown as
CZCZ0 ..................................(39)
once CZ is determined, the CY can be obtained by
CY
R12(C Z  DZ )2 .....................(40)

(DZCZ)2C 2Y
R12 .........................(30)

(3) The Critical Point (CY , CZ) in Oval-round Pass Rolling
where DY, the distance along the Y-axis direction between As can be seen in Fig. 5, Rs may be given by
the origin coordinate and the center of the arc Rs, is shown
as Rs
R1 · wtRg · (1wt).......................(41)

DY
(Wmax2Rs)/2..........................(31) 2 RgWmax
Wt
..........................(42)
2 RgWi
where DZ, the distance along the Z-axis direction between
the origin coordinate and the center of the arc R1, is shown
as where R1 is the radius of the curvature of the incoming
cross-section, Wt is a weighting function, Rg the radius of
DZ
R1Hp/2..............................(32) the round groove.
The critical point (CY, CZ), at which the round groove in-
where R1 is the radius of the oval groove, Hp the thickness tersects the surface profile of outgoing workpiece, can be
of the roll groove area. formulated as
A new equation, Eq. (33), can be obtained by Eq. (29)
and Eq. (30). (CYDY)2CZ2
R2s ..........................(43)

a · CZ2b · C Z c
0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( 3 3 ) CZ2CY2
Rg2 ...............................(44)

where a, b, c is shown, respectively, as where DY, the distance along the Y-axis direction between
the origin coordinate and the center of the arc Rs, is shown
as

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10

DY
RsWmax/2 ............................(45) q 0
arcsin(CY/R1)...........................(53)

Solving the Eq. (43) and Eq. (44) yields the mean roll radius of the round pass may be given by

Rs2 Rg2 DY2 Rmean
RmaxG/2H̄/2 ......................(54)

CY
.........................(46)
2 DY
(2) The Mean Roll Radius in Oval-round Pass Rolling
In the Fig. 7, the curve equation of the round groove is
C Z
Rg2CY2 ............................(47)
expressed as

2.2.2. A New Model for the Mean Roll Radius z
f ( y )
Rg2 y 2 .......................(55)

(1) The Mean Roll Radius in Round-oval Pass Rolling The area of the available contact section for the round
In the Fig. 6, the curve equation of the oval groove is ex- pass is expressed as
pressed as
CY

z
f ( y )
R12 y 2  Dz ...................(48)
Aabcd
2
∫
CY
( Rg2 y 2 )dy ..................(56)

where R1 is the radius of the oval groove, Hp the thickness The area of the equivalent contact section for the oval
of the roll groove area. pass and round pass is
The area of the available contact section for the oval pass
is expressed as AABCD
H̄·2CY .............................(57)

CY the mean height of the workpiece in the round pass is

Aabcd
2
∫CY
( R12 y 2  DZ )dy ..............(49) shown as
CY

The area of the equivalent contact section for the oval

pass and round pass is
A A
H
ABCD
abcd

2
∫
CY
( Rg2 y 2 )dy
.....(58)
2CY 2CY 2CY
AABCD
H̄·2CY .............................(50)
Integrating the Eq. (58) yields
the mean height of the workpiece in the oval pass is shown
as 2CY ⋅ C Z (2 arctg(CY /C Z ) ⋅ Rg2
H /2
.........(59)
C 4CY
AABCD A 2 ∫CY ( R12Y 2  DZ )dy
H

abcd
Y

2CY 2CY 2CY the mean roll radius of the oval pass and round pass may be
C given by
2 ∫0 Y ( R12 y 2 )dy 2CY ⋅ DZ

.........................(51)
CY Rmean
RmaxG/2H̄/2 ......................(60)

Integrating the Eq. (51) yields

3. Calculation Process and Results

R12 (sin 2θ 02θ 0 ) The calculation has been carried out according to the
H /2
 DZ ...............(52) rolling schedule (Table 2) and pass schedule (Fig. 8),
4CY which is always applied to Pomini Rolling Mills that be-
longs to BEIMAN SPECIAL STEEL CO. LTD. The mate-
where q 0 is shown as rial of the workpiece is structural alloy steel (40Cr).
The rolling process has been simulated by rigid-plastic
Table 2. Rolling schedule of the Pomini Rolling Mills.

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10
Fig. 8. The dimension of the oval pass and round pass.
Fig. 9. The contact boundary and contact zone in oval pass
rolling.
FEM, the contact boudary and critical point is express as
Fig. 9 and the surface profile is express as Fig. 10. the sur-
face profile obtained by prediction model, FEM model and
© 2006 ISIJ
Fig. 10. Surface profile of incoming workpiece and outgoing
workpiece.
Fig. 11. Predicted and experimental surface profile of outgoing
workpiece.
experimental data is shown as Fig. 11.
The mean roll radius can be obtained by the following
step:
Step 1: Calculate the reference point (CY0, CZ0), Ah and As.
Step 2: Determine Db or Wmax by modified Shinokura and
Takai’s equation
Step 3: Predict the surface profile of outgoing workpiece
by Y. Lee’s model and determine Rs in oval pass
and round pass, respectively.
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 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10
Table 3. Critical point and section area of different model.
Table 4. Mean height and mean roll radius.
Step 4: Calculate the critical point (CY, CZ) in oval pass
and round pass, respectively.
Step 5: Calculate bar section area Aabcd and H̄ in oval pass
and round pass, respectively.
Step 6: Calculate the mean roll radius Rmean.
The result is shown as Table 3 and Table 4.
According to Saito model, the mean roll radius is deter-
mined purely from the geometry of the incoming workpiece
and the roll groove profile at a pass when they are over-
lapped. Whereas, the mean roll radius is determined purely
from the geometry of the outgoing workpiece and the roll
groove profile by the Wusatowski model, Y. Lee model and
new model. Moreover, in this paper, the lateral flow of the
deformed workpiece (along roll-axis direction) and contact
boundary has been considered as two pivotal influencing
factor on the mean roll radius. so the concept of the critical
point and available contact section is proposed (Figs. 6 and
7). The effective section area Ah, Ap and Aabcd, which are
used to calculated the mean height of the outgoing work-
piece, is expressed in the Table 2. As can be seen in Table
2, in three section area calculated by different model, the
biggest one and the smallest one is Ah and Ap (Figs. 1 and
2), respectively.
Once the groove profile and roll gap is known , the posi-
tion of the critical point (CY, CZ) is just determined by the
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maximum spread Db or maximum width Wmax. When Db or
Wmax is increased, the CY increases and mean height H̄ de-
creases, then the mean roll radius increases at the same
time. In oval pass rolling, The mean roll radii Rmean com-
puted by Saito model, which is very similar with those by
Y. Lee model, is less than the new model. On the other
hand, the mean roll radii computed by Wusatowski model
overestimate those by Y. Lee model and new model. In
round pass rolling, The mean roll radius Rmean calculated by
new model is bigger than other else.
4. Conclusions
The impetus of this study was to acquire a more simple
and accurate mathematical model for the mean roll radius
associated with rod (or bar) rolling so that we can perform
a systematic study for the existing models of mean roll ra-
dius currently being used. In order to do this, an a new ana-
lytical model for the calculation of the mean roll radius in
round-oval (or oval-round) pass rolling has been developed,
which is based on the Wusatowski model and Y. Lee model.
We have compared the mean roll radii calculated from the
analytical model with those computed from the existing
models. The conclusions are summarized as follows:
(1) Compared with other spread model, the modified
© 2006 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 46 (2006), No. 10
Shinokura and Takai’s spread model can be used to calcu-
late the maximum spread of alloyed steel in round-oval-
round pass rolling, furthermore, a satisfying result can be
obtained.
(2) Once the groove profile and roll gap is known, the
precision of critical point is just determined by the spread
model, in other words, the more the maxmum width ap-
proach the true spread, the more correct the critical point is.
(3) The new analytical model depends on a precise sur-
face profile prediction model for outgoing workpiece, so
the concept “critical point on the contact boundary” is rep-
resented in this paper and the solving model for critical
point is derived based on the Y. Lee’s surface profile predic-
tion model. Compared with experimental data and simula-
tion result, the critical point model proved to be correct.
(4) Compared with the existing models, the new analyt-
ical model is more rational because the influence of maxi-
mum spread and contact status on the mean roll radius has
been considered in this model. Furthermore, the formula of
effective contact section area is derived. As can be seen in
Table 4, the effective contact section area is a intermediate
value between that of the Wusatowski model and Saito
model. So it approach the practical situation well.
(5) Wusatowski model can be used as a rough estima-
tion for its simplicity in calculation; Saito model can be ap-
plied as a approximate research when the maximum spread
D b is small enough and can be ignored; Y. Lee model has a
© 2006 ISIJ
good mathematical rationale, but in practice, the applica-
tion of this model is not easy since a great deal of calcula-
tion have to be accomplished.
(6) The mean roll radius obtained by the new analytical
model approach the experiment data well (Table 4). So, it
can be used as a available reference in practice and the the-
oretical derivation.
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