ISIJ International, Vol. 31(1991), No. 6, pp.

57 1-576

An Integrated Mathematical Simulation of Temperatures,

Rolling Loads and Metallurgical Properties in Hot Strip
Mills

Hiroshi YOSHIDA,Akira YORIFUJl,1) Satoshi KOSEKIand Makoto SAEK12)

Technical Research Division,Kawasaki Steel Oorporation, Kawasaki-dori, Mizushima, Kurashiki, Okayama-ken,712 Japan. I Technical
Research Division, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kawasaki-cho, Handa, Aichi-ken, 475 Japan. 2) Technicai Research Division,
)
Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kawasaki-cho, Chiba, Chiba-ken, 260 Japan.

(Received on September21, 1990, accepted in final form on December14, 1990)

An integrated mathematical simulator for hot strip mills has been developed. This Hot Integrated Mathematical Simulator
(HIMS) can estimate simultaneously temperatures of rolled material and roll, roliing loads such as rolling force and torque,
and metallurgical properties of rolled material from the exit of reheating furnace to the coiler. The HIMSconsists of three
simulators of Temperature, Rolling and Metallurgy, and it takes coupling relations between the above three simulators into
consideration to obtain accurate results. (1) The Temperature Simulator is used for calculating the temperature changes
of rolled material and roll. (2) The Rolling Simulator is used for calculating the force, the torque, the motor
power, the
deformation resistance, the thickness direction, etc. during rolling.
the strain distribution in (3) The Metallurgy Simulator is
used for calculating changes of austenite and phase transformation, and mechanical properties such as yield
(Y) grain size
strength (Y.S.), tensile strength (T.S.), elongation (EI.) and Vickers hardness (Hv) at room temperature. At present, the
HIMSis used as an effective tool for solving various problems of hot strip mills, because its application field is very wide.
KEYWORDS:
computer simulation; hot rolling; hot strip miil; rolling temperature; rolling load; metallurgical property.

1. Introduction material during rolling is influenced by the rolling force and

inversely the rolling force is influenced by the temperature
A Temperature Simulator which estimates temperatures of the rolled material. Therefore these models should be
of.rolled material and roll, a Rolling Simulator which esti-
calculated simultaneously to obtain accurate results.
mates rolling loads such as rolling force and torque, and a In analytical examplespublished previously, however, the
Metallurgy Simulator which estimates metallurgical proper-
temperatures, the rolling loads and the metallurgical proper-
ties such as austenite (Y) grain size, phase transformation and
ties are calculated without enoughconsideration of the
mechanical properties at room temperature are not indepen- cou-
pling relations. I~3)
dent of one another, but have coupling relations between
An integrated mathematical simulator for hot strip mills,
them. Figure I
shows the coupling relations between the
which can estimate simultaneously the temperatures, the
three simulators. For example, the. temperature of rolled
rolling loads and the metallurgical properties from the exit
of the reheating furnace to the coiler, has been developed for
the first time. In this report, the outline of the Hot Integrated
Mathematical Simulator (HIMS) and the calculated results
Temperature Simulator are described.
(a) Temperature of rolled material As the accurate HIMSis used as an effective tool for
(b) Temperature ofroll solving the following problems, the economical merits are

(1),(4)
,, substantial.
(1) Study on the improvement of existing equipment and
new equipment
(a) (a)

(2) Study on the most suitable manufacturing condition

Rolling Simulatar Metallurgy Simulator under given criteria
(1) Rolling force (1) T- grain size
(3) Effective development of newproduct
(5)
(2) Rolling torque reerystallization) (4) Reduction of experimental material in actual process,
Motor power restoratoin
(8)
and
(4) Deformation resistance grain growth
(II) Phase transformation
(5) Faster trouble shooting in actual process.
(5) Strain distribution in (1),(ID

thickness directien (III) Mechanical properties

(Y.S., T.S., El Hv)
,
2. Outline of the HIMS
Objects of analysis are the temperatures, the rolling loads
Fig. 1. Coupling relations between three simulators. and the metallurgical properties in arbitrary (existing and

571 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ Intemational, Vol. 31 (1991), N0.6

planning) hot strip mills. of heats by phase transformation,4) friction and plastic defor-
In cases of the temperature and metallurgical properties mation5) during rolling into consideration, is derived. This
of the rolled material, those distributions in the thickness equation is solved by an implicit difference methods(Crack-
direction are obtained at the width center of the leading end, Nicolson Method).6)
the tailing end and an arbitrary longitudinal position. Figure 3
shows the schematic diagram of elemental
division during rolling. The following techniques were used
2.1. WholeFlow of Calculation in order to shorten the calculation time.
Figure 2showsthe whole flow
of the HIMS. If data such (1) The number of sectional divisions (solid lines of
as steel grade, section size, mill dimension, rolling condition Fig.3) is greater in the case of thickness and smaller in the
and cooling condition are given, changes of temperature, case of thinness.
l~grain size and phase transformation in rolled material from (2) The time division (dotted lines of Fig.3) is less in the
the exit of the reheating furnace to the finisher exit are cal-
case of rapid cooling and longer in the case of slow cooling.
culated. Rolling loads and temperature changes in rolls
2.2.2. Calculation of Rolling Loads and Deformation Resis-
during rolling are also calculated. Thenchanges of tempera-
tance
ture and phase transformation in rolled material on the cool-
ing table and during coiling are calculated. Finally the
The calculation of rolling loads such as rolling force,
torque and motor power is carried out using a mixed friction
mechanical properties of Y.S., T.S., El., and Hv at room
rolling theory7) in which both slipping and sticking friction
temperature are calculated when the transformation in the
states in the roll-bite are considered.
thickness direction is finished.
In the calculation of the meandeformation resistance,
2.2. Outline of Analytical Method Misaka's equation8) is used during rougher rolling and an
equation5,9) by the authors is used during finisher rolling.
The analytical methods used in the HIMSare as follows.
Hardening caused by accumulated strainlo) and chemical
2.2.1. Calculation of Temperatures of Rolled Material and
composition, and softening caused by dynamic recrystalliza-
Roll tion and phase transformation are considered in the latter
It is assumedthat heat flows only in the thickness direc-
equation.
tion in the case of rolled material and only in the radial
direction in the case of roll. Then a non-steady one-dimen- 2.2.3. Calculation of Strain Distribution in Thickness Direc*
sional thermal conductive equation, which takes generation tion
The strain in the thickness direction irnmedi-
distribution
ately after rolling calculated by an equation which is ex-
is

pressed as a function of rolling factors of reduction, friction

coefficient, roll diameter, etc. This equation has been deter-
C~~~]jRT
mined by referring to results obtained by the deformation
analysis during rolling using the rigid-plastic finite element
Read of data method.
steel grade, conditions of reheating,
rolling and cooling, sectoin size, mill
2.2.4. Calculation of l~grain Size
dimension* etc.

The Y-grain size is calculated by modified Sellars' equa-

tionsll) which consist of equations of recrystallization, res-
Slab temperature toration and grain growth.12,13) The flow chart for calculating
Furnace> r-gram Slze ~~grain size is shownin Fig.4.

Temperatures of rolled material and rolt

Roiling> Rolling loads, Deformation resistance
r-grain size Work roll

Sheet-bar temperatul'e Descaler

Box> T-graln Slze /.
.
.
..1"~?t~i:"'
:

Rolling>
•Temperatures of rolled material and
Rolling loads, Deformation resistance
r- grain size, Phase transformation
roll
""'
/
Strip temperature
! ~>
Table>
T- grain size,Phase transformation

":' ~~
Stri~temperature
Rolled material
Coiler > .~~r.! '
Phase transformaLion

Temperature> Mechanical properties

cl~]
Fig. 2. Whole flow of the Hot Integrated Mathematical Frg. 3. Schematic diagram of elemental division during roll-

Simulator. ing.

C 1991 ISIJ 572

 ISIJ Intemational, Vol. 31 (1991), N0.6

2.2.5. Calculation of Phase Transformation and Mechanical temperature are expressed as functions of chemical composi-
Properties tion, Y-grain size and metallurgical structural parameters.12,13)
Figure 5 shows the schematic of Time-Temperature-
Transformation (TTT) diagrams. Start and finish of TTT 3. Comparison between Calculated and Meas-
diagrams in phases of ferTite, pearlite and bainite are ex- ured Values
pressed as functions of temperature, time, V-grain size and
chemical composition. In order to confirm the estimation accuracy, calculated
Each phase transformation is calculated by a method values in the rolling force of C-MnSteel, in the temperature
which estimates the transformation in a arbitrary cooling of rolled material and in the mechanical properties were
curve by utilizing the TTTdiagrams.4'13)
comparedwith those measuredvalues. As typical examples,
Mechanical properties of Y.S., T.S., El. and Hv at room the comparisons in the rolling force of N0.7 finisher (P7), in
the finisher delivery temperature (FDT) and in tensile
strength (T.S.) of the final product are shownin Figs.6 to 8,
[~]fRT I : Numberof thickness element
Imax : Total numberof thickness elemenL 16.0
t time
Y:!
'

tr: tirne at final finisher rolling

z
I~! ~:-120
(1'
~!
o
Just after rolling ? NO
ol
~; 80
YES o
*
YES Dynamic recrystallization ~* 4.0
?
~
:,
occur

NO ~
Caiculation of static
recrystallization
Oo 4.0 8_O i2() 16.0
Calculated roi[ing force (MN)

Recrystallization flnish ? NO Fig. 6. Comparisonbetween calculated and measuredroll-

Calculation of dynamically ing forces of N0.7 fmisher.
reorystallized grain size
YES
950
Calculation of grain Caleulation of
growth restoration

ele ee
Caiculation of meanaustenite grain

900
NO p eee
= Imax ? I=1+1
H
O dl)":
YES LL
1:,

t = tf ? NO t=t+At
u;o

YES 850 ele

Fig. 4. Flow
~~D
chart for calculating v!grain size.
~:

tl
80~
oo 850 900 950
Ca[cuLated FDT ('C)
Fs

ps~11~ Fig. 7. Comparison between calculated

finisher delivery temperatures.
and measured

o ___--
Pf ~~~~~~~~
:'L
~~
~'
~/~~
Bs
o 600
a - Bf
E
_
E
h~o ~
Z
V1;
FJ
5oo
MS
~*

Mf 400
r~Q'

Time ~
Fig. 5. Shematic TTT diagrarns; F, P,
B and Mrepresent 300
300 400 500 600
ferrite, pearlite, bainite and martensite respectively, Caicutated T.S (N/mm2)
and suffix s and f represent start and finish of phase
transformation respectively. Fig. 8. Comparison between calculated and measured ten-
sile strength of final product.

573 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ Intemational, Vol. 31 (1991), N0.6

respectively. The standard deviation (o) of FCF7(measured The surface temperature of rolled material drops sharply
P7/calculated P7) is 8.1 %, of the difference between cal- during water-cooling of the horizontal scale breaker (HSB)
a
culated FDTand measuredFDTis 4.1'C, and a of the dif- and finisher scale breaker (FSB), and during rolling. The
ference between calculated T.S, and measured T.S, is temperature drops of the former and of the later are due to
14N/mm2. As shown in the figures the calculated values heat-transfer to water and heat-conduction to roll respective-
agree well with the measuredvalues. ly. These sharp drops occur only in the neighborhood of the
surface. But the surface temperature rises immediately after
4. Integrated Simulation of Process in Hot Strip water-cooling and rolling. On the other hand, the center
Mills temperature during rolling rises a little by the plastic defor-
mation heat.
Calculated results under a simulation condition of Table
The surface temperature of roll bccomeshighest during
1 for the hot strip mills of Mizushima Works are as follows,
rolling of the previous finishers F1 and F2• Then the
4.1. Changesof Temperature temperatures are over 500'C.
Figures 9(a)
to 9(c) show temperature changes of the
On the cooling table, at first the temperature of rolled
material drops sharply by water-cooling, but the temperature
surface, center and
meanin the thickness direction at the
during the following air-cooling drops very slowly to be
leading end of the rolled material from the exit of the reheat-
promoted by the generation of heat in the phase transforma-
ing furnace to the coiler. The temperature at the exit of the tion.
reheating furnace is supposed to be 200'C uniform in the 1 In the coiler state, the temperature drop barely occurs.
thickness direction. Peak temperature of each roll surface
Figure 10 shows temperature changes at the leading end
during rolling is also shownin Figs.9(a) and 9(b).
of rolled material in the roll-bites of N0.3 rougher (R3) and
N0.5 finisher (F5)• The surface temperature in the R3 roll-
(a)
1300 Center
[ L: Peak temp, ab roll surface

/R.F.
1200 Table 1. Conditions of simulation.
1100
_
.~ Mean
1000
~ gOO
HSB
f Surface
R5
[384]
FSB
Steel grade Slab size Sheet-bar
thickness
Strip
thickness
F7 roll
s eed
~*~
800 215' xl 300"'
~~~~ 42]
Lowcarbon 40
mm 3.2
mm 516 m/min
~ 700
600 RIR
4]i~ 25J
[4(
~R {,
.3
4J
~ 34]~
steel
(C : 0.07 %,
x 9 100!(mm) ~
619 m/min
5000
50 100 150 200 250 300 Mn: 0.42 %)
Tirue (s)

(b) roll surface

[ l: Peaktemp at

1Ioo Center

Mean 1300
•'_
Iooo / Surface
1200
/
~ goo
/ (, 11OO
[512F]2
F4 F~ F~ F7
1000
F3 [327] j272] [22~ [199]
* F1
800 [586]
[359]

F~
9OO
700 s 800
261 263 265 267 269 271 273 ~ 700
Time ts)
600
1000 (a) O 10 20 30 40 50 xl 0~3

bi te
t
entry Ti*e (s)

900
~
f/
Center
.O_
800
Mean
1200
/
'
~~ 700 F7
o
Coi ler 1100
s~*r***
J
~~
600
iH ~'

500 1000
p*
400 s 900
270 280 290 300 ~
Ti**** {=)
800
Frg 9 (a). Temperature changes at leading end of rolled 700
o 4 x7Gr4
.

material from exit of reheating fumace to 1 2 3

finisher entry. Time (s)
(b). Temperature changes at leading end of rolled
material from finisher entry to exit. Fig. 10. Temperature changes at leading end of rolled
(c)
.
Temperature changes at leading end of rolled material in roll-bite during rolling.
material from finisher exit to coiler.

C 1991 ISIJ 574

 ISIJ Intemational, Vol. 3l (1991), N0.6

bite drops monotonously from the bite-entry to the bite-exit, the finisher exit. The Y-grain size at the exit of the reheating
but the surface temperature in the F5 roll-bite have the max- furnace is supposed to be 500 umuniform in the thickness
imumvalue in the neighborhood of the entry. The latter direction. The Y-grain size becomesfiner by
recrystalliza-
tendency appears in the case that the rate of heat generation tion after each rolling. Fromrougher rolling to the previous
by friction is large. The higher the deformation resistance finisher rolling, the rate of the surface is faster than that of
and the roll speed are, the larger the generation rate is. The the center, but the difference of Y-grain size between the
temperature in the thickness direction except in the surface surface and the center becomes very small in the latter
region increases a little monotonously from the bite-entry to finisherrolling. Finally a fine vLgrain size of about Oum
is
I
the bite-exit. This phenomenon is due to the plastic defor- obtained at the finisher exit.
mation heat.
4.4. Changesof PhaseTaansformation
4.2. Rolling Loads Figure 12 shows changes of each transformed phase of
Calculated results of the rolling loads (force, torque, the surface, center and meanin the thickness direction at the
productivity and motor power) at the leading end, the middle leading end of rolled material from the fmisher exit to the
and the tailing end in the longitudinal direction are shown coiler. The transfonnation from austenite to ferrite (1~Oe
in Table 2 (rougher rolling) and Table 3 (finisher rolling). transforrnation) occurs at first. After the Y~oetransformation
The difference of the rougher rolling loads in the lon-
gitudinal direction is very small. However, the finisher roll- 600
ing loads increase from the leading end to the tailing end.
Because the more backward the longitudinal position of
rolled material is, the longer the waiting-time in front of the
500

400 Center
R1

/ Mean

Surface
r
finisher is and the lower the rolling temperature is. ~
~
~ 300
4.3. ChangesofY-grain Size
Figure 11 shows Y-grain size .changes at the surface, ~
*
200
center

center and meanin the thickness direction at the leading ends

of rolled material from the exit the of reheating fumace to
100 R2-1 / J
Mean

Center R2~~~R~- Surface

oo R R4R5
50 100 150 200 250
Table 2. Rolling load during rougher rolling.
Ti*e (s)

R R1 R2_2 R2_3 R3 R4 R5 100

Force L.E. 9.79 18.7 19.0 18.7 l 8.4 18.0 15.9 80

(MN) MID. 9.82 18.8 19.0 18.8 18.5 18.0 16.0
~
E~ Center
T.E. 9.84 18.8 18.9 18.9 l 8.5 l 8. I 16.0 - 60
Mean
Torque L.E. 114 .
2.97 2.83 2.54 2.
11 1.76 128
.

(MN•m) MID. l 14.

2.98 2.83 2.56 2.12 l .77 1.29 ~~ 40 Surface
T.E. l 15.
2.99 2.8 1 2.57 2.12 l .77 129
.
~
Produc- 9221 10297 8036 6134 6785 7596 7596
L.E. 20
F1 F3
tivity F2 F4 F5 F6 F7
MID. 9221 10297 8036 6134 6785 7596 7596
( ton/h
) T.E. 9221 10297 8036 6134 6785 7596 I1525 o
261 263 265 267 269 271 273
Motor L.E. 2023 7526 7161 6430 9379 11892 I1525 Time (s)
power MID. 2027 7542 7144 6464 9425 ll938 I1568
(kW) Fig. Il. Y-grain size changes at leading end of rolled material
T.E. 2032 7558 7127 6499 9469 li938 Il611
from exit of reheating fumace to fmisher entry.

Table 3. Rolling loads during fmisher rolling.

~100
Fl F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
~1~ 80
*
Force L.E. l 8.7 17.7 11 .5
11 11
.2 .6 9.16 8.99 ~~
Center
(MN) **•
60
MID. 22.4 20.I 12.6 123 12.5
.
9.73 9.41 Mean
T.E. 24.6 21.6 13.5 13.2 13.5 l 0.6 1O. 2 **
40
Torque L.E. l.49 0.951 0.373 0.284 0.206 0.127 0.098 ~
(MN'm) MID.
T.E.
l.78
1.96
1.08
1.16
0.402
0.431
0.304
0.324
0.206
0.245
O.127 0.108
0.137 0.l08
~
'.
20
pe8rlite Coiler
~
Produc- L.E. IOO4 1004 1004 1004 1OO4 1004 1004 o270
tivity 300
(ton/h)
MID. ll68 1205 1205 1205 l 205 1205 1205
Time(s)
T.E. 1205 1205 1205 1205 1205 1205 1205
Motor L.E. 5103 5478 3294 3648 3854 2762 2554
power
Fig. 12. Changesof each transformed phase at leading end of
MID. 7098 7438 4327 4767 4956 3502 3191
(kW) rolled material from finisher exit to coiler.
T.E. 8020 7961 4606 5096 5327 3770 3431

575 C 1991 ISIJ

 ISIJ Intemational, Vol. 3l (1991), N0.6

Table 4. Mechanical properties.

L.E. MID. T.E.

Surface Center Mean Surf ac e Center Mean Surface Center Mean
Y.S. (N/mm2) 27 l 268 27 1 273 272 27 1 27 8 27 6 27 5
T.S. (N/mm2) 366 366 368 370 370 370 370 370 370
El. (%) 48.7 47.9 47.9 48.2 47.3 47.6 47,6 46.7 47.0
Hv l 07 105 l 04 107 105 105 108 l05 105

finishes,the transformation from
Under this simulation condition,
before the coiler. With regard to
transformation at the surface proceeds a little
the surface is cooled faster.
4.5. Mechanical Properties
austenite to pearlite occurs.
the transformation finishes
the thickness direction, the
faster, because
only the temperature change of rolled material, but also that
of roll during rolling.
The Rolling Simulator is used for calculating the force,
the torque, the motor power, the deformation resistance and
still the strain distribution in the thickness direction during
rolling.
The Metallurgy Simulator
is used for estimating the chan-

Calculated results of the mechanical properties (Y.S., T.S. , ges of austenite grain size and phase transformation, and
(Y)
El., Hv) of the final product at the leading end, the middle the mechanical properties (Y.S., T.S., El., Hv) at room
and the tailing end are shownin Table
4. In the calculation,
temperature.
those distributions direction are obtained,
in the thickness The
calculated values of the temperature of rolled
but only those meanvalues in the thickness direction are material, the rolling force of finisher and the mechanical
important in the cases of Y.S., T.S., and El. Under this properties agree well with the measuredvalues.
simulation condition, the difference of mechanical properties At present, the HIMSis used as an effective tool for
in the longitudinal direction is very small, solving various problems of hot strip mills, because its ap-
plication field is extensive.
5. Effective Use
Atpresent, this simulator is used as an effective tool for REFERENCES
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is
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1) Optimization of rolling schedule of special steels (stain- 2) S. Shida: J, Jpn. Soc. Technol. Plast., 12 (1971), 41.
less steel, high grade silicon steel, steel for rocket 3) H. Yada: J. Jpn. Soc, Technol. Plast., 28 (1987), 413.
material and high carbon steel) 4) H. Yoshida: Trans. Iron Stee! Inst. Jpn., 24 (1984), 212,
2) Gaugecontrol methodof the leading end in finisher mills 5) H. Yoshida, K. Isobe, Y. Hirose, T. Naoi, K. Hamada and Y. Ito:

3) Rolling condition for producing high r-value hot coill4) J. Jpn. Soc. Tech,n,ol. Plast., 8 (1967), 414.
4) Verification of accuracy of coiling temperature equa- 6) G. D. Smith: Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations,
tionl5) for on-line Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, (1965).
5) Modification of mechanical properties by controls of 7) T. Tamanoand S. Yanagimoto: Trans. Jpn. Soc. Mech,. Eng., 43

rolling and cooling* (1977), 2887.

6) Hot conditions of direct
rolling slab from continuous 8) K. Misaka and T. Yoshimoto: J. Jpn. Soc. Techno!. Plast., 8
casting and hot charge slab. (1967), 414.
9) S. Koseki, H. Yoshida, T. Fujimoto, A. Urano, A. Uehara and H.
6. Conclusion Nikaido: CAMP-ISIJ, 3
(1990), 475.

1 O) Y. Saito: T,'ans. I,vn Stee/ Inst. Jpn., 27 (1987), 419.

This report has described a Hot Integrated Mathematical 11) C. M. Sellars and A. J. Sci., 13 (1979), 187.
Whiteman: Met.
Simulator (HIMS) which consists of three simulators of l 2) Y. Saito, M. Saeki, M. Nishida, Tanakaand S. Takizawa:
Y. Ito, T.
Temperature. Rolling and Metallurgy. The HIMScan es- Proc. of Int. Conf. on Steel Rolling, ISIJ, Tokyo, 2(1980), 1309.
timate simultaneously temperatures, rolling loads and metal- 13) M. Saeki, K. Tsunoyama,H. Yoshida and Y. Ito: Proc. ofthe 29th
lurgical properties from the exit of the reheating fumace to Mechanical Working and Steel Processing Conf. ISS-AIME, War-
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obtain accurate results. 15) K. Yahiro, J. Yamazaki, M. Furukawa, K. Arai and M. Morita:
The Temperature Simulator is not used for calculating Kawasaki Stee/ Giho, 22 (1990), 12.

C 1991 ISIJ 576