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ROLL MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS FOR MANUFACTURE OF COLD-ROLLING MILL ROLLS
Vladimir Paleev

ABSTRACT
The most important requirements to work and backup rolls for cold-rolling mills are high barrel surface hardness and sufficient depth of the hardened (working) layer. These requirements are due to the increase of wrought metal hardness and decrease of reduction capability in the course of the rolling. The uniform roll hardness should ensure high quality of sheet surface, increase working-layer wear resistance and reduce its damage rate.

INTRODUCTION
Today, the following properties form the basis of the standard European quality of forged rolls for cold rolling: Roll steel chromium content Hardened layer depth Machining precision (finish) Neck runout (misalignment) 3 to 5% 70 to 100 mm 6 2 to 5 m

To cardinally resolve these problems, OOO UralmashSpecialsteel upgrades and retrofits the units of the metallurgical stage, the company commissions new facilities for roll heat treatment and introduced five chromium steels for work and backup rolls.

IMPROVEMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROLL STEELS

OAO Uralmashzavod traditionally produced forged rolls of carbon and alloy steels containing 1.7 to 2.5% of chromium and minor additions of other alloying elements (Mo, V). The steels 92, 82 and 75 were typically used for work and backup rolls. To ensure required roll strength, the stresses should be favorably distributed over roll barrel cross
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Author is with Uralmash Special Steel Limited

Rolls for Flat Rolling of Steel

section. This requirement is fulfilled when the hardness and structure of the hardened layer smoothly transit into the inner roll layers without any peak tensile stresses on the transition layer boundary. The steel shall feature heat resistance i.e. high stability of the residual austenite existing in the structure. The transformation of the residual austenite during roll operation is accompanied with the shift of atomic planes, this provokes initiation of macro defects and results in cracks that cause premature roll failure. This problem can be solved by selection of optimum alloying level and modes of primary and final heat treatment. Recently, the company has developed over 10 steel grades with 3 to 5% of chromium and higher content of Mo (up to 0.40%), V (up to 0.30%) and Nb (0.01 to 0.1%). The company produced work rolls of steels 655, 95 for OAO NLMK and backup rolls of steel 455 for China and Russia (Severstal, Magnitogorsk metallurgical combine).

Steel grade 455 655 95

C 0.400.50 0.600.70 0.850.95

Si 0.200.50 1.001.50 1.001.50

Mn 0.200.50 0.200.80 0.200.80

S 0.015 max. 0.010 max. 0.010 max.

P 0.020 max. 0.020 max. 0.020 max.

Cr 4.505.50 4.705.30 4.705.30

V 0.100.20 0.100.20 0.100.20

Mo 0.200.40 0.200.40 0.200.40

Ni <0.80 <0.60 <0.60

Cu <0.30 <0.30 <0.30

Table 1: Weigh percent The steel structure and properties of work and backup rolls for cold-rolling mills highly depends on temperature and duration of heating for quenching.

We studied the influence of heating temperature on hardness.

Roll manufacturing techniques and recent developments for

Hardness to quench heating temperature relation steel 455

65 60 55 50 45 40 and on the amount of residual austenite 35 30 25 800 850 900 950 980 1000 1050 1100 Quenching temperature,

HRC

Diagram 1

Residual austenite to quench heating temperature relation

14 12 10 ,% 8 6 4 2 0 750 850 900 950 1000 1050 1150 Quenching temperature, 455

Rolls for Flat Rolling of Steel

We have studied the relation between hardness and tempering temperature too. Steel grade 455 Hardness HRC untempered 57 200 56 300 55.5 Tempering temperature, C 400 54.5 500 53 550 52.5 575 50 600 46 625 40 650 35

Table 2 The investigations have demonstrated that the most favorable steel structure for cold-rolling rolls is structureless martensite with disperse uniformly distributed particles of carbide phase (main carbide phase Me7C3 and VC) undissolved during quench heating. The content of residual austenite should be minimum at that. The acicular martensite, if formed after quenching, highly affects the resistance of steel to the brittle fracture. Thus, the above investigations have shown that the optimum quenching temperatures for rolls of 5 chromium steels are within 950 1000C. The tempering temperature influences the hardness (the austenite grain in this temperature interval is 10 to 18 m).

PROCESSES AND EQUIPMENT

Another efficient approach to enhance roll quality is utilization of suitable processes and equipment for final heat treatment. The global experience has proved that the differential heat treatment of rolls is the most efficient method of final heat treatment, both technically and economically, that ensures a combination of high performance properties. The backup rolls are rolling-mill wearing tools, whose performances significantly influence the quality and cost of rolled metal. The useful life of backup rolls primarily relies upon their hardness and the depth of active surface layer. The second important factor is the level of residual stresses: if it exceeds metal fracture toughness margin, the rolls prematurely fail owing to fractures. Both these factors are function of the final roll heat treatment. The performance properties also highly depend on steel chemistry and cleanliness, as well as the primary heat treatment process, which produces roll neck structure and hardness. We have performed a life analysis of backup rolls produced by Russian metallurgical enterprises; its results have shown that induction-hardened rolls as a rule fail due to spalling in the cones

Roll manufacturing techniques and recent developments for

quence of abrupt hardness decrease after removal of the hardened layer. This short life is determined by fundamentally restricted capabilities of induction hardeners. To resolve these problems, SELAS (USA France), KOBE STEEL (Japan) and other companies implemented intensive gas-flame heating and regulated sprayer cooling (differential heat treatment). The differential heat treatment is a new generation process for final heat treatment of backup rolls. It evolved owing to higher consumers requirements to the quality of backup rolls, emergence of fundamentally new techniques for regulated heating and cooling during heat treatment, and development of methods and software for substantiated design, optimum heat treatment processes. The differential heat treatment allows achieving virtually any depth of hardened layer limited by steel hardenability and fracture toughness only. The low level of residual stresses at the end of quenching allows reducing tempering temperature to ensure specified requirements to the roll barrel hardness. This process also eliminates abrupt transition of compressive stresses into tensile ones typical for induction-hardened rolls that provokes their premature spalling and delamination. The estimate calculations have demonstrated that implementation of the differential heat treatment process in OOO UralmashSpecialsteel is both technically and economically sound, it would increase the enterprise competitive strength in the developed roll market and expand export capabilities of backup rolls complying with the world quality standards. The company management made a decision on construction of a differential heat treatment area, which would start production at the end of 2007. The area would consist of high-speed heating furnace, quenching machine, two heat-treatment furnaces. When required, other existing furnaces located in the shop will be used too.

Rolls for Flat Rolling of Steel

BACKUP ROLL TREATMENT AND MACHINING SCHEMATIC FLOWCHART

High Speed Heating Furnace

Quenching Machine

Heat treatment furnace

Heat treatment furnace

Inspection & Storage area

1 ultrasonic examination; 2 through heating for quenching up to 840 900C; 3 air-water cooling; 4 tempering at 550 700C; 5 machining; 6 neck hardness check; 7 preliminary heating up to 400 550C; 8 gradient heating up to 920 1050C; 9 - air-water cooling; 10 tempering at 300 650C; 11 inspection (hardness, magnetic particle, ultrasonic tests); 12 machining and final inspection

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