j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445

j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ j mat pr ot ec

Numerical and experimental analysis of the dynamic effects
in compact cluster mills for cold rolling
Eugenio Brusa
a,
, Luca Lemma
b
a
Universit degli Studi di Udine, DIEGM, Via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
b
SKF, Reliability Systems, Service division, Via Pinerolo, 54 10020 Airasca (Turin), Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 19 April 2007
Received in revised form
21 May 2008
Accepted 23 May 2008
Keywords:
Cluster rolling mill
Cold rolling
Nonlinear dynamics
Multi-body dynamics
Vibration monitoring
a b s t r a c t
Prevention of dynamic instability caused by chatter phenomenon may be difcult in case of
the so-called cluster mill because of the number of back-up rolls used to avoid bending of
the work roll. Anumerical simulationof the dynamics of the cluster mill may help to prevent
the strip defects and to predict the life of bearings and rolls. Analytical models proposed
in the literature for the two- and four-high mills are unfortunately inapplicable. This paper
investigates whether the multi-body dynamics approach can be effective in analysing the
so-called Z-Mill. Service monitoring detected in a real case some clear and dark bands
on the strip surface, which disappeared after a calibration of rolls position. A numerical
model was built by assuming that the mill stand and the strip could be analysed separately.
Validation allowed concluding that modelling is effective, if relevant parameters are tuned
onthe experimental evidences. Inparticular damping and frictioncoefcients look the most
critical to predict the actual value of rolling force. Mechanical nonlinearities introduced by
the contact among rolls and by bearings increase the computational effort, but their role is
somewhere overestimated in the literature. In practice, the multi-body dynamics approach
still shows some limits, but they should be overcome, if a deeper experimental validation
will be performed on a dedicated test rig, suitably designed to be largely instrumented.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Compact layouts are currently preferred to design the cold
rolling mills used for producing very thin metal strips. Some
examples of these systems are shown by Roberts (1978) in
his textbook about the cold rolling technology. A cluster of
back-up rolls is applied to assure an effective position con-
trol on the work roll, being usually very slender and prone
to bend (Siemens, 2008). To decrease the complexity of this
assembly, in some congurations like in the Z-mill few back-
up rolls are introduced (Fig. 1) (Sendizimir, 2008). To effectively
design these plants some relevant phenomena occurring in
at rolling process and affecting the dynamic behaviour of

Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0432558299; fax: +39 0432558251.

E-mail address: eugenio.brusa@uniud.it (E. Brusa).
these mills have to be considered, as it was discussed by
Ginzburg and Ballas (2000). In addition, some peculiarities of
the thin foils are important from the point of view of the
rolling force computation, as evidenced by Zhang (1995). All
these aspects will be included in the following sections, where
modelling activity will be described.
Industrial experience demonstrates that compact layouts
may suffer vibration effects. If the mill installation is inac-
curate some defects appear on the strip surface as clear and
dark bands (Fig. 2). In case of steel production the quality is
compromised, because these marks cause the rejection of the
strip even when its thickness is uniform and the rupture is
averted. Uniform thickness, regular atness and homogene-
0924-0136/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.05.044
j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445 2437
Fig. 1 Description of the compact Z-mill.
ity are highly required, if the thin strip is used to manufacture
covering andprotecting surfaces, as is inapplications like cars,
washing machines and masks for lithography. Investigating
the dynamic behaviour of rolls and strip is therefore crucial to
predict the performance of the cold rolling process.
Work roll vibration depends on the contact with strip and
back-up roll. In the cluster mill layout vibration is transmitted
from the work roll to the saddles through the back-up rolls.
It affects the strip quality (Nizio and Swiatoniowski, 2005).
Sometimes dynamic instability and chatter phenomenon
occur. Chatter typologies have been classied by Lin et al.
(2003), while a comprehensive review of models was proposed
by Yun et al. (1998). Chatter is self-excited and arises in rolling
operation as a consequence of the interaction between the
structural dynamics of the mill stand and the dynamics of
the rolling operation itself. The dynamic response of the cold
rolling mill is affected by the irregularities occurring in the
strip tension and speed, as well as Drzymala and Bar demon-
strated by nding a correlation between the strip and the roll
vibrations (Drzymala et al., 2003), which was then validated in
Fig. 2 Clear and dark bands detected on the surface of the
strip.
Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004). Several sources of vibration are
superimposed and affect the rolling process (Geropp, 2003),
thus requiring a continuous monitoring activity on the mill
plant to prevent faults (Mackel, 2003). Lubrication and friction
are even important since they dene the amplitude and the
direction of the rolling force applied by the strip on the work
roll and of the contact forces exerted among the back-up rolls.
Some typical values of friction coefcients in cold rolling were
identied by Jeswiet (1998).
All the above mentioned aspects make hard an effective
modelling of the cold rolling process, according to the indus-
trial daily experience. For the cluster mill layout back-up rolls
make this task more difcult. Several authors dealt with the
roll bite dynamics. Classical methods were summarized by
Roberts (1978) and more deeply by Ginzburg and Ballas (2000)
in their well-known textbooks. Some analytical methods were
proposed to predict the dynamic component of the rolling
force and its effects on the frequency response of the mill.
A group of scientists developed over the time a preliminary
model of coupling between strip and work roll. A rst contri-
bution was proposed by Wu and Duan (2002), then developed
in three papers by Bar and Swiatoniowski, rst in Drzymala
et al. (2003), then in Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004), where
some comments on experimental validation were added and
nally rened and completed in Nizio and Swiatoniowski
(2005). A complete dynamic analysis of the cluster mill layout
was never performed. Current industrial demand for larger
rolling pressures and faster cold rolling process motivates
the implementation of numerical models aimed to predict
the dynamic actions applied to work and back-up rolls, sad-
dles and bearings (Montmitonnet, 2006). Recent tests of active
vibration control on the cluster mills demonstrated that an
accurate modelling of the contact among rolls and bearings is
required to set properly the control system parameters and to
avoid the effects of the sensors non-collocation. Mechatronic
approaches were evenproposed by Bates et al. (1997), who pro-
posed a robust control strategy for rolling mills, and by Knospe
(2002), who applied the active magnetic bearings technology
to provide a continuous and adaptive control of vibration.
2. Research goals
Modelling the dynamic behaviour of the Z-mill is the goal of
this paper. It was selected as test case because of its compact-
ness and the availability of some preliminary experimental
results. This research activity is aimed to assess an approach
suitable to model the cold rolling cluster mill. Performance of
the monitored plant will be considered as a secondary issue of
the analysis. Three maintargets were dened by the industrial
partner, i.e. SKF Industries. The rst was investigating fea-
sibility, limits and effectiveness of the multi-body dynamics
approachas it was formulatedby Shabana (1999). Inparticular,
the ADAMS

commercial code was selected, although some

aspects were modelled by means of Matlab

subroutines. Pre-
dicting the dynamic response of work and back-up rolls and
the forces applied to saddles and bearings was a second issue.
A sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the design
parameters of the cluster mill to be accurately set or experi-
mentally measured. The architecture of the Z-mill is briey
2438 j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445
presented. It includes two back-up rolls (intermediate and
external) along the vertical axis and a couple of control rolls
(Fig. 1). This conguration can be referred to as cluster mill. In
fact, it is more compact than Sendzimir mill, where a cluster
of 20 rolls is usually assembled (Sendizimir, 2008). The exper-
imental evidences of a preliminary testing performed on the
Z-mill installation are presented. Tests detected a sequence of
clear and dark bands on the strip surface in correspondence
of the highest speed. Control rolls position appeared some-
how inaccurately calibrated and the surface quality of some
rolls was inadequate. Clear and dark bands were parallel to
the work roll axis and their surface roughness was different.
Thickness and hardness of the strip were constant all over the
surface (Fig. 2). These defects disappeared as soon as the con-
trol rolls position was calibrated. To decrease both the time
and the cost of the installation procedure a numerical model
of the Z-mill was developed and a correlation between the
defects and the dynamic behaviour of the system was found.
A coupled analysis of the dynamic behaviour of strip and rolls
is expensive in terms of the computational time. Therefore
it was investigated whether strip and rolls could be analysed
separately. Vibration of work and back-up rolls was computed
by means of the ADAMS

code. Rolling pressure and force

were computed according to some available analytical mod-
els. Some classical approaches were described in Freshwater
(1996), while an original approach, which uncouples the strip
from the work roll, was proposed by Bar and Swiatoniowski
(2004). These models include the static and dynamic com-
ponents of the rolling force. Elastic contact among rolls was
introduced according to Lin et al. (2003) and conformingly
to the theory of contact mechanics applied to the numeri-
cal methods by Wriggers (2006). The mechanical behaviour of
rollers was studied and modelled according to Harris (2000)
and to some preliminary experiences performed by SKF and
documented in SKF (A). A numerical investigation was exten-
sively performed. Experimental testing was used to validate
eachstepof the proposedmodel andto tune the model param-
eters.
3. Experimental set-up
The cold rolling process is operated by Z-mill at the roomtem-
perature by cylindrical and smooth work rolls. They usually
have a quite small diameter, since it allows bearing higher
rolling pressures. Slender roll is prone to bend. To avoid this
bending a cluster of back-up rolls supports the work roll.
Stiffness is assured by the intermediate roll, being simul-
taneously in contact with the work roll and the external
back-uproll. The external roll is connectedto the motor, which
applies the required torque. To control the lateral motion
of the work roll a couple of so-called control rolls regulate
its position. Each control roll is in contact with two small
rollers. These have the inner ring xed and the outer ring
rotating. Rollers are connected to the saddles. Position of
rollers may be either xed, after a calibration of the Z-mill, or
actively controlled by a hydraulic actuator. The Z-mill selected
as test case is equipped with a monitoring system which
measured the strip thickness before and after the roll bite
(Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Vibration monitoring system and Non Destructive
Testing equipment.
A closed loop control regulates the tension of the strip.
This is a reversible cluster mill. Work rolls rotate alter-
nately clockwise and counter-clockwise. Strip thickness is
gradually reduced by the cold rolling process after ve
steps. To allow both the frontal and backward motions
strip is stored by two coilers. High strength steels are usu-
ally rolled to produce very thin sheets. The standard AISI
340 Steel was rolled in the experimental tests. Strip had
a constant width of 505mm. Thickness was reduced from
0.26mm to 0.095mm. Roll diameters were 69.6mm (work),
139.95mm (intermediate), 450.31mm (external) and 51mm
(control roll). Table 1 summarizes the relevant informationcol-
lected during the experimental tests and some geometrical
parameters.
The monitoring system consists of several components.
X-rays measure the strip thickness at the in-gauge and out-
gauge respectively (Fig. 3). A torque control is applied to the
coilers and allows monitoring speed and tension of the rolled
strip. Rolling force is measured by a dynamometer applied on
the work roll. Vibration monitoring was performed by means
of few accelerometers mounted at the saddles behind rollers
and on the mill stand (Fig. 3). Vibration signals were detected
by SKF Microlog CMXA50 analyser and data collector, which
was operated in connection with SKF Machine Analyst

soft-
ware. A dynamic analyser acquired the acceleration signals
along three axes. The SKF CMSS2200-M8 accelerometers were
used (100mV/g, 80g peak, 15000Hz, linearity 1%). Because of
the inaccessibility of the other parts of the Z-mill no additional
sensors were mounted. This experimental set-up allowed
drawing some preliminary conclusions, but it demonstratedto
be unsuitable for a complete experimental validation. A spe-
cial test rig able to simulate the cold rolling process and more
accessible for measurement equipments has to be designed
and built.
4. Experimental evidences
Strip faults caused by cold rolling mill vibration are basically
chattermarks, atness faults and at rupture. They are exten-
sively classied in Ginzburg and Ballas (2000) and shown in
j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445 2439
Table 1 Cold rolling parameters monitored on the Z-mill test case
Step Thickness (mm) Tension (kN) Speed Force (kN) (minimummaximum) Angular speeds (rad/s)
In Out In Out M (min) m (s) WR CNT INT EXT
1 0.260 0.180 38 35 178 2.966 11501200 85.23 116.31 42.39 13.17
2 0.180 0.145 31 34 235 3.196 19001950 112.56 153.61 55.98 17.40
3 0.145 0.120 31 28 248 4.133 15001550 118.79 162.12 59.08 18.36
4 0.120 0.105 23 25 265 4.416 14501500 126.93 173.22 63.12 19.62
5 0.105 0.095 22 20 500 8.333 13001350 239.45 326.78 119.09 37.01
WR=work roll; CNT=control roll; INT=intermediate roll; EXT=external roll.
Mackel (2003). Experiments neither show atness nor rupture
problems. Fewchattermarks appearedonthe stripsurface, but
without modifying its thickness. According to the literature
vibration monitoring was aimed to detect the effects of the
so-called 3rd octave, 5th octave and torsional chatters as
they were dened by the literature (Yun et al., 1998). No mark
of torsional chatter was found. This kind of chatter usually
occurs at the lowest frequencies and depends on the irregu-
lar torque applied by the motors. Analysis was focused on the
3rd and 5th octave chatters. These are due to some technolog-
ical and dynamic problems. Material pre-damage, rotundity
and balance errors upon rolls, roll bearings errors and drive
irregularities cause a speed-dependent excitation. A speed-
independent dynamic excitation is due to the self-excited or
roll stand vibration, front tension uctuation, lack of material
homogeneity, stick-slip or to the control system. No mate-
rial pre-damage and problems with homogeneity were found.
Surface irregularities, rotundity or severe balance errors on
rolls were absent. Bearings did not show failures or unex-
pected clearances. A continuous monitoring of the electric
current owing in the motor circuits is required to detect
motor dynamics irregularities. It was unavailable, although
unbalance magnetic pull of the electric motor is a typical
source of dynamic instability as it was found by Amati and
Brusa (2001).
5. Model set-up
5.1. Approach and layout
To perform a complete dynamic analysis of the cluster mill
a model of the whole system is required. The most com-
plete analysis should be performed by modelling strip and
rolls within the cage of the cold rolling mill. Both the elastic
mechanical behaviour and the rigid body motions should be
considered (Shabana, 1999). This approach requires to resort
to a 3Dmodel of all the structural components and needs for a
virtual prototyping activity based on the FEM and multi-body
dynamics methods. Computational effort is huge because of
the time required to solve the problem and the amount of
numerical results to be stored for a signicant number of
rotations of the work roll. Therefore this approach appears
unpractical as it was remarked by Zhang (1995). When only
the vibration of the rolls composing the cluster has to be anal-
ysed the multi-body dynamics approach can be applied. This
paper investigates the performance of the proposed method
in the context of the cold rolling mill design. Symmetry prop-
erties allowed studying the upper part of the Z-mill (Fig. 3).
Work and back-up rolls and bearings were modelled. Inter-
action between the work roll and the strip was given by the
rolling force distribution. It was computed rst according to
Bland and Ford (1948), then to the rened model of Yun et
al. (1998) and nally implemented by following the approach
developed by Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004). A nonlinear rela-
tion between the contact force and the displacement was
assumed for bearings according to Harris (2000). The role of
this nonlinearity on the system dynamic response was dis-
cussed. Numerical data of bearings were provided by SKF
(2007).
5.2. Static component of the rolling force
Rolling force is composed of two components, static and
dynamic respectively. To compute the static contribution the
analytical models proposed by Bland and Ford (1948) and by
Yun et al. (1998) can be implemented. The rst above men-
tioned approach looks the simplest and did not include the
vertical speed of the work roll, while the formulation of Yun,
Hu and Ehmann did take into account a variable position of
the work roll and its instantaneous speed. Bland and Fords
model was implemented. Few parameters are enclosed and
described in Fig. 4.
Thickness values at in-gauge and out-gauge are respec-
tively h
in
and h
out
. Work roll radius is R, friction coefcient
between strip and roll is named j, rolling pressure is p, rolling
angle is called and the angular position within the rolling arc
Fig. 4 Relevant parameters of the rolling force model.
2440 j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445
is referred to as . These parameters are related as follows:
P = uR
__

N
0
p
out
d +
_

N
p
in
d
_
p
in
=
nk
n
in
_
1
o
in
k
in
_
exp[j(H
i
H)]
p
out
=
nk
n
out
_
1
o
out
k
out
_
exp(jH)
H
in
=
__
2
_
R
n
out
_
arctan
_

_
R
n
out
__
;
H =
__
2
_
R
n
out
_
arctan
_

_
R
n
out
__
. (1)
Rolling force P is computed as a result of the numerical
integration of the rolling pressure applied at in-gauge (p
in
)
and out-gauge (p
out
) arcs. Roll width is u. Force P depends
on several geometric parameters, related to the strip reduc-
tion (h
out
/h
in
), but much more on the friction coefcient j
and the compression resistance of the strip material, k. This
model assumes that Coulomb friction forces, Von Mises fail-
ure criterion and plane strain hypotheses are all applicable
(Timoshenko, 1983). According to Von Mises criterion k is pro-
portional to the yielding stress measured by a unidirectional
test. Values of k can be distinguished at in-gauge (k
in
) and out-
gauge (k
out
) in presence of stress (Ginzburg and Ballas, 2000).
Pressure is an exponential function of the local thickness h
and of the angle called . It is computed as a function of the
back and front stresses o
in
and o
out
respectively. In above Eq.
(1) p
in
describes the local value of pressure for each section of
the rolling arc from the entry to the neutral section, while p
out
is valid from the neutral section to the exit. Neutral section
can be identied as follows:
H
n
=
1
2
_
H
in

1
j
ln
_
n
in
n
out
_
1 (o
out
,k
out
)
1 (o
in
,k
in
)
___
;

n
=
_
n
out
R
tan
_
1
2
_
n
out
R
H
N
_
. (2)
In Eq. (2) H
n
and
n
are expressed for the neutral section,
where o
in
is equal to o
out
. Resultant P is then convention-
ally applied at the section corresponding to =0.4, like Fig. 4
shows. Rolling force of Eq. (1) depends on a unique value of
friction coefcient j. This is an approximation, since it was
demonstrated that at the in-gauge and out-gauge these coef-
cients are different. Stick-slip phenomenon often occurs, but
in this case it is neglected. Hu and Ehmann take into account
two friction factors, m
in
and m
out
respectively and the actual
length of the rolling arc, corresponding to a given position of
the work roll (Yun et al., 1998). Friction factor does include the
possibility of sticking, since its value corresponds to 0 in case
of no frictionand to 1 insticking condition, respectively. These
authors implemented the following formulation:
P = (2t
y
+o
in
)(x
out
x
in
)
+
t
y
R
[m
out
(x
2
out
x
2
n
) +m
in
(x
2
in
x
2
n
)] +t
y
Rm
out
ln
_
n
out
n
n
_
+t
y
Rm
in
ln
_
n
in
n
n
_
+2t
y
x
out
ln
_
n
in
n
out
_
+2t
y
(m
in
+m
out
)x
out
_
R
n
out
arctan
_
x
n
_
Rn
out
_
+
_
4t
y
_
Rn
out
2t
y
m
in
x
out
_
R
n
out
_
arctan
_
x
in
_
Rn
out
_

_
4t
y
_
Rn
out
+2t
y
m
out
x
out
_
R
n
out
_
arctan
_
x
out
_
Rn
out
_
.
(3)
In Eq. (3) t
y
corresponds to the yielding tangential stress.
This model actually allows describing even the dynamic inter-
action between the strip and the work roll, if the vertical
position described by h varies over the time as a consequence
of the uctuation of the tensile stresses o
in
and o
out
(Yun et
al., 1998). Nevertheless, in this case the dynamic behaviour of
the strip was introduced according to Bar and Swiatoniowski
(2004) to avoid including the strip as a structural component
within the numerical model.
Identifying the actual values of frictionfactors m
in
and m
out
is very hard. Some empiric approaches have been proposed
and described by Ginzburg and Ballas (2000) and tested by
SKF. Friction coefcient depends on the roll surface rough-
ness, temperature, steel composition, pressure, strip speed
and lubrication condition. For a known tension of the strip,
friction coefcient j in Eq. (1) can be roughly predicted by SKF
(A):
j = u
1
[u
2
+u
3
ln(v)] (4)
where v is the strip speed (ms
1
), and coefcients a are related
to the surface condition (a
1
), lubrication method (a
2
) and
material (a
3
). In the test case these coefcients were evalu-
ated for mirror surface, oil lubrication and AISI 340 as a
1
=1,
a
2
=0.066723 and a
3
=0.00662. A rst comparison with the
experimental results measured on the Z-mill was performed,
for each step of the strip reduction. As Table 1 shows values
of thickness, speed, stress and measured rolling force were
known. A good agreement was found only in case of the rst
rolling step. Speedwas about 178m/min, i.e. it was higher than
50m/min suggested by Bland and Ford for implementing their
model. Numerical computation and measures disagreed for
the fourth and fth rolling steps. Actually, the highest value
of speed was 500m/min. Larke (1963) demonstrated that it
is possible to compensate for the inefciency of the rolling
force model, by modifying the friction coefcient and increas-
ing the numerical value of parameter k. Friction coefcient
depends on the lubrication condition and varies along the arc
of contact between the strip and the work roll. Resistance to
a plane deformation is a function of the percentage reduction
of thickness. According to Larke (1963) to improve the accu-
racy of the above mentioned models in predicting the static
component of rolling force an equivalent friction coefcient
has to be extracted from experiments at each rolling step. For
the faster rolling speeds k has to be increased. In practice,
j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445 2441
only an experimental tuning of k and j for each rolling step
allows introducing coherent values of the rolling force into the
numerical model.
5.3. Dynamic component of the rolling force
In principle rolling force should be constant for a given speed
of the steel strip. Actually a dynamic component superim-
poses to the static value previously computed because of the
mill stand and strip vibration. To predict this contribution
the model proposed by Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004) was
implemented. It avoids modelling the stripdynamic behaviour
and assumes that a certain correlation between the vibration
modes of the strip and of the mill stand can be found.
If the total action is P:
P = P
s
+P
d
(5)
static contribution P
s
is computed according to Eq. (1), while
dynamic component P
d
can be found as follows:
P
d
= (K o
m
)u
_
R(Ln +2y

)
_
R(Ln) (6)
where K is the yielding stress for unidirectional compressive
test, o
m
is the average value of stress applied on the strip, u is
stripwidth, R roll radius, Lh thickness reductionandy

vertical
speed of the work roll. This speed is assumed to be periodic
and can be evaluated as:
y

= Asin(
k
t +
0
)
A =
(n)
2

k
u
2
0
n
out
16LV
out
(7)
where n is the number of the vibration mode of the strip con-
sidered,
k
is the critical angular speed corresponding to a
frequency of resonance of the mill stand, t is time, while
0
is
the phase angle, L is the distance betweentwo mills intandem
conguration, V
out
is the strip speed at out-gauge. Amplitude
a
0
is computed in Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004) as function of
some parameters of the dynamic excitation of the strip vibra-
tion. This coefcient is easily found on a diagram for a given
value of the frequency ratio , being dened as:
=

k
2
n
(8)
where
k
is the frequency of resonance of the mill stand and

n
the resonance of the strip. For each frequency of reso-
nance of the mill stand, being indicated by counter k

, the
excited frequency of resonance of the strip is n=k

1. In this
case, the dynamic component computed according to Bar and
Swiatoniowski (2004) appeared compatible with the dynamic
rolling force monitored during vibration monitoring.
5.4. Rolls modelling
Rolls have been modelled in the Adams

code, as rigid bodies,

although they are exible structures (Fig. 5).
A preliminary numerical investigation was performed by
means of FEM rotordynamic code DYNROT

. It demonstrated
that for each value of strip speed angular speeds of rolls
Fig. 5 Multi-body dynamics model of the Z-mill.
are sub-critical with respect to the critical speeds of exu-
ral behaviour (Genta, 2005). Rolls were free for rotating and
translating, withinarange of alloweddisplacements. Supports
were introduced as bearing forces, which were described by
means of look-up table functions. These were built accord-
ing to the nonlinear dependence of force on displacement as
it was provided by SKF laboratories, as result of the exper-
imental characterization (SKF, A). Gravitational effect was
applied along the vertical direction of Fig. 5. The ADAMS

code describes the contact among the rolls by means of impact

forces, suitable to transmit momentum between two bodies.
These forces are active only when the distance between two
rolls is less than the sum of radii of the rolls. Impact force is
found as follows:
= max(
u

V
);
u
= k
C
(z
0
z)
p

V
= c
C
z [(z
0
. j
0
) z z
0
1 p 1 (9)
In above Eq. (9) z is the relative position of the two bodies,
while z
0
is a reference position, being usually the roll diameter.
Symbol [ indicates a step function whose height is propor-
tional to c
C
and width is given by parameter j
0
. In this case this
parameter was suggested by the code itself for each material.
Nevertheless, it can be tuned according to some indentation
tests (SKF, A). Damping coefcient of the roll material is c
C
,
while contact stiffness is described by k
C
. It was computed
according to Yun et al. (1998). In case of harmonic dynamic
2442 j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445
Table 2 Rolling force analysis
Step Measured rolling force (kN) Computed static component (kN) Computed dynamic component (kN)
1 11501200 1148 0.40
2 19001950 1878 0.70
3 15001550 1507 0.70
4 14501500 1459 1.00
5 13001350 1302 0.85
response, equivalent viscous damping c
eq
may be computed
by introducing the material loss factor j and the frequency z
at which hysteresis occurs (Genta, 2005):
c
eq
=
jk
C
z

=
jk
C
z
n
. (10)
Since frequency z is unknownit is usually approximated by
the frequency of resonance of the mechanical system, being
z
n
. Values of k
C
and c
C
are crucial to nd out a good agreement
between numerical and experimental results. In the ADAMS

code power transmission among rolls has to be expressively

activated. The power of the rolling process for eachrolling step
was computed as:
P
u
= k
u
uvn
out
ln
_
n
in
n
out
_
(11)
k
u
being the local stiffness for the current temperature, pres-
sure and speed conditions. Torques applied to work and
back-up rolls were then computed, by knowing their angular
velocities and diameters. No slip effect was included.
5.5. Bearings modelling
A nonlinear relation between the radial force and the related
displacement was measured on the bearings installed on this
mill by SKF. In practice, bearing compliance and stiffness C
are computed according to Harris (2000) as:
=

kF
p
C =
F

=
F
1p

k
C

=
dF
d
=
F
1p

kp
=

1p,p
p

k
p
(12)
F being the applied load,

k a constant, p equal to 2/3 (ball
bearing) or 9/10 (roller bearing). This relation is nonlinear,
but a reference value for a given equilibrium condition can
be computed as tangent stiffness C as it was shown in Eq.
(12). This approach is used to describe radial and axial dis-
placements in ball and roller bearings, with null clearance and
to compute the stiffness coefcients. This computation was
straightforward for all the SKF bearings mounted on the mon-
itored Z-mill, but for rollers of control rolls. An estimation of
their stiffness was done as a result of a comparison with SKF
NA6902. Damping coefcient was evaluatedby SKF fromdirect
measurements on the installed bearing.
6. Numerical investigation
Several numerical analyses were carriedout to test the numer-
ical model. Vertical motion was mainly considered, although
model included horizontal displacements too. Each rolling
step was analysed separately. Computation of rolling pressure
and static component of rolling force was performed accord-
ing to above Eq. (3). To t the measured values of force it was
required tuning two parameters, i.e. friction coefcient j and
strength coefcient Y. The latter was used to compute t
y
as
Yun et al. (1998):
t
y

=
K
2
= Y log
_
n
0
n
out
_
n
(13)
where h
0
is the initial thickness of the strip and n the strain
hardening coefcient of the material (Dieter, 2000). Values of
friction coefcient which allowed tting the measured force
disagreed with prediction of Eq. (4) at higher speeds, although
they were found compatible with the typical values identied
for the cold rolling process by Jeswiet (Jeswiet, 1998). Strength
coefcient Y had to be increased from the nominal value cor-
responding to the rst rolling speed, step by step up to the fth
one. Numerical results were included into the range indicated
by Larke (1963). Dynamic component of the rolling force was
then computed according to Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004).
Rolling step two was the most difcult to be predicted in
terms of both the static and the dynamic component. Step
four showed a larger dynamic force. Comparison with exper-
iments was more difcult for the dynamic force than for the
static contribution, since the measuring equipment recorded
acceleration with a resolution of 50kN. Table 2 summarizes
numerical and experimental results.
Dynamic force P
d
did correspond to a few percent of the
total force P. Nevertheless, it was sufcient to appreciate and
monitor vibration. It is remarkable that nonlinear stiffness of
bearings described by Eq. (12) can be approximated by the
value computed about the static equilibrium condition cor-
responding to force P
s
according to Friswell et al. (1995, 1996).
This approach allowed simplifying the numerical analysis and
performing a preliminary computation of the resonance fre-
quencies of the mill stand, being described in Table 3.
Table 3 Critical frequencies of the cluster of rolls
Step Vibration mode frequency (Hz)
1 621
2 647
3 648
4 667
5 2475
6 6123
7 7614
8 10160
j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445 2443
Fig. 6 Experimental waterfall diagram measured at the
saddles.
Two frequency ranges appeared critical. One included
vibration modes from 600Hz to 1000Hz, while a second range
corresponded to vibration modes 6 and 7 (2.5kHz through
7kHz). This result agrees with the evidence of the waterfall
diagram experimentally built and depicted in Fig. 6. Monitor-
ing system did not allow detecting modes above 10kHz.
Rolls vibration was investigated. The most signicant
results came from step rst and ve, which will be here dis-
cussed with reference to Table 4. Work roll is indicated as 1,
intermediate roll as 2 and control roll as 4 (Fig. 1). Dynamic
rolling action is fairly smaller than the static component. Ver-
tical displacement of work roll is fairly larger than the strip
thickness, but the magnitude is compatible with experiments.
Since step ve falls within the frequency range of the 5th
octave chatter, rolls speed and acceleration are higher than
those measured at the rst rolling step. Dynamic force is so
small that numerical values are very low, for all the rolls
described in Table 4.
Last two rows include the force appliedby the control roll to
the external roller andthe accelerationimposedonthe saddle.
Values are compatible with the experimental curve depicted
Fig. 7 FFT of the fth rolling step measured at the saddles.
in Fig. 7. It describes the acceleration measured on the saddles
at rolling step ve.
Actually, values found for rolling step one at 600Hz are
fairly lower than the experimental results of Fig. 6. In prac-
tice, numerical model appears unable to detect peaks of the
acceleration monitored at steps one and ve respectively. This
result motivated a further investigation on the mill plant.
Accelerometer mounted on the mill stand far from the clus-
ter of rolls (Fig. 3) measured a strong impulsive force in the
range 450600Hz, thus showing a direct interference between
the mill cage structure and the cluster of the rolls (Fig. 8).
This result demonstrated that the proposed model was unable
to detect the mechanical coupling between the structural
dynamics of the cage and of the cluster, since the rst was
not modelled.
Position control system which regulates the action of lat-
eral control rolls on the work roll is calibrated for each rolling
step on the strip thickness. A direct measure on the sad-
dle support demonstrated that acceleration peaks found in
the range 46kHz were higher. In fact, even in this case, an
interference between the dynamic response of the position-
ing control acting on the saddles and of the cluster of rolls was
found. Chattermarks found on the strip surface were depen-
Table 4 Numerical results for rolling steps one and ve
Step one Step ve
Frequency 0.61kHz,
j =0.08
Frequency 0.66kHz,
j =0.08
Frequency 2.5kHz,
j =0
Frequency 2.5kHz,
j =0.08
Frequency 6kHz,
j =0
P
d
(kN) 0.40 0.60 0.88 0.88 0.33
P (kN) 1150 1150 1302 1302 1.300
y1 (mm) 0.120 0.127 0.145 0.143 0.143
y1

(ms
1
) 0.005 0.005 0.05 0.01 0.05
y1

(ms
2
) 200 400 2000 400 1800
y2

(ms
1
) 0.004 0.005 0.008 0.002 0.008
y2

(ms
2
) 50 10 400 50 350
y4

(ms
1
) 0.005 0.005 0.008 0.002 0.008
y4

(ms
2
) 40 20 400 50 300
Acceleration (g) 0.00015 0.00015 0.00033 0.00020 0.00024
F (kN) 4.5 4.5 10 6.5 9.5
2444 j ournal of materi als processi ng technology 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24362445
Fig. 8 FFT of the rst rolling step measured on the mill
cage.
dent on this phenomenon. Distance between two consecutive
peaks in Fig. 6 was about 49Hz. This value corresponds to a
rotation of the control roll at the strip speed of 500m/min and
is compatible with the distance between two marks equal to
2mm.
In practice, the numerical model implemented allowed
identifying the source vibration of the highest peaks and of
chattermarks detected during the preliminary tests. It some-
how demonstrated its limits in predicting the inuence of the
xed parts of the cold rolling mill on the dynamic behaviour.
An additional doubt remains unsolved. It concerns the role
of the strip stiffness and damping. In fact, model proposed
by Bar and Swiatoniowski (2004) appears suitable to describe
the self-excitation of the system caused by the strip vibra-
tionresonance. Nevertheless, since the strip was not explicitly
modelled its structural properties of stiffness and damping do
not appear in the proposed approach. This aspect looks lead-
ing to a lack of information in the numerical analysis of the
self-excitation out of the resonance frequencies of the mill
stand.
A nal remark concerns the impact forces used to model
the contact among the rolls. Table 4 shows that contact damp-
ing computed by means of the material loss factor j canhave a
signicant role in rolls vibration. Step ve shows lower values
of speed and acceleration, if a typical value loss factor for the
steel is applied to compute the structural damping.
7. Conclusions
This preliminary study investigated the effectiveness of com-
mercial multi-body dynamics codes in predicting the dynamic
behaviour of cluster cold rolling mill. Compact Z-mill was
selected as test case for an experimental validation of numer-
ical models. Analytical formulations were applied to compute
rst the rolling force, being the dynamic excitation. Models
revealed that an accurate prediction of friction is crucial to t
the measured values of rolling force. Interaction among rolls
was then dealt with. Elastic contact was modelled by means of
the impact force exerted among the rolls. Dynamic behaviour
of the cluster mill appears affected more by the structural
damping of the rolls material than by the nonlinearity of the
contact itself. Even in the case of the bearings, where relation
between force and displacement is nonlinear, it was observed
that if the dynamic component of the rolling force is small,
bearing stiffness can be approximated with the value com-
puted for the static equilibrium condition. This aspect may
lead to perform a simple linear dynamic analysis. Numeri-
cal results computed by ADAMS

were compatible with the

experimental evidences. Nevertheless, some measured reso-
nances caused by the mill cage vibration and by the control
rolls positioning systemwere unpredictable. In fact, the vibra-
tion monitoring system equipping the Z-mill demonstrated to
be unsuitable to perform a complete experimental investiga-
tion. More motion sensors have to be applied to the rolls of
the cluster and a dedicated test rig has to be designed for this
purpose.
Acknowledgements
Authors thank SKF Industries for supporting this research
activity and are grateful to Dr. Denis Benasciutti (University
of Udine) and M.Sc. Eng. Vittorio Colavitti for their kind sug-
gestions and fruitful discussions about this topic.
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