Heavy spalls originating

in the cores of
high chromium rolls

by
Dr.-Ing. Karl Heinrich Schrder

reprint from
MPT issue no 211986
Verlag Stahleisen
D-4000 D sseldort

Heavy spalls originating in the cores of

high chromium rolls

Summary. When the specific load on rolls is increased beyond 1

500 tons per meter of strip width the probability of heavy spalls
in double poured standard high chromium work rolls also
increases. Specific loads higher than 3 000 tons per meter of strip
width often lead to work roll failures. Technical solutions for
this problem are available.
Introduction. High chromium rolls have been in service in many
hot strip mills for 15 to 20 years. The principle of these double
poured rolls has not been changed during this time, namely, a
working layer of high chromium alloyed white iron on a grey
iron core. There have been variations in chemical composition of
the shell material and in heat treatment of the rolls over the
years, but the principle has remained the same.
High chromium rolls have brought a great improvement in
performance, i.e. tons/mm and strip quality in hot strip
mills. The number of roll failures has been low overall. However,
firecrack problems and spalls have occurred, primarily due to
cooling problems or mechanical overload.
Several years ago one mill with severe mill conditions, i.e. high
specific rolling load, started to have heavy spalls through or
initiated in the grey iron core. The broken rolls were always
characterized by blackened fracture areas, so one assumed that
this was caused by poor graphite.
During the last few years, this type of spall has become
frequent in more and more hot strip mills. It is evident that
without any announcement by the mill people, mill and roll

Dr. Karl Heinrich Schrder. employee of Gontermann Peipers GmbH. Siegen.

Figure 2. Heavy spalling in a roll

ing conditions were changed. The result is that limits for

strength of the core material have been reached or exceeded.
Therefore it became necessary to investigate the reasons which
led to this type of spall.
Description of the spalls. The heavy spalls under discussion,
figures 1, 2 and 3, are always similar, at least when the roll is
broken completely for fracture analysis. Blackened fracture in
the core material and fatigue striations from the interior to the
surface are always visible. Normally, these spalls are localized at
the centre of the roll. Barrel edges are not involved.

Figure 1. Heavy spalling in a roll, barrel length 2 300 mm

Figure 3. Heavy spalling in a roll

Frequently, only small spalls are visible on the surface of the

roll. However, with ultrasonic testing it becomes evident that the
whole roll shows large fatigue cracks in the core material.

Figure

Internal stress in a high chrome roll

Stresses in the rolls that lead to fatigue fracture. The

fatigue problem is a result of superposition of alternating load
and static residual stresses, figure 4 (plus thermal stresses). The
alternating stresses in the roll are caused by compression during
rolling and the resulting orthogonal tensile stress. Calculations
with finite element analysis on a simplified model roll give an idea
of the value of nominal stresses in the work rolls. figures.
The limits of fatigue life under alternating stresses of constant
amplitude are shown in the Smith or Haigh diagram. These
diagrams are well known for many materials for
R > - I (R = min/ max), i.e. for tensile prestressing. No
measured values with compression prestressing for grey iron are
available.
In figure 6 the points of interest from calculations on figure 5
are plotted into Haigh diagrams for grey (GG 25) and nodular
iron (GGG 50) with modified (compared with standa rd
diagrams) extrapolations on the compression prestressing side
(otherwise all rolls would suffer fatigue cracks in the core
material close to the shell-core interface under traditional rolling
conditions, which is not true. More investigations on the
compression paradoxa are in progress).
The Haigh diagram is valid for constant load (stress) amplitudes only and in practice there is still the question of
variations in the load distributions, but anyway the tendency for
safe roll life or mechanical overload is evident.
In a simple example, see figures 5 and 6, with specific loads of 1
500 tons per meter of strip width it is shown that standard grey
iron core material is strong enough for fatigue life. At specific
loads of 3 000 tons per meter of strip width - which is not
unusual today - grey iron is not strong enough for standard rolls.
Therefore, for highly loaded rolls there must be improvements and mill practices are changing continuously (also the load
variation). There are many reasons for mill p eople to increase
the specific load in hot strip mills, but the roll makers are
fortunate that there are often limitations, i.e. the maximum strip
thickness due to limitations of the crop shear, or due to limited
angles of rolling.
There are many question s to answer as to whether or not
the stresses in the roll may lead to fatigue failure but, after the
experience of the last few years. It is evident that standard high
chrome rolls are strong enough for specific loads up to

Figure Changes of internal stress due to the roll revolution and

internal stress (, see figure 6)

Figure 6 Haigh fatigue strength diagram for high chrome

rolls (R = min/ max)

Figure 7 Changes of internal stress due to the decreasing diameter

Figure 8. Microcracks due to overload

1 500 tons: meter of strip width - but not for 3 000 tons. meter
strip width and more.
The fatigue problem is strongly influenced by residual and
thermal stresses. Some mills preheat the rolls, an excellent
practice which keeps the temperatures as constant as possible
and avoids thermal stresses. Others always cascade the work
rolls down the same way through the different stands: the smaller
the roll becomes, the lower the (tensile) residual stresses in the
core material will be. figure 7, i.e. the smallest roll is the safest in
the stand with the highest loads.
Mechanism of spall failures. It is quite clear that these spalls
are the result of fatigue due to overload. It is a long time until
they appear on roll surfaces. That means, when they start to grow
there is time enough to keep the growth under control. The roll
can be checked nondestructively and when the problem is found
to be serious it can be taken out of service before damage occurs
to the mill or to the product.
Fatigue in grey iron starts with microcracks in the matrix.
figure 8a, b. These cracks influence the modulus of elasticity as
flake graphite and increase ultrasonic damping capacity. When
fatigue damage occurs it is easy to detect it by ultrasonic testing.
Primarily there is a change of backwall echo

Figure 9. Check

damage due to overload of core material

depth. then the backwall echo disappears due to high damping

capacity of fatigued grey iron materials. The standard for
ultrasonic measuring is the barrel edge because this part of the roll
is normally not influenced by mechanical fatigue overload. figure 9.