ROLLING

Metal Working Process: Hot and cold working of Metals: Basic Principles of hot and cold working of metals. Rolling: Types of Rolling, Rolling equipments hot and cold rolling, General deformation pattern, Pressure and forces in rolling.

ROLLING
The process of plastically deforming metal by passing it between the rolls is known as rolling. The work is subjected to high compressive stresses from squeezing action of rolls. The frictional force between metal and rolls is responsible for drawing the metal into the rolls. Classification of Rolling Process i) Hot Rolling ii) Cold Rolling iii) Powder Rolling

Hot Rolling:
Hot working ---- above the re-crystallization temperature It is employed where large reduction in cross-sectional area is required. Hot rolling refine the grain structure. Used for bars, rods, rails etc.

Cold Rolling:
Cold working ---- below the re-crystallization temperature Employed for finishing the metal to given specification of sizes and surface quality. Cold rolling distorts the grain structure. Produces sheets, strips and foils with good surface finish and increased mechanical strength.

Powder Rolling:
Metal powder is introduced between the rolls and turned into a green strip which is subsequently sintered to high density. This produces a tough sheet with very fine grain size or minimum of preferred orientation.

ROLLED PRODUCTS
i) Bloom: First breakdown product of ingots with a minimum crosssectional area of 36 in2. Generally, square in cross-section. ii) Billet: Further reduction of bloom by rolling results in a billet. Cross-sectional area 1.5 in. X 1.5 in. iii) Slab: A hot rolled ingot with a width to thickness ratio of 2:1 at least. Cross-sectional area over 16 sq. in.
**Blooms, billets and slabs are known as semi-finished products because they are subsequently formed into other mill products.

iv) Plate: It has thickness greater than in. v) Sheet and Strip: Generally have thickness lesser than in.

vi) Foil: Thickness is very small just as 0.002 in.

* Billets and other unfinished rolling products are further rolled to I-sections, T-sections, Angles, Channels, Girders etc.

Rolling Process:
In the process of rolling the billet is fed from one side into the rolls and reduces in thickness according to the section and gap between the rolls. The reduction ratios have maximum allowable values for different metals beyond which reduction is not practicable in a single process. Rolling sets in series may be employed. ** There are fundamentally two types of rolls: i) Supporting rolls ii) Driving rolls ** the rolls must be rigid or the rolled material will have a loop like shape.

ROLLING MILLS: A rolling mill consists basically of rolls, bearings, a housing for containing these parts, and a drive for applying power to the rolls and controlling there speeds. Rolling mills can be conventionally classified with respect to the number and arrangement of the rolls. Classification of rolling mills: i) Two-high mills ii) Two-high reversing mills iii) Three-high mills iv) Four-high mills v) Cluster mills vi) Continuous mills vii)Planetary mills

Classification of Rolling Mills

Continuous rolling

Use a series of rolling mill and each set is called a stand. The strip will be moving at different velocities at each stage in the mill. The speed of each set of rolls is synchronized so that the input speed of each stand is equal to the output speed of preceding stand. The uncoiler and windup reel not only feed the stock into the rolls and coiling up the final product but also provide back tension and front tension to the strip.

Ring Rolling

Hot rolled coil produced on strip mill

Plate rolling

Distribution of Roll Pressure along the arc of Contact

The distribution of roll pressure along the arc of contact shows that the pressure rises to a maximum at the neutral point and then falls off. The pressure distribution does not come to a sharp peak at the neutral point, which indicates that the neutral point is not really a line on the roll surface but an area.

The area under the curve is proportional to the rolling load. The area in shade represents the force required to overcome frictional forces between the roll and the sheet. The area under the dashed line AB represents the force required to deform the metal in plane homogeneous compression.

For Cold Rolling

Problem with roll flattening

When high forces generated in rolling are transmitted to the workpiece through the rolls, there are two major types of elastic distortions: 1) The rolls tends to bend along their length because the work piece tends to separate them while they are restrained at their ends. Thickness variation. 2) The rolls flatten in the region where they contact the work piece. The radius of the curvature is increased R to R. (roll flattening). According to analysis by Hitchcock,

Where

h0 and hf are initial and final thickness of workpiece.

Simplified analysis of rolling load

The main variables in rolling are:
The roll diameter.

The deformation resistance of the metal as influenced by metallurgy,

temperature and strain rate. The friction between the rolls and the work piece. The presence of the front tension and/or back tension in the plane of the sheet. We consider in two conditions:

1) No friction condition 2) Normal friction condition

1) No friction situation
In the case of no friction situation, the rolling load (P) is given by the roll pressure (p) times the area of contact between the metal and the rolls (bLp).

Where the roll pressure (p) is the yield stress in plane strain when there is no change in the width (b) of the sheet.

2) Normal friction situation

In the normal case of friction situation in plane strain, the average pressure p can be calculated as.

Where Q = Lp/h h = the mean thickness between entry and exit from the rolls.

Where

Roll diameter

Rolling load

Effect of Rolling on Microstructure

Before

After

20

Problems and defects in rolled products

Defects from cast ingot before rolling
Defects other than cracks can result from defects introduced during the ingot stage of production.

Porosity, cavity, blow hole occurred in the cast ingot will be closed up during the rolling process. Longitudinal stringers of non-metallic inclusions or pearlite are related to melting and solidification practices. In severe cases, these defects can lead to laminations which drastically reduce the strength in the thickness direction.

There are two aspects to the problem of the shape of a sheet. 1) Uniform thickness over the width and thickness can be precisely controlled with modern gage control system.
Under high rolling forces, the rolls flatten and bend, and the entire mill is elastically distorted. Mill spring causes the thickness of the sheet exiting from the rolling mill to be greater than the roll gap set

2) Flatness difficult to measure accurately.

under no-load conditions.

Precise thickness rolling requires the elastic constant of the mill.

Flatness
The roll gap must be perfectly parallel to produce sheets/plates with equal thickness at both ends. The rolling speed is very sensitive to flatness. A difference in elongation of one part in 10,000 between different locations in the sheet can cause waviness.

Rolling direction

Perfectly flat

Rolling Defects

Edge Buckling

Because of inhomogeneous deformation in thick slab, the center portion of the sheet is stretched in tension and the edges are compressed in the rolling direction. The result is a wavy edge or edge buckle. The reverse load condition zipper breaks are formed

Edge Cracking or Center Split in sheet rolling

Metallurgical weakness at the center of the slab results Alligotoring

Inhomogeneous deformation in center and edge during sheet or slab rolling

Rolling Mill Control

If the lubrication breaks down so that the flow stress increases because the temperature decreases, the plastic curve will be raised. The rolling load will be increased from P1 to P2 and the final thickness will be increased from hf1 to hf2.

TORQUE AND POWER

The power is applied to a rolling mill be applying to the rolls and by means of strip tension. The power is expended principally in four ways, 1. The energy needed to deform the metal 2. The energy needed to overcome frictional forces in the bearings 3. The energy lost in the pinions and power transmission system 4. Electrical losses in the various motors and generators.

Rolling Torque

Power

Effect of cold working on tensile strength, hardness, ductility and grain size. (The curve below ductility represents the change in grain size)

Friction in Metal Forming

In most metal forming processes, friction is undesirable: Metal flow is retarded Forces and power are increased Wears tooling faster Friction and tool wear are more severe in hot working

Lubrication in Metal Forming

Metalworking lubricants are applied to tool-work interface in many forming operations to reduce harmful effects of friction Benefits: Reduced sticking, forces, power, tool wear Better surface finish Removes heat from the tooling

Considerations in Choosing a Lubricant

Type of forming process (rolling, forging, sheet metal drawing, etc.) Hot working or cold working Work material Chemical reactivity with tool and work metals Ease of application Cost

END OF ROLLING

Start of Reference Slides

Effect of Strain Rate on Flow Stress

Flow stress is a function of temperature At hot working temperatures, flow stress also depends on strain rate
As strain rate increases, resistance to deformation increases This effect is known as strain-rate sensitivity

Strain Rate Sensitivity

Figure 18.5 (a) Effect of strain rate on flow stress at an elevated work temperature. (b) Same relationship plotted on log-log coordinates.

Strain Rate Sensitivity Equation

m Yf = C

where C = strength constant (similar but not equal to strength coefficient in flow curve equation), and m = strain-rate sensitivity exponent

Effect of Temperature on Flow Stress

Figure 18.6 Effect of temperature on flow stress for a typical metal. The constant C, as indicated by the intersection of each plot with the vertical dashed line at strain rate = 1.0, decreases, and m (slope of each plot) increases with increasing temperature.

Observations about Strain Rate Sensitivity

Increasing temperature decreases C and increases m
At room temperature, effect of strain rate is almost negligible Flow curve is a good representation of material behavior As temperature increases, strain rate becomes increasingly important in determining flow stress

Temperature in Metal Forming

For any metal, K and n in the flow curve depend on temperature
Both strength and strain hardening are reduced at higher temperatures In addition, ductility is increased at higher temperatures

Bulk Deformation Processes

Characterized by significant deformations and massive shape changes "Bulk" refers to workparts with relatively low surface area-to-volume ratios Starting work shapes include cylindrical billets and rectangular bars

Material Behavior in Metal Forming

Plastic region of stress-strain curve is primary interest because material is plastically deformed In plastic region, metal's behavior is expressed by the flow curve:
K n
where K = strength coefficient; and n = strain hardening exponent Flow curve based on true stress and true strain

Flow Stress
For most metals at room temperature, strength increases when deformed due to strain hardening Flow stress = instantaneous value of stress required to continue deforming the material
Yf K n
where Yf = flow stress, that is, the yield strength as a function of strain

Temperature in Metal Forming

Any deformation operation can be accomplished with lower forces and power at elevated temperature Three temperature ranges in metal forming:
Cold working Warm working Hot working

Cold Working
Performed at room temperature or slightly above Many cold forming processes are important mass production operations Minimum or no machining usually required
These operations are near net shape or net shape processes

Advantages of Cold Forming

Better accuracy, closer tolerances Better surface finish Strain hardening increases strength and hardness Grain flow during deformation can cause desirable directional properties in product No heating of work required

Bulk Deformation Processes

Rolling: Compressive deformation process in which the thickness of a plate is reduced by
squeezing it through two rotating cylindrical rolls.

Forging: The workpiece is compressed between two opposing dies so that the die shapes
are imparted to the work.

Extrusion: The work material is forced to flow through a die opening taking its shape
Drawing: The diameter of a wire or bar is reduced by pulling it through a die opening (bar
drawing) or a series of die openings (wire drawing)

Disadvantages of Cold Forming

Higher forces and power required in the deformation operation Surfaces of starting workpiece must be free of scale and dirt Ductility and strain hardening limit the amount of forming that can be done
In some cases, metal must be annealed to allow further deformation In other cases, metal is simply not ductile enough to be cold worked

Warm Working
Performed at temperatures above room temperature but below recrystallization temperature Dividing line between cold working and warm working often expressed in terms of melting point:
0.3Tm, where Tm = melting point (absolute temperature) for metal

Advantages of Warm Working

Lower forces and power than in cold working More intricate work geometries possible Need for annealing may be reduced or eliminated

Hot Working
Deformation at temperatures above the recrystallization temperature Recrystallization temperature = about one-half of melting point on absolute scale
In practice, hot working usually performed somewhat above 0.5Tm Metal continues to soften as temperature increases above 0.5Tm, enhancing advantage of hot working above this level

Why Hot Working?

Capability for substantial plastic deformation of the metal - far more than possible with cold working or warm working Why?
Strength coefficient (K) is substantially less than at room temperature Strain hardening exponent (n) is zero (theoretically) Ductility is significantly increased

Advantages of Hot Working

Workpart shape can be significantly altered Lower forces and power required Metals that usually fracture in cold working can be hot formed Strength properties of product are generally isotropic No strengthening of part occurs from work hardening
Advantageous in cases when part is to be subsequently processed by cold forming

Disadvantages of Hot Working

Lower dimensional accuracy Higher total energy required (due to the thermal energy to heat the workpiece) Work surface oxidation (scale), poorer surface finish Shorter tool life

Strain Rate Sensitivity

Theoretically, a metal in hot working behaves like a perfectly plastic material, with strain hardening exponent n = 0
The metal should continue to flow at the same flow stress, once that stress is reached However, an additional phenomenon occurs during deformation, especially at elevated temperatures: Strain rate sensitivity

What is Strain Rate?

Strain rate in forming is directly related to speed of deformation v Deformation speed v = velocity of the ram or other movement of the equipment . . Strainrate is defined: v h
where = true strain rate; and h = instantaneous height of workpiece being deformed

Evaluation of Strain Rate

In most practical operations, valuation of strain rate is complicated by
Workpart geometry Variations in strain rate in different regions of the part

Strain rate can reach 1000 s-1 or more for some metal forming operations

Friction in Metal Forming

In most metal forming processes, friction is undesirable:
Metal flow is retarded Forces and power are increased Tooling wears faster

Friction and tool wear are more severe in hot working

Lubrication in Metal Forming

Metalworking lubricants are applied to tool-work interface in many forming operations to reduce harmful effects of friction Benefits:
Reduced sticking, forces, power, tool wear Better surface finish Removes heat from the tooling

Considerations in Choosing a Lubricant

Type of forming process (rolling, forging, sheet metal drawing, etc.) Hot working or cold working Work material Chemical reactivity with tool and work metals Ease of application Cost