Keywords: Adamite Rolls, Alloy cast steel rolls, SG Iron Rolls, DPIC Spun cast rolls, SG Acicular rolls
This blog is a simple overview of the kind of rolls that are
currently being used in Rolling mills in this case a bar mill; mill dynamics
remain similar but with the change in the end product of the mill i.e wire rod,
section, plates, strips, TMT bar etc. the rolls could vary.
Broadly, a TMT bar rolling mill like any other mill can be
broken down into 3 main parts – The roughing mill, the intermediate mill and
the finishing mill.
The Roughing Stands: As the name implies the roughing stands
mainly use billets as an input in a 3-High stand. Depending upon the output
size of the bar i.e. 20 inch to 16 inch, the number of stands in the roughing
mill vary from a single stand to 3 different stands in case of 16 inch.
Characteristics of rolls used for roughing stands –
Increased strength and ability to absorb jerks as there is high pressure on the
rolls due to the large reduction in size of the bar. So rolls used are Forged
steel, Adamite steel in the first two stands and in some mills even spheroidal
graphite (SG).
The Intermediate stands: These are 2- High stands which form
the mill for solely reduction purposes i.e. have rolls with qualities both of
strength and good decent hardness as the inter stands are the building blocks
for the bar before they enter the finishing stands. Ideally, the later stands
of intermediate should have rolls with high hardness but due to costing reasons
the rolls used in these stands are SG Iron or Single poured cast iron (ICCI)
rolls or even DPIC rolls now.
The Finishing Stands: The bar sizes of 8 mm, 10mm or even 12
mm are the final sizes. As the name suggests, finishing rolls should be such that
provide a shine on the product with great impression and perfect sizes. Thus
the rolls for the finishing stands should be very high on hardness with great
biting qualities. The work rolls ideally used in finishing stands of TMT bar mills are
either SG Acicular (ASG) or Spun cast Double poured solid rolls (DPIC).
Check the video of how hardness as a factor of depth has greatly improved with new technologies for casting of rolls hardness testing of roll for finshing stands
In my next blog I would be stressing on the composition of
the rolls and how they vary with different mills.