Wear of hot rolling mill rolls: an overview

Abstract

Rolling is today one of the most important industrial processes because a greater volume of material is worked by rolling than by any other technique. Roll wear is a multiplex process where mechanical and thermal fatigue combines with impact, abrasion, adhesion and corrosion, which all depend on system interactions rather than material characteristics only. The situation is more complicated in section rolling because of the intricacy of roll geometry. Wear variables and modes are reviewed along with published methods and models used in the study and testing of roll wear. This paper reviews key aspects of roll wear control — roll material properties, roll pass design, and system factors such as temperature, loads and sliding velocity. An overview of roll materials is given including adamites, high Cr materials, high speed tool steels and compound rolls. Non-uniform wear, recognised as the most detrimental phenomenon in section rolling, can be controlled by roll pass design. This can be achieved by computer-aided graphical and statistical analyses of various pass series. Preliminary results obtained from pilot tests conducted using a two-disc hot wear rig and a scratch tester are discussed.