Hot Rolling Mill Process

It takes many steps to create steel. The hot rolling process is one of them. This process reheats, rolls and coils the steel.

Purpose

The hot rolling process involves three major steps. The first is to reheat the semi-finished steel slabs close to their melting point. Then they are rolled over and over until they are much thinner and longer. Finally, they are coiled up and readied for transportation.

Function

In hot rolling, a piece of metal is rolled repeatedly between two rollers, one above and one below. Measuring devices track the overall thickness. Compared to cold rolling, the metal is softer and more ductile.

Disadvantages

Because hot rolling requires the material to be heated, almost to its melting point, when it cools down oxidation occurs on the surface of the metal. This results in some material loss and poor surface quality.

Mills

A few mills are used in the hot rolling mill process. The first is the mill which reheats the steel. Next the roughing mill reduces the thickness and sends it to the finishing mill. The finishing mill further reduces the thickness of the steel to customer specifications.

References

• California Steel Industries: The Hot Rolling Process
• Leong Huat hardware PTE LTD: Hot & Cold Working and the Rolling Process