Open innovation

Cold Rolling process: optimizing the conventional lubrications

BUSINESS AND TECHNO-ECONOMICS   Open

As well as the other domains, Cold Rolling is challenging for increasing the process technical-economical performances because, over several years, production has also been significantly moving toward harder and thinner materials. This evolution trend is becoming impressive in particular for the automotive sheet product with the development of the Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS). The AHSS ratio is strongly growing, mainly in substitution to previous automotive steels. For such a challenging scene, the conclusion that has come up is that the conventional lubrications are reaching their limits.

The rolling process heart is the roll bite, this is the area where the work roll and strip come in contact and steel rolling occurs, and it has always been tackled from a lubricated tribo-system point of view. These mechanical systems generate the friction phenomenon which results from the combination of many complex mechanisms interacting at different scale level. The friction coefficient is sensitive to most of the system parameters: materials characteristics, contact configuration, surfaces topology, working conditions which include the specificity of metal forming with numerous space and time parameters dependence. Therefore, friction level cannot be controlled directly in a simple way. Lubrication, which is the specifically dedicated function to act on friction, has always a great global importance on the technical economical process performance issues. Strategically lubrication is a core business competency for the Cold Rolling industry justifying constant efforts to better process control thought the synergy of both experimental and theoretical ways. 

For Cold Rolling systems the conventional lubrications have reached their limits and need other lubrication concept. Furthermore, the conventional lubrication brings other associated defects, for instance the appearance of emulsion or rust stains. 

The objective of this challenge is to find another technical solution for the lubrication-cooling in the Cold Rolling process different from the use of last generation oils in combination with water. This new technology should bring the expected advanced performance such us: roll campaign length increase, energy saving, mills capacity, flexibility of production programming, strip cleanliness and avoid the detrimental behaviors due to uncontrolled friction variations such as rolling force shoot-up and chattering.

End date of registration: 31/12/2019.

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