International Conference on Manufacturing Science and Engineering (ICMSE 2015)

Analysis on the Leveling Capacity of an 11-roll Leveler

in 2250 Cross Cutting Line

Xiaobin Ma1, a *, Jie Zhang1,b , Hongbo Li1,c , Yizhong Zhou2,d , Weidong Hu2,e and
Ansu Wang2,f
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
2
Hot Rolling Mill, Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp., Wuhan, Hubei, China
a
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
e
[email protected], [email protected]

Keywords: 11-roll leveler; leveling capacity; total leveling force; motor power.
Abstract. Many problems have occurred in using an 11-roll leveler in 2250 cross cutting line due to
the increasing maximum strength of hot rolled coil. To determine the cause of these problems, a
model to calculate the leveling capacity quickly is constructed using leveler’s structural parameters
and force-energy parameters, and then a contrastive analysis is made between the calculated results
and the design capacity. The influence of strength coefficient and leveling speed on leveling
capacity is also investigated.

Introduction
Roller leveling machine is the main and key equipment in cross cutting line used to improve plate
and strip products [1]. In order to meet user’s needs of moderately thick steel plate and increase the
strength and varieties of domestic plate products, steel mills introduce a batch of heavy gauge cross
cutting line that configure advanced mighty leveler in China in recent years[2][3]. However, due to
the lightweight of vehicle body and more profit which steel mills wanted, cross cutting line needs to
deal with more and more high-strength steel plate which is close to the leveling capacity border.
This leads to various problems in production, such as production line instability, production
drawdown and high product defect rate, which become the bottleneck of steel mills to increase the
output of high-strength steels.
To find out the cause of these problems which occurred in leveling high-strength steel plate
using an 11-roll leveler in 2250 cross cutting line and analyze the determining principle of its
capacity border, a model to determine the leveling capacity border quickly is constructed using the
expected plastic ratio and the maximum mechanical parameters[4]. According to the model, leveling
capacity curves of an 11-roll leveler are drawn, which can be used to judge whether the incoming
plate can be leveled. This model can provide theoretical foundation for setting reasonable roller gap.

Limiting factors of leveling capacity

The capacity of specific roller leveler is definite and limited and it is mainly affected by these factors,
such as its structure, the allowable maximum total leveling force and motor rated power. In general,
the capacity border of a leveler can be drawn by the following parameters, and then the capacity
border can be used to quickly judge whether the income can be leveled.
Total leveling force
The maximum reduction force, which is produced by hydraulic cylinders, is a constant. So the
total leveling force in leveling process must be less than the leveler’s maximum reduction force.
N
FΣ = 0.5∑ Fi ≤ Fmax (1)
i =1

© 2015. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 1029

Where FΣ is the total leveling force, N is the number of rollers, Fi is the leveling force on single
roller as shown in Fig. 1, Fi = 2 ( M i −1 + 2M i + M i +1 ) p , M i is the internal moment of the plate
under the roller i, p is the roller pitch, Fmax is the leveler’s maximum reduction force.

Fig. 1 force distribution during leveling

This limiting factor can be summarized as
N −1
4M t
FΣ =
p
∑M
i =2
i ≤ Fmax (2)

Where M t is the elastic limit bending moment, M t = BH 2σ s 6 , M i is the bending moment ratio
under the roller i.
Motor power
The rated power of the motor installed in the leveler is fixed, so the power required in leveling
process is not greater than the motor rated power.

N
  µd  D  2v
PΣ = ∑  Fi  f +  + u Ji  ≤ PMoter (3)
i =1   2  2 ηD

Where PΣ is the power required in the leveling process, f is the rolling friction coefficient between
roller and plate, µ is the friction coefficient between the roller journal and the bearing, d is the
roller journal diameter, D is the roller diameter, v is the leveling speed, u Ji is the plastic energy in
BH σ s2  3 2λ  λ  2 − ζ 
per length of the plate. u Ji = (1 − λ )  − 3 + ζ − (1 − λ ) ⋅ m − ⋅ m +  ζ − 2 +
2
,
6E  ζ ζ  ζ  ζ  
λ is the strength coefficient, ζ is the elastic ratio, m = 1.5 − 0.5ζ 2 , η is the total efficiency of the
transmission system.
Expected deformation plastic ratio
The plastic deformation ratio which equals to 1 − ζ , is an important parameter in the leveling
process[5][6]. The quality of the plate will be improved if the plastic deformation ratio increases to
70% ~ 80% ( ζ = 20% ~ 30% ). The plate cannot be leveled well if the plastic deformation ratio is
less than the expected value even though it is winded around the rollers. So the geometry model of
expected deformation plastic ratio can be summarized as

At 1
Aw = ≤ (4)
ζ R

Where Aw is the bending curvature, At is the elastic limit curvature, At = 2σ s EH .

Contact strength of leveling roll

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 Contact stress between roller and plate is large and harmful. The contact stress may cause roller
fatigue damage when it exceeds the allowable contact stress of roller. The contact between roller
and plate can be simplified into the contact model between the cylinder and the plane. According to
the Hertz contact theory this factor can be written as

FE
σ j max =0.418 ≤ σ j  (5)
BR  

Where σ j max is the maximum contact stress, F is the maximum leveling force, F = 8M max M t / p .

Determination of leveling capacity border

The conditions of an 11-roll leveler which has a problem with leveling high strength steel plate are
listed in Table 1. The parameters such as f , µ , η of this leveler are constants, the values of them
are 0.0002m, 0.005, 0.7, respectively[7]. Simulation results are obtained under the speed of 18
m/min using the four equations (2)-(5). It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the leveling capacities are a
series of family curves.
Table 1 Equipment parameters of 11-roll leveler
Parameter name Parameter value Parameter name Parameter value
Number of rollers 11(top:5,bottom:6) Roller diameter [mm] 220
Roller pitch [mm] 230 Jounal diameter/mm 120
Maximum total Allowable contact
24000 1020
leveling force [kN] stress [Mpa]
Maximum leveling
Motor power [kW] 2*250+110 45
speed [m/min]
Plate width [mm] 2100

1500
Controlled Controlled
Controlled
1200 by Eq. 5 by Eq. 3 Controlled
by Eq. 4
Yield Stress/MPa

by Eq. 6
900

600 ζ=1/3
ζ=1/5
300 ζ=1/7
Design Capacity
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Thickness/mm

Fig. 2 Leveling capacity border curves

It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the smaller the elastic ratio is, the narrower the leveling range is. As
for the ultimate strength of plate in a certain thickness, the one determined by contact strength is
higher than that of total leveling force, which means that any of the curves is surrounded by three
parts. When comparing the design capacity of this leveler with the simulation results it can be seen
clearly:

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 a. With the increase of thickness, the total power needed in leveling high strength plate is
larger than the allowable value of the machine. That can be avoided by reducing the plastic ratio or
changing higher-powered motor.
b. With the decrease of thickness, high strength plate needs bigger reduction at a certain plastic
ratio and leads to biting difficultly. That situation can be improved by enlarging sent entrance force
and choosing a suitable plastic ratio.
c. In the middle of thickness range (about 8mm), this leveler has the potential to level higher
strength steel plate.
The established model is used to research the influence of strength coefficient and leveling speed
on the leveling capacity, as shown in Fig. 3, the elastic is 1/5 here. It can be seen form Fig. 3 that the
capacity range narrows down with the increase of speed and strength coefficient, and the result is
more different due to leveling speed than strength coefficient.
1200

1000
Yi el d St r ess/ MPa

800

600

400 λ =0, v=0. 3m/ s

λ =0, v=0. 6m/ s
200 λ =0. 02, v=0. 3m/ s
λ =0. 02, v=0. 6m/ s
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Thi ckness/ mm
Fig. 3 Leveling capacity curves under different conditions

Conclusions
a. The leveling capacity model is constructed and its simulation result is compared with the
design capacity. Features of the leveling capacity range are obtained from the comparison.
b. The influence of plastic ratio, strength coefficient, leveling speed on the capacity is studied.
The research results indicate that the greater the speed and strength coefficient are, the smaller the
leveling capacity is.
c. Possible leveling parameters of a plate can be determined quickly and conveniently for
given shape and material properties.

References
[1] Guodong Wang, Xianghua Liu. Steel Rolling. 24(1) (2007) 1-6. (in Chinese)
[2] Y.N. Belobrov, V.G. Smirnov, A.I. Titarenko. Metallurgist. 46(9/10) (2002) 280-283.
[3] Li Cui, Xianlei Hu, Qiang Guo. Journal of Northeastern University (Natural Science) . 32(5)
(2011) 671-674. (in Chinese)
[4] Yongqin Wang, Zhifang Liu, Xingchun Yan. Jounal of Central South University. 19(9) (2012)
2477-2481.
[5] A. Matsuo, M. Fujita. Iron & Steel Institute of Japan Journal. 19(2) (2006) 327-330. (in
Japanese)

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[6] A. Matsuo, S. Yoshikazu. Iron & Steel Institute of Japan Journal. 15(5) (2002) 1010. (in
Japanese)
[7] Fu Cui, Straightening and straightening machine, second ed., Metallurgical Industry Press,
Beijing, 2005. (in Chinese)

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