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Methods ffor
or online measur
measurement
ement and contr
controlol of section de
deviations
viations during hot rrolling
olling
of wir
wiree rrod
od and bars
Christian Overhagen, Rolf Braun and Rüdiger Deike

Christian Overhagen. Metal Forming Group , Institute for Technologies of Metals , University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany .
Corresponding author: Christian Overhagen. E-mail address: [email protected]
Rolf Braun. Metal Forming Group , Institute for Technologies of Metals , University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany .
Rüdiger Deike. Metal Forming Group , Institute for Technologies of Metals , University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany .

Abstr
bstract
act.. In the joint project PIREF, the metal forming group of the University of Duisburg-Essen has collaborated
with the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr-West Mülheim (Ruhr), the University of Siegen, EMG Automation
GmbH and SMS group GmbH to develop sensors, for an online measurement of material velocity and cross
section as well as control models for the rolling process of wire rod and bars. The University of Duisburg-Essen
provided a metal forming process model for the rolling process to assess the influencing parameters on the
rolled section precision. A technique was found to segregate height- from width- influencing parameters from a
measured cross-sectional area and actual roll gap. With this measuring technology and with help of the process
model, rules for control of the rolling process to achieve close tolerances were obtained. The modelling was
accompanied by rolling trials on a laboratory rolling mill at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where a typical
Round-OvalRound pass sequence was used for validation of the rolling model concerning lateral spread, inlet
and outlet velocity as well as rolling force and torque calculation. The present paper shows how the material
flow and the distribution of the velocity in the roll gap can be described. In subsequent rolling of bar and
rod in a continuous rolling mill the dimensions can be influenced by application of longitudinal stresses and
screwdown. The application of stress can be achieved by an inter-stand velocity mismatch. With the developed
models the necessary velocity mismatch can be calculated.

Keyw
ywor
ords
ds. Control, Hot Rolling, Round Sections, Interstand Tensions, Friction Coefficient

1 Intr
Introduction
oduction
In hot rolling of wire rod, bars and other long products in continuous rolling mills, the sectional deviations along a
rolled material strand are affected by temperature and size [1]. To ensure a stable rolling process with constant product
quality, it is therefore necessary to control the rolling process. It can be observed that there is a coupling between
the rolling stand and tools (i.e., the rolls) and the rolled material through the roll force. The roll force is strongly
dependent on the deformation in the rolling pass, but in turn affects the roll gap and therefore the height of the rolled
material. Different from flat rolling processes, in section rolling the lateral spread plays an important role in the section
formation and cannot be neglected. The spread is also influenced by a variation of section height. Therefore, the cross
section of the rolled material is distorted in both height and width directions by elastic deformation of the rolling
stands and tools. Other important influences are interstand tension stresses which arise in the rolled material between
the stand positions. It is well known from rolling theory, that roll force and torque are affected by tension stresses, but
there is another direct influence of the interstand tensions on the spreading behavior of the rolling process. Therefore,
the whole influence chain described above is affected further by acting interstand tensions.

These effects lead to the circumstance that a control of the rolling process for long products is much more complicated
than that of the flat rolling process since the lateral spread must be considered in the analysis. In the joint project
PIREF, the metal forming group of University Duisburg-Essen (UDE) collaborated with the measurement technology
group of the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr-West (HRW), the control theory group of the University of Siegen
(USI) as well as the sensor manufacturing company EMG Automation GmbH (EMG) and the SMS group GmbH. The
main task of our work group (UDE) was to provide a process model for the rolling processes to achieve a mathematical

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description of all important metal forming effects and interdependencies. This process model was later implemented
in the control models developed by the USI. To enable process control during rolling, cross-section sensors developed
by the HRW were used (so-called QFM sensors) which are suited for an inline use during the rolling process. With help
of these sensors, the cross section of the rolled strand could be measured during the rolling process at key positions in
the rolling mill layout.

2R
Roll
oll ggap
ap model including pass geometry
For the process model, it was important to calculate roll force and torque, as well as being able to predict the section
shape which is influenced by elastic rolling stand deformation as well as interstand tensions. For the force, torque, and
power calculations, we use the rolling model by Lippmann and Mahrenholtz [2]. For the roll force, we can write using
the mean section width bm, the contact length ld and the mean flow stress kfm of the considered pass:

The loss factor QF is equal to the reciprocal deformation efficiency and given in the following way with the back tension
t0, the related neutral angle βN, the related height reduction εh and the working roll radius R:

It is important that the employed rolling model provides an accurate evaluation of the influence of the back and front
tensions t0 and t1 on the roll force and torque. The related neutral angle relative to the bite angle α0 in the rolling
process is calculated in the following way:

The total rolling torque for both rolls is given as:

To calculate the spread of a section pass, we make use of Lendl’s equivalent rectangular pass method [3] and the
spreading model acc. to Marini as discussed by Mauk and Kopp [4]. The Marini model is also suitable to calculate
the internal local spreading contour in each pass. The shapes of the sections and roll grooves are described based on
polygonal contours with xy-coordinates of all points. Fig.1 shows a typical pass with a round entry section (blue), a roll
contour (black) and the exit section contour (red).

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Fig. 1. Ex
Exemplified
emplified calculation of the pass geometry model ffor
or a rround-o
ound-ovval pass. Initial diamet
diameter:
er: 15 mm. Ov
Oval
al heig
height:
ht:
9.8 mm

Here, we can see that a portion of the initial cross section is displaced by the rolls, another portion reappears due to
lateral spread, see also [1].

3 Pr
Processing
ocessing of measur
measured
ed cr
cross
oss sections in the model
The QFM cross section sensor as shown in Fig. 2 returns the cross section in mm² at the measurement position.
For a precise evaluation, width and height effects must be distinguished from each other, because from an integral
cross-sectional variation in mm² we cannot tell if it is due to a height or width fault. These fault types require different
methods of counteraction.

Fig. 2. QFM cr
cross
oss section sensor
sensor.. Left: schematic dr
draawing, rig
right:
ht: in industrial application [5]

We can use the pass geometry model described above to segregate the height effects from the width effects. With

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Methods for online measurement and control of section deviations during hot rolling of ...

help of the model, we can calculate the material cross section for a specific groove geometry as a function of the roll
gap screw-down and the section width. A backward analysis of this relationship yields the unknown section width
when the cross section and the roll gap were measured. To benefit from this technique, an independent continuous
measurement of the roll gap is needed additionally.

The synthetic data generated by the pass geometry model was used to train an artificial neural network which can
be used for the backward calculation. Fig. 3 c) shows the interdependency of cross section, roll gap and section width
for the oval roll contour shown in Fig. 1, while Figure 3 a) and b) show much different oval section shapes, rolled
from the same groove and same entry section, depending on roll gap setting and material and temperature dependent
spreading behavior of the rolled material. These section shapes can be concluded from the roll gap and cross section
measurements as described above.

Fig. 3. Diff
Differ
erent
ent cr
cross
oss sections fr
from
om the same rroll
oll cont
contour
our.. a) wide opened ggap,
ap, lo
loww spr
spread;
ead; b) closed ggap,
ap, hig
higher
her
spr
spread;
ead; c) data rrelationship
elationship betw
between
een rroll
oll ggap,
ap, section width and cr
cross
oss section

The material and temperature dependent spreading behavior of the rolled materials is described with a neural network,
based on data of flat rolling trials with different steel materials and a temperature range between 800°C and 1200°C
taken from Grosse and Gottwald [6], where the temperature and the chemical composition of the specific steel material
were used as input parameters for the neural network.

4 Coupling of rroll
oll ggaps
aps b
byy int
interstand
erstand ttensions
ensions
In Fig.4, a three-stand arrangement of a rolling mill is shown exemplarily. The rolls of three subsequent stands rotate
at the angular velocities ω1, ω2 and ω3. The backward tension of a stand i will be denoted by t0,i, the front tension of
stand i will be denoted by t1,i.

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Fig. 4. Schematic rrepr

epresentation
esentation of thr
three
ee subsequent rroll
oll ggaps
aps in a continuous rrolling
olling mill with angular rroll
oll vvelocities
elocities
and int
interstand
erstand ttensions
ensions

Generally, the front tension of stand i is equal to the back tension of stand i+1:

As stated above, the tension influences on roll torque and force can be calculated easily using the rolling model. For the
direct tension influence on spread, an additional empirical model must be employed. Mauk provided a framework for
the tension influenced additional deformation in 1996 [7], given in Eq. (4.2).

Here, φ0 is the calculated true strain of the pass without tensions. The tension influence term Δφσ is a function of the
front and back tension and the geometric properties of the rolling pass. Note that the influence of the back tension is
higher than that of the front tension [5].

Being able to assess the interstand tension stresses acting in a rolling process is of great importance for the construction
of the underlying metal forming part of the control model, but the tension influences are very nonlinear and influence
several stands at the same time. For simpler cases (that is, without a tension-dependent spread), a linearized model
for the interstand tension assessment can be constructed with good success, but the linearization breaks down for the
highly nonlinear spread influences which are faced in the section rolling case. To enable a backward calculation of the
acting interstand tensions from the rolling parameters (i.e., the measured roll and material speeds and section shapes),
either a time-consuming iterative procedure must be applied to solve the nonlinear system of multiple coupled roll
gaps, or a data driven modeling of the relationship between N roll speeds and (N-1) tensions between the N roll gaps
must be carried out. In the present case, the data driven modeling was applied which resulted in a fast model for
computation of the present interstand tensions during the rolling process of long products.

Fig. 5 shows a calculated result for this model for a six-stand rolling block in an industrial wire rod mill. On the vertical
axes, the interstand tension is shown in relation to the mean flow stress.

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Fig. 5. R
Reaction
eaction of rrelat
elated
ed int
interstand
erstand ttensions
ensions in a continuous rrolling
olling mill tto
o vvariations
ariations of the rroll
oll speed of one mill
stand [8]

In this computational example, the angular roll velocities of stands 3 and 5 remain constant, where the roll velocity
of stand 4 is varied. We see from these results, that the back tension of stand 4 (or tension between stands 3 and 4)
increases when the roll speed of stand 4 is increased. At the same time, the front tension of stand 4 (or tension between
stands 4 and 5) decreases with increasing roll speed. This data already accounts for the spread-reducing effect of the
tensions and the influence of the tensions on the global volume flux of the rolling process.

The indirect measurement of acting interstand tension stresses is one important task of the control model, and this
aim can be reached with a combination of analytical and data-driven modeling as described above. Another task is
the prediction of variations in the rolling parameters that need to be realized to achieve variations in the interstand
tension (to increase or decrease the tension). This is especially important for the present task of controlling the rolling
process.

We have seen that lateral spread can be influenced effectively by means of the interstand tension. If too much spread
is reported by the QFM sensor, we should increase tension temporarily to decrease the width of the rolled section.
Tension can be increased or decreased by influencing the velocity mismatch between two subsequent mill stands.
The necessary roll speed variation can be calculated by the present model. Fig. 6 shows two examples with predicted
section shapes.

The dashed lines in Fig. 6 correspond to the case without tensions and without elastic rolling stand deformation. In
the solid lines, elastic rolling stand deformation is considered along with a uniform interstand tension of 20% of the
material’s flow stress between each two subsequent rolling stands. In Fig. 6 a), the oval pass is shown, and Fig. 6 b) the
next pass oval to round. The section evolution is interconnected between the two passes, because the varied section
height from the oval pass serves as the initial width for the round pass. On the other hand, the exit width of the oval
pass is the entry height for the round pass.

The elastic rolling stand deformation does not lead to a huge increase of section height, and we also should keep in mind
that the rolling force is reduced by the tension, leading to a lower elastic feedback of the roll gap. In contrast to this,
the tension influence on the spread is obvious. In both passes, oval and round, the spread is reduced quite extensively
due to the 20% of interstand tensions. Because of this strong influence, interstand tensions can be used effectively to
counteract an overspreading of the sections.

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Fig. 6. Influencing method of the section shape b

byy means of int
interstand
erstand ttensions.
ensions. Solid lines: with elastic stand
def
deformation
ormation and int
interstand
erstand ttensions.
ensions. Dashed lines: with rigid stands and the ttension-fr
ension-free
ee case.

5R
Rolling
olling trials, neutr
neutral
al ang
angle
le and friction assessment
At the metal forming lab at the UDE, rolling trials were conducted to validate the model and to examine the velocity and
material flow pattern of the rolling process. For this purpose, a pass design was worked out for an initial round section
of 15 mm as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7. R
Roll
oll pass design that w
was
as w
wor
ork
ked out ffor
or the labor
laborat
atory
ory rrolling
olling mill

The 15 mm round entry section would be deformed in two passes to an intermediate round section of 12.5 mm, and in
two further passes into a finishing round section of 10 mm. Figure 8 a) and b) show the laboratory rolling mill used for
the trials. It is equipped with measurement sensors for entry and exit temperature, velocity, angular roll speed, as well
as exit section height and width. The rolls with the pass design shown in Figure 7 have a nominal diameter (at the roll

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Methods for online measurement and control of section deviations during hot rolling of ...

gap) of 208 mm.

Fig. 8. Labor
Laborat
atory
ory rrolling
olling mill at the metal fforming
orming lab of the UDE. a) oper
operat
ator
or side view; b) entry side view

During the passes, roll force, torque as well as the exit and entry velocities of the rolled bar were measured. Comparisons
between calculated and measured roll forces were carried out randomly, giving results in close agreement.

Fig. 9. a) V
Velocity
elocity distribution and b) Str
Stress
ess distribution ffor
or diff
differ
erent
ent rroll
oll vvelocities
elocities at a constant vvolume
olume flux

Based on model adaption with the assumed local spread calculation, internal distributions of relative velocity were
calculated. With this approach, the neutral point position could be found from the measured forward slip of the rolling
process. Additionally, by adaption with a numerical rolling model it was possible to determine the coefficient of friction.
Figure 9 a) shows the horizontal material velocity distribution vx in the roll gap for an exemplified flat pass (yellow
line). The horizontal roll surface velocities vux are shown for three different rotational speeds of the rolls. We can
see that the intersection point of these curves with the vx-curve are different for each roll velocity, therefore yielding
different neutral angles. A numerical evaluation of the neutral angle based on the graphical method shown in Fig. 9
would be to solve the nonlinear volume flux equation:

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For a successful numerical evaluation of αN, the cross-sectional variation throughout the contact arc A(α) must
be known.

The circumferential roll velocity vR, as well as the exit section A1 and the exit velocity v1 are measured.

In the present model, the function A(α) is constructed by applying the spread calculation locally in the roll gap.

In Figure 9 b), the associated horizontal stress distributions are represented. As there is a unique relationship
between the coefficient of friction and the neutral point, we can identify the coefficient of friction from the forward
slip measurement through adaption with the rolling model. Apparently, a more sophisticated rolling model must be
used not relying on constant sticking friction throughout the roll gap. The latter simplification is present in all simple
analytical hot rolling models [2]. We can use the nonsimplified version of Alexander’s rolling model [9], which accounts
for both sticking and slipping friction. The ODE for the normal pressure in the roll gap is given as:

For the definition of the functions f1, f2 and g, refer to Alexander [9].

Table 1 shows a summary of the data of the considered roll passes. For these data, the related neutral angles were
found numerically according to Eq. (5.1) and attained values between 0.275 and 0.375, which are just typical data for
hot rolling. The friction coefficient range between 0.186 and 0.373 for the considered pass data.

Table 1. E
Evvaluation data of the rroll
oll passes sho
shown
wn in Fig. 9

While Fig. 9 gives a general example for the process of friction measurement in a flat pass, we now present an example
for actual measurements of forward slip and friction at a hot rolling round-oval pass. Fig. 10 shows the actual pass
geometry for a rolled oval section, while Table 2 gives an overview about the data that where measured and determined
for this pass.

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Fig. 10. A
Actual
ctual pass geometry of the section ffor
or w
which
hich the friction eevvaluation w
was
as carried out
out.. Data see T
Table
able 1.

Table 2. Ex
Exemplaril
emplarilyy measur
measured
ed data in a rround-o
ound-ovval pass

From the measured entry and exit velocities as well as the roll velocity, a forward slip value of 3.07% was calculated.
This provided a related neutral angle of βN = 0.3104. The numerical adaption of Alexander’s rolling model resulted in
a forward slip-equivalent friction coefficient of µ = 0.252. This value is relatively low for a hot rolling case, which we
attribute to the clean laboratory environment with freshly grinded rolls under which the trial was undertaken.

The friction assessment by means of forward slip measurements was reported before for flat rolling [10], but the
present approach seems to be the first successful friction measurement under hot rolling conditions of a non-flat cross
section with extra difficulties due the non-negligible lateral spread.

6 Conclusions and Outlook

In the research project PIREF, we were able to develop a model for hot rolling of full sections which can be used in
a control model for the rolling process. We presented a method that allows the actual section shape to be deduced
from measured cross section and roll gap screw down. This allows the cross-sectional variations to be decomposed in
height and width affecting parameters and therefore the initiation of suitable counteracting measures. The theoretical
basis was built for an active tension control in rolling of full sections. This is accomplished by an online enforcement
of the interstand tensions by continuous measurement of roll and material velocities. As some of the sub models are
too sophisticated to be evaluated online in a numerical way, they were cast into data-driven models using machine
learning techniques with synthetic data. A method for online-evaluation of the coefficient of friction was presented
with a specific application to full section rolling. In the future, the validity range of the model shall be extended. For this

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purpose, more rolling trials must be carried out to gather data to be fed into the empirical data-driven model for the
interstand tension influence on spread, which is a central feature of the current model. In the foreseeable future, the
overall control model should be implemented in an industrial rolling mill for a test run.

Ackno
cknowwledgements
We thank the European Regional Development Fund for providing funding of the research project PIREF under
project code EFRE0800805. Special thanks are owed to our project partners representing the University of Siegen,
the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr-West, the EMG Automation GmbH and the SMS group GmbH for the fruitful
discussions which led to the developments presented in this paper.

Most special thanks are owed to our late Professor Dr.-Ing. Paul Josef Mauk for all metal forming advice and good
education he has provided, as well as for the initiation of this research project. He will never be forgotten.

Bibliogr
Bibliograph
aphyy

[1] Overhagen, Ch. Braun, R. Deike, R. Analysis of elastic rolling stand deformation and interstand tension effects
on section faults of hot rolled wire rod and bars. Technisches Messen 87 (5), pp. 343-348, 2020. DOI 10.1515/
teme-2019-0130

[2] Lippmann, H. Mahrenholtz, O. Plastomechanik der Umformung metallischer Werkstoffe. Springer, 1968

[3] Lendl, A.E. Roll more tons – practicable roll calibration calculation. Blast Furnace & Steel Plant, 1941 (III) Vol. 29
pp. 307-312

[4] Mauk, P. J. Kopp, R. Spread under Hot Rolling, Der Kalibreur 1982(37) pp. 3-55.

[5] EMG Automation GmbH, https://www.emg-automation.com/en/details/prozesssteuerung-in-stab-und-

drahtwalzwerken/

[6] Grosse, W. Gottwald, H. Der Einfluß von Kohlenstoff, Mangan, Chrom, Nickel und Molybdän auf das freie Breiten von
Stählen, Stahl und Eisen 79 (12), 1959. pp. 855-866.

[7] Mauk, P. J. Analysis of interacting influence parameters on the tolerances of wire rod and bars in the rolling process.
6th ICTP International Conference on Technology of Plasticity. Erlangen, 1999

[8] Yang, Y. A data-driven model for interstand tensions in wire rod finishing blocks based on analytical computations.
M.Sc. Thes., Univ. Duisburg-Essen, 2020.

[9] Alexander, J.M. On the theory of rolling. Proc. R. Soc. 326 (1567), 1972, pp. 535-563. DOI 10.1098/rspa.1972.0025

[10] Yuen, W.Y.D. Determination of Friction from Measured Forward Slip and Its Applications in Hot Strip Rolling. First
Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics, 21-13 February 1996, Melbourne

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