EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON DURABILITY IN EXPLOITATION OF ROLLING MILL ROLLS

The purpose of this work is to present some guidelines in the quality improvement of rolling iron rolls, aiming at increasing durability and safety in operation. The study analyses the influence of chemical composition on durability in exploitation of rolling mill rolls. The research also suggests solutions meant to increase the rolling mill rolls endurance in exploitation. The research on durability in exploitation of rolling mill rolls represents an important scientific and economical issue. These researches are trying to give answers to most actual problems related to the increase of hardness of rolling mill rolls. They are characterized by a complex system of cracking of the superficial caliber layer or they simply break because of the thermal shocks caused by the contact of the hot metal with the water-cooled rolls. The research uses data collected from the industrial use at the Iron and Steel Laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering - Hunedoara as well as laboratory experiments carried out on an unique, complex and original installation. In this sense, the paper presents some results of a series of researches and experimentations of durability on testing lots through laboratory experiment, in distinct series, that represent the object of the laboratory research methodology. Although the manufacture of rolls is in constant improvement, the requirements for superior quality rolls have not yet been met, in many cases the absence of quality rolls preventing the realization of quality laminates or the realization of productivities of which rolling mills are capable. In this sense, durability in exploitation is extremely important both for immediate practice and for the scientific research attributed to the cast-iron rolls.