Title

MORGOIL BEARING TECHNOLOGICAL UPGRADES IN TANDEM COLD MILLS

MORGOIL BEARING TECHNOLOGICAL UPGRADES IN TANDEM COLD MILLS

Authorship

Royo, GabrielF.; Wojtkowski, Thomas C.; Osgood., Peter N.

Royo, GabrielF.

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Wojtkowski, Thomas C.

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Osgood., Peter N.

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DOI

10.5151/2594-5297-22520

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Abstract

Tandem Cold Mills have long service lives, but decades old bearings have been surpassed, and old mills need to be modernized to stay competitive. Conversion to modern technology allows old mills to produce the same high quality product at increased capacity and less cost than a new mill. This paper covers two upgrades at major cold rolling facilities, one in Europe and one in North America. Both were motivated by the need to increase production, productivity, and safety. The bearing upgrades were done through a process where MORGOIL® engineers worked with mill engineers, analyzing existing problems to upgrade the mill with the latest, most economical technology. There were many constraints common to both upgrades, such as reusing existing chocks, rolls, and bearing components where possible. The European upgrade was done with Siemens VAI in Austria, the primary contractor for the coupling of a 4-Stand TCM to a continuous processing line. It consisted of changing the bearings to MORGOIL® KT design, reducing roll force variation while at the same time allowing higher rolling loads and speeds. RM hydraulic locks were added to increase the speed, repeatability, and safety of chocking operations. The NA upgrade was a unique conversion of a MESTA TCM where multi-piece chocks were replaced by 1-piece chocks, and old mechanical roll balance equipment was replaced with modern hydraulics. Existing mechanical locks were replaced by hydraulic HM locks to improve efficiency and safety.

Tandem Cold Mills have long service lives, but decades old bearings have been surpassed, and old mills need to be modernized to stay competitive. Conversion to modern technology allows old mills to produce the same high quality product at increased capacity and less cost than a new mill. This paper covers two upgrades at major cold rolling facilities, one in Europe and one in North America. Both were motivated by the need to increase production, productivity, and safety. The bearing upgrades were done through a process where MORGOIL® engineers worked with mill engineers, analyzing existing problems to upgrade the mill with the latest, most economical technology. There were many constraints common to both upgrades, such as reusing existing chocks, rolls, and bearing components where possible. The European upgrade was done with Siemens VAI in Austria, the primary contractor for the coupling of a 4-Stand TCM to a continuous processing line. It consisted of changing the bearings to MORGOIL® KT design, reducing roll force variation while at the same time allowing higher rolling loads and speeds. RM hydraulic locks were added to increase the speed, repeatability, and safety of chocking operations. The NA upgrade was a unique conversion of a MESTA TCM where multi-piece chocks were replaced by 1-piece chocks, and old mechanical roll balance equipment was replaced with modern hydraulics. Existing mechanical locks were replaced by hydraulic HM locks to improve efficiency and safety.

Keywords

Tandem cold mills; Mill modernization; Backup roll bearings; Hydrodynamic bearings.

Tandem cold mills; Mill modernization; Backup roll bearings; Hydrodynamic bearings.