Technical Article

Rolling Mills Revamp:

Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads
Table of Contents:
Rolling Mills Revamp:
Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads
Introduction 2

Theoretical Considerations
of Roll Upgrades for
Extreme Loads 3

Bearings with Reduced

Cross-Section 5

Case Study –
Existing Solution and
Problem Description 6

Case Study – Timken

Roll Upgrade Solution 9

Summary and Conclusions 11

Acknowledgements 11

References 11
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
2 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Introduction
Market Overview
Today’s rolling mill market environment can be characterized by low investment
in new equipment and higher requirements for output. The mills are getting
older, but to increase productivity, their operational loads are becoming much
heavier. These extreme conditions, along with old and obsolete roll designs,
contribute to many of the roll neck failures that occur in 2-HI mill work rolls or
4-HI mill back-up rolls. As a consequence, the market is demanding a rolling
mills revamp to mitigate roll neck breakage in the fillet ring area under severe
loading conditions. The choice of bearing selection can play an important and
beneficial role in establishing a successful revamp solution.

Technical Overview
Rolling mills represent an extremely demanding application for both
bearings and rolls, which must perform under high operating temperatures,
loads and speeds.

During the rolling process, the roll rotates and, simultaneously, the load is
applied through the bearings on the semi-finished strips. One point on the roll
neck supports mainly tensile stress with a maximum value σmax, while the point
found diametrically opposite supports a compressive stress with a minimum
value σmin. When the roll rotates 180 degrees, these two points change position
and stress, and the tension progresses from σmax to σmin = -σmax. Over time,
the material stress on these points varies many times between these two
limits (one full variation per rotation), as shown on the graph in Figure 1. As
a result, the area of the roll neck between the bearing and the barrel (the fillet
radius area) is subjected to alternant symmetrical cyclical bending stress that
fluctuates with the roll’s rotation. A careful evaluation is required to determine
the maximum allowed stress and manage the geometrical features of the
transition between the roll neck and barrel diameters (i.e., step chamfers and
fillet radii) in order to control the effect of stress concentration.

Figure 1:
Roll bending stress.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
3 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

The Timken Company solution for revamping heavily loaded roll neck bearings
The Timken Company offers the following roll neck solution engineering
support for revamp projects:
1. Roll design optimization by maximizing the roll neck diameter
2. Design support for a compounded roll neck fillet radius
3. Selection of bearings with reduced cross section (larger bore,
 same outer diameter*, same or smaller overall width and special
features to maintain or increase bearing load rating).

*The revamp solution assumes that the same chocks will be used, which
requires bearings with the same outer diameter.

Theoretical Considerations of Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

1. Roll Design Optimization
a. Roll neck diameter optimization
In heavily loaded rolls, which often run at slow speeds, a larger neck
diameter is needed to cope with the higher bending stress. Based
on this need, a conventional heavy-duty bearing size (represented
by bearing A in Figure 2) may not be suitable. For these high-load
applications, reduced section bearings are suggested (represented
by bearing B) with the same outer diameter as the heavy-duty
bearings, but with a larger bore. These reduced section bearings offer
an increased neck to barrel ratio (d/D ~ 68 percent) and, whenever
possible, a smaller bearing width that also reduces the axial distance
between the screw-down load line and the barrel face. The increased
roll neck outer diameter and reduced bending moment improve the
performance capability of the roll neck under extreme loads.

Figure 2:
Roll diameter optimization.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
4 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

b. Replace existing fillet radius with a compound fillet radius

Traditional roll neck designs often use a simple radius in the fillet
area. Timken’s long experience in the steel-making industry indicates
that this solution may be inappropriate for heavily loaded mills, and
recommends replacing the simple radius with a compound fillet
radius. Compound – or two-radii – fillets are recommended because
they offer favorable stress distribution across the fillet radius.
Figure 3 shows the development of the compound radii fillet from
two predetermined fillet length and height dimensions ra and rb,
respectively, with the purpose of reducing roll neck maximum stress.
The length and height of the fillet radii rc and rd can be determined
using the following formulas:

ra = Fillet length (ra is less than 2.5 rb for practical purposes)

rb = Fillet height
rc = Major radius of compound fillet
rd = Minor radius of compound fillet

Figure 3:
Compound fillet radius.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
5 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Bearings with Reduced Cross Section

Timken engineers use sophisticated, application-focused computer programs
to model applications and operating environments, producing specially
designed bearings that yield longer life. To maximize bearing performance
in tough operating conditions, Timken has developed the DuraSpexx® Power
Rating Series of bearings. DuraSpexx bearings feature a modified design
that offers enhancements to improve bearing life in demanding applications
with harsh environments. DuraSpexx bearings are ideal for heavy-load
industrial applications such as rolling mills and gear drives. The enhanced
features and reduction in cross-section of these bearings result in higher
bearing ratings. DuraSpexx leverages Timken technical design knowledge
to achieve a 23 percent bearing dynamic rating increase, resulting in fatigue
life increase versus the standard Timken bearing, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4:
Comparative life results for the DuraSpexx® Power Rating Series vs.
standard Timken bearings within the same envelope.

DuraSpexx Design Attributes

• Enhanced steel materials with improved cleanliness and modified
inclusion shape to reduce inclusion-related damage.
• Surface finishing options to reduce peeling and fatigue in high-
temperature and thin lubricant-film environments.
• Profiled geometry to optimize contact stress distribution under
high loads and/or misalignment.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
6 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Case Study – Existing Solution and Problem Description

This application is performed on rolls of 2-HI mills, but could be extended to
the back-up rolls of 4-HI mills. Figure 5 shows the roll load and current fillet
radius detail.

Figure 5:
Roll load and fillet radius detail.

Mill design attributes

Mill type: 2-HI mill
Roll barrel diameter: 990 mm
Barrel width: 2180 mm
Roll neck diameter: 595 mm
Roll neck to barrel ratio: 60 percent
Screw-down distance: 2980 mm
Roll body material: Steel
Young’s modulus: 210000 MPa
Poisson’s ratio: 0.3
Tensile yield strength: 250 MPa
Figure 6: Tensile ultimate strength: 460 MPa
Roll neck fillet design: Isometric view.
The isometric view of the roll is shown in Figure 6.

Operating conditions
Max. rolling load: 2200 tons (= 21582 kN)
Max. rolling speed: 220 m/min at pass line

Timken bearing
Figure 7 shows an expanded view of the four-row tapered bearing made up
of two double inner rings, four single outer rings, one inner-ring spacer and
three outer-ring spacers.

Bearing: Four-row tapered roller bearing M280049DW-M280010

Figure 7:
Envelope: 595.312 x 844.550 x 615.950 (I.D. x O.D. x width in mm)
Expanded view of the four-row tapered
bearing. Timken rating: C90(4) = 4400 kN
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
7 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Computer model
Figure 8 shows the isometric view of the computer model. The computer-
modeled application is shown in Figure 9.

The adjusted bearing fatigue life L10a of the maximum loaded row, presented
in Figure 10, is 2800 hours.

Figure 8:
Computer model: Isometric view.

Figure 9:
Computer model.

Figure 10:
Adjusted bearing life.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
8 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Since the bearing cups are stationary in the chocks, only one part of the cup
carries the rolling load at any given time. This part is called the ‘load zone’.
Roll neck bearing cups are marked on their back and front faces to show four
quadrants. The cup face markings enable the user to keep a record of which
quadrants have been used in the load zone. A good practice is to mount
the bearing with quadrant number 1 of each cup in the load zone, then
during subsequent inspections rotate to each of the others, in sequence,
until the procedure repeats again with number 1. The rotation of the cups at
every inspection will extend the useful life of the bearing by incrementally
distributing the load over the entire cup raceway.

The roll maximum stress on the fillet area of 352 N/mm2 and the roll fatigue
life of 4400 hours are presented in Figure 11.

Problem description – roll neck breakage

The roll was broken at its fillet radius area, as shown in Figure 12. The
customer requested Timken Support for solutions to increase roll neck
Figure 11: strength and keep the new bearing fatigue life within acceptable limits.
Roll neck assessment before upgrade: There were no reported issues with the existing bearing selection.
Maximum stress and fatigue life.

Figure 12:
Roll neck breakage.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
9 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Case Study – Timken Roll Upgrade Solution

Timken suggested roll design optimization by increasing the neck diameter
from Ø595 to Ø610 mm and replacing the existing fillet radius with a
compound fillet (Figure 14). The bearing external diameter and width were
maintained at their initial values. Note that the mill chock covers and seals
had to be replaced due to the larger bearing bore.

1. Increase Roll Neck Diameter (from 595 to 610 mm)

Mill design attributes

Roll barrel diameter: 990 mm
Barrel width: 2240 mm
Roll neck diameter: 610 mm
Roll neck to barrel ratio: 62 percent

New Timken bearing

Bearing: four-row tapered roller bearing NP825343-NP205014 (shown
in Figure 13)
Envelope: 610.000x844.550x615.950 [ID x OD x Width in mm]
Timken rating: C90(4) = 5020 kN with standard Timken bearing
Timken rating: C90(4) = 6175 kN with DuraSpexx® bearing design

Figure 13:
Bearing schematic.
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
10 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

Figure 14:
Optimized roll neck fillet.

Figure 15:
Adjusted bearing life L10 for existing solution vs. standard and
DuraSpexx bearing designs.

2. Replace Existing Fillet Radius with Compound Fillet Radius

The adjusted bearing fatigue life L10a, shown in Figure 15, is 4500 hours
for the standard Timken bearing and 9000 hours for the DuraSpexx®
bearing design.

Inputs
ra = 101 mm
rb = 50 mm

Outputs
rc = 177.5 mm
rd = 33 mm
 Rolling Mills Revamp:
11 Roll Upgrades for Extreme Loads

The maximum roll stress on the fillet area of 318 N/mm2 and the roll fatigue
life of 6000 hours are shown in Figure 16.
Results of roll upgrade
1. Decreased the maximum roll stress from 352 N/mm2 to 318 N/mm2,
a decrease of 9.6 percent.
2. Increased the roll fatigue life from 4400 hours to 6000 hours,
an increase of 36 percent.
3. Increased bearing fatigue life L10a of the standard Timken bearing
from 2800 hours to 4500 hours, an increase of 60 percent.
4. Increased bearing fatigue life L10a of the new DuraSpexx bearing
from 2800 hours to 9000 hours, an increase of 120 percent.

Summary and Conclusions

The market is now requesting roll mill revamps because of the frequent
failures caused by roll neck breakage in the fillet ring area. The Timken
Figure 16: Company has extensive expertise in this area, and offers both engineering
Roll neck assessment after upgrade:
support for roll design optimization and bearings with a reduced cross-
Maximum stress and fatigue life.
section. These measures improve roll performance by decreasing the
maximum roll stress and increasing roll and bearing fatigue life.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank The Timken Company for permission to
publish this study.

References
1. Harris, T. and Kotzalas, M. (2007), “Rolling Bearing Analysis –
Advanced Concepts of Bearing Technology”
2. Association of Iron and Steel Engineers (1985), “The Making,
Shaping and Treating of Steel,” 10th Edition
3. The Metals Society (1978), “Flat Rolling: A Comparison of Rolling
Mill Types”
4. ISO 281 (2007), Rolling Bearings – Dynamic Load Ratings and
Rating Life
5. Timken Engineering Manual – Metals Industry Edition
6. Timken Metals Product Catalog

For more information visit: www.timken.com or contact your local Timken

sales representative.

09-16 :29 TKN Crusher Bearings Technical White Paper | Timken ® is a registered trademark of The Timken Company. | © 2016 The Timken Company | Printed in U.S.A.