Development of On-line Roll Grinding System for Hot Strip Mill

Schedule Free-Rolling (SFR), which means rolling with unrestricted rolling schedules in the processing of strips of various materials and widths, should be developed to realize hot-charge-rolling and hot-direct-rolling whose importance has been increasing in hot strip rolling mills. As a technique to make SFR practical, we have developed a non-driven cup type On-line Roll Grinder (ORG) which smooths the wear of a work roll on line. Our experiments have proven that the ORG has the basic capabilities required for an on-line roll grinder: high grinding capacity, long grinding wheel life and appropriate roughness of the finished surface. In addition, the ORG is free of welding and dulling and maintains stable grinding characteristics for a long time. We have also developed an on-line roll grinding system equipped with an On-line roll Profile Meter which can measure the profile of a revolving roll without contact. The data taken by these profile meters is fed back to the ORG, thereby increasing its grinding accuracy and allowing it to grind a roll to the required profile.