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In this paper, the spalling causes of backup rolls in a roughing mill of a hot strip rolling mill were investigated. The roughing mill withstood extreme service conditions with long service cycles for backup and work rolls, a large variety of the same width rolling campaigns, severe and non-uniform wear contours of backup and work rolls. Analysis of cyclic stress applied on backup rolls indicated that contact stress played a dominant role in rolling contact fatigue which led to spalling on the backup roll surface. A 3D finite element model of roll system was established and contact stresses between rolls in whole service periods of backup and work rolls were calculated. The simulation results showed that roll wear had significant impact on contact stress distribution. In particular, the severe and non-uniform U-typed wear contours of work rolls led to produce huge contact stress peak in two sides of the rolls, where existed large cracks by eddy current inspection of post-service backup rolls. Backup rolls stood thousands of times stress cycle in a service period, they were liable to fatigue damage in these areas. A new backup roll contour was developed to improve contact stress distribution and no spalling accidents were happened any longer after applied to the roughing mill.

In order to solve the difficult profile and flatness control problem of wide non-oriented electrical steel sheets, the factors such as the relationship between strip crown control and strip width, the relationship between the maximum wearing value of work roll and the number of a rolling campaign and the wear contour change of work roll were analyzed on the basis of industrial test. Through analyzing the rolling process characteristics of non-oriented electrical steel sheets, the ASR (asymmetry self-compensating work rolls) shape control technology and its roll shifting strategy of the wider non-oriented electrical steel sheets was proposed and developed. When the technology was applied, the number of the wide non-oriented electrical steel (2.3 mm × 1280 mm) in one rolling campaign rose from 40 coils of the trial production to 70 coils of the industrial production, the ratio of the measured strip crown less than 45 μm was increased from 50. 0% to 94. 9%, and the ratio of the measured strip crown more than 60 μm was decreased from 20. 0% to O.7%.

In order to meet the requirement of schedule-free rolling (SFR) for wide non-oriented electrical steel production with a large number of the same width strip rolling campaigns, ASR (asymmetry self-compensating work rolls) shifting strategies for different rolling schedules are studied. According to the actual rolling process, the work roll wear prediction mathematical model for non-oriented electrical steel sheets and a 3D finite element model for roll stacks are established. The effects of the shifting step and the shifting rhythm on the ASR wear contour and the loaded roll gap profile within the entire rolling campaign are analyzed. The reasonable ASR shifting strategies for different rolling schedules are developed. In comparison with the conventional work roll contour of K-WRS mill, the self-maintenances of roll contours for ASR reach to more than 88%, the rate of the measured strip crown less than 45 μm increased from 41.8% to 94.9%, and the rate of the measured strip crown larger than 52 μm decreased from 32.6% to 2.0% by industrial test on the production of the same strip-width for wide non-oriented electrical steel sheets in the 1700 mm hot strip mill of WISCO. The ASR technology has applied to the production successfully.

The demands for profile and flatness of nonoriented electrical steels are becoming more and more severe. The temperature field and thermal contour of work rolls are the key factors that affect the profile and flatness control in the finishing trains of the hot rolling. A theoretic mathematical model was built by a two-dimensional finite difference to calculate the temperature field and thermal contour at any time within the entire rolling campaign in the hot rolling process. To improve the calculating speed and precision, some special solutions were introduced, including the development of this model, the simplification of boundary conditions, the computation of heat transfer coefficient, and the narrower mesh along the edge of the strip. The effects of rolling pace and work roll shifting on the temperature field and thermal contour of work rolls in the hot rolling process were demonstrated. The calculated results of the prediction model are in good agreement with the measured ones and can be applied to guiding profile and flatness control of nonoriented electrical steel sheets in hot strip mills.

Based on measured data of HSS (high-speed steel) and HCr (highchromium iron) work rolls applied in 1580mm HSM (hot strip mills) with mass production of electrical steel strip, an HSS work roll wear prediction model in upstream stands for non-oriented electrical steel strip rolling was established by genetic algorithm. The accuracy of the model was verified and could guide practical production.