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Recent innovations in high speed rod

and bar mills
Recent innovations in equipment and processing technology for long product rolling mills have
made possible significant improvements in mill productivity, utilisation, size control and
thermo-mechanical processing capability. Through the intelligent combination of new technology
such as the MORSHOR system, Modular No-Twist mill and the Reducing/Sizing mill, along with
new generations of other mill components, these improvements can be achieved in a wide variety
of rolling mill configurations.

AUTHORS: Bruce V. Kiefer and T. Michael Shore

Morgan Construction Company

ost technology developments in the last two

decades have been related to the finishing area
of the rolling mill to enable higher rolling speeds to be
achieved. With the trend to the production of smaller,
more specialised orders, a significant amount of
productivity is lost in the finishing end due to roll, pass
and guide changing. Morgan has placed high
importance to this area and developed the concept of
single family rolling and the patented technology of the
Reducing/Sizing Mill (RSMTM) for both rod and bar,
which has now become the standard for maximising mill
efficiency and utilisation.
One of the most limiting factors in long products mills
is the production capacity when rolling small sizes - a
constraint imposed by the maximum speed of the
finishing end equipment. A solution to this limitation
has now been developed by Morgan in the form of the
patented MORSHOR system, which can transform a
single strand mill with high production capacity on large
sizes into a multiple outlet facility with high production
rates on all sizes.

be increased by up to 100% from a single strand feed

roughing and intermediate mill. The system can be
retrofitted into an existing mill or included as part of a
new facility with benefits that can provide a rapid return
on investment.
When operating at furnace capacity, the speed of a
round section from the intermediate mill is typically
about twice the taking speed of a rod finishing mill for
a 5.5mm diameter finished round product. Instead of
reducing the speed of this section to feed a single rod
finishing outlet, a switch is placed after the
intermediate mill to direct alternating billets of the
process section to two separate outlets, each preceded
by a MORSHOR unit. This unit is designed to accept the
feed section at the high rolling rate and feed it, at a
lower rolling rate, to the finishing end of the outlet for
the small diameter products. For larger diameter
products, an additional switch directs the feed section
past the MORSHOR system at full mill capacity, directly
to the finishing stands. This concept of `multiple-outlet
mills` through the use of this new system is illustrated
in figure 1.
The MORSHOR system consists of a feeding
mechanism, which takes the feedstock from the a

This system is designed

to optimise the overall
utilisation and efficiency
of the entire mill train by
providing
rolling
capability up to that of
the furnace capacity.
With this system, a rod or
bar mill can be upgraded
so that the production
rate of smaller sizes can

r Fig.1 Multiple outlet mill arrangement

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THE MORSHOR
SYSTEM

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intermediate mill and distributes it onto a rotating drum

which is used to accumulate material being rolled at a
higher rate. On the exit side of the MORSHOR, a payoff
mechanism guides the accumulated material off the
drum and into the downstream finishing end at the
desired speed for the particular product size (see Fig. 2).
To show the potential for improving mill production, the
output per hour for a range of product sizes can be
compared with and without the system (see Fig. 3).

SINGLE FAMILY ROLLING

r Fig.2 MORSHOR maximiser installation

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r Fig.3 Production gains with MORSHOR system

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r Fig.4 Single family pass design

Single family rolling is based on the mill line having only

one set-up through many stands of the mill, with size
changes accomplished by changing only a last series of
stands and dummying selected stands prior to that, in
order to provide the proper feed section size. Single
family rolling, along with variable fine tolerance of the
finished projects is the focus of this Morgan-patented
technology. An example of single family pass design is
shown in figure 4.
Therefore, with the proper combination of rolling
equipment on the finishing end of the mill, which will
be discussed below, the use of single family rolling
enables product size changes to be accomplished very
quickly - of the order of only 5 to 15 minutes depending
upon the complexity of the change.
THE MODULAR NO-TWIST MILL (NTM)
The NTM arrangement shown in figure 5 is that of a
Morgan modular mill, which has the ability to change
each pair of stands in five minutes and thus be ready to
roll a new size. On this patented modular mill, the drive
is designed so that when progressively producing larger
sizes, the stands that are not used are disconnected
from the mill. Since these are the higher rotational
speed stands, the overall life of the equipment is
increased, since the wear rate on equipment such as
bearings and seals increases exponentially with
increasing speed.
Within the concept of a modular designed NTM the
same units can be used as pre-finishing mini blocks and
in the NTM - making for common spares. On all of these
units power screw down on the material under load is
possible, allowing the product to be modified for
tolerance or small size changes to suit individual
requirements and produce to the many rod gauges on
the market today. These new NTMs are available in 4, 6,
8 and 10 stand configurations. The roll stand sizes can
also be changed to suit rolling loads as needed, with
140, 150, 160, 212, 230 and 250mm stands having
already been made. The high load capacity of the larger
heavy duty stands also enables thermo-mechanical
rolling.

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r Fig.5 Modular NTM

THE REDUCING/SIZING MILL (RSM)

The RSM is a vital part of an efficient mill, enabling the
rolling machinery to achieve single family rolling,
precise tolerances and thermo-mechanical rolled
products for both rod and bar products. A basic aspect
of this patented technology is the rolling sequence of
oval-round-round-round. The mill is designed to be able
to change the reductions between stands to give the
single family requirements, which is accomplished by a
well designed gearbox driven by a single AC motor and
the correct pass shapes (see Fig. 6).

THERMO-MECHANICAL ROLLING
On a high speed NTM the temperature increases
significantly through the stands of the block, since there
is no opportunity to cool the stock. With the use of a
post-NTM block like the RSM, the last few reductions are
located downstream of water boxes, so that the stock
can be cooled and sufficiently equalised before the last
critical reductions.
This capability was initially used to provide normalised
rolling, so that the final reductions could be done at
temperatures in the range of 850 - 900C. Today, a

MILLENNIUM STEEL 2007

r Fig.6 RSM gearbox

Tolerances of 0.1mm and

ovality of 0.12mm can be
achieved on 5.5mm rod, which
enables the wire drawer to save
on the number of drawing passes
and die wear, plus reduce material
losses in the making of fasteners
such as bolts.
Like the modular NTM, the RSM
can provide rapid changeover
from one product to another
through the use of off-line units.
When set up in advance, product
change on the RSM can be done
in 5 to 10 minutes. Figure 7
shows an example with these
quick-change units.

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r Fig.7 RSM arrangement with off-line units

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however, rod customers are requesting mechanical

properties closer to that of the annealed product to
avoid the costly steps of heat treatment. To
economically achieve these results, products have to be
thermo-mechanically
rolled,
requiring
entry
temperatures into the post NTM finishing block within
the range of 750-820C. Thermo-mechanical rolling is
a more controlled process with the RSM, especially on
smaller sizes.
In addition, the reductions in the RSM are limited,
such that temperature rise is controlled, but with
sufficient deformation to prevent abnormal grain
growth which can occur with low reductions. Other
competing mill arrangements using four stands of ovalround sequence have higher deformations and
deformation rates, thus increasing the temperature
build-up in the stock.

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WATER BOXES AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL

An essential element of high speed rolling is the ability
to control the temperature rise of the stock due to
adiabatic heating and to reduce the temperature
sufficiently when needed for thermo-mechanical rolling.
Moreover, the desire to maintain a high level of mill
utilisation with minimum personnel, while supporting a
multiple cycle rolling schedule, also requires quick
changing of auxiliary equipment like water boxes.
Morgan's split bore cooling nozzle design allows
operators to quickly and easily open a nozzle for
inspection or cleaning. To avoid the necessity of
changing the bore of the nozzle line for a new product
size, multiple lines of different bore nozzles can be
arranged in a traversing box, thus creating large
reductions in manpower and mill downtime (see Fig. 8).
Morgan has also applied these quick-change water
boxes with split style, high efficiency nozzles to the

r Fig.8 Traversing water boxes

r Fig.9 Intelligent pinch roll

production of quenched and tempered rebar (HYQST)

on both rod and bar mill lines.
Along with the cooling requirements throughout the
process there is a need to control cooling within
specified limits for various products. The Morgan
Enhanced Temperature Control System (METCS)
provides the mill operator with the ability to closely

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monitor and control process temperatures through the

rolling line.

At higher speeds, the tail end of

the rod exiting the laying head
becomes wild due to the
centrifugal forces accelerating the
rod on leaving the pinch roll. To
reduce this phenomenon Morgan
has
developed
a
second
generation tail-end control system,
which is an extension of the laying
head path in the form of a guide
trough. This trough has its outer
surface covered with a stationary
skirt which prevents the full
expansion of the rod, and the
badly shaped ring. The trough has
an additional benefit in that on
larger sizes the guide path forms
the first ring into a better shape
(see Fig. 10).
Other design
modifications were made to
compensate for the extra weight at the extremity of the
laying head.

PINCH ROLLS AND LAYING HEADS

CONCLUSIONS

The ever increasing rolling speeds and increase in

range of product sizes in rod mills have driven the
development of pinch roll and laying head
technologies to accommodate these higher speeds.
Pinch rolls have, in the past, been a piece of
equipment that has required precise setting of the roll
gap, having pressure transmitted via an air cylinder
using a solenoid valve for the closing and functional
operations, with a good electrical timing process via a
hot metal detector. The control of this operation
becomes a significant problem with higher speeds, so
to resolve this, Morgan has developed an intelligent
pinch roll which is controlled entirely by electrical
motors. The arrangement of this patented technology
is shown in figure 9. By controlling the pinching force
via a servo motor, the roll gap can be set digitally and
the main drive motor torque can be precisely
balanced, thereby preventing slipping or marking of
the rod. The speed of movement is much faster and
more consistent than with an air cylinder, and the
displacement or rate of displacement can be digitally
applied, in conjunction with the main drive torque.

Rolling mill equipment and process improvements have

enabled many mills to realise significant increases in
rolling speed, production rate, mill efficiency and
product
quality.
The
implementation
of
Reducing/Sizing Mill technology, with its associated
increase in mill utilisation and improved dimensional
and metallurgical properties can have a dramatic effect
on mill profitability. With the next generation of rolling
mills, the new MORSHOR system is expected to play a
significant role.
By combining the additional
production capacity of the MORSHOR with the
productivity/utilisation potential of the Modular NTM
and the RSM, highly effective rolling mill operations are
possible.
Bruce V. Kiefer is Manager of Process Modeling &
Analysis and T. Michael Shore is Sr. Vice President of
Strategic Development and Rolling Mill Technology at
Morgan
Construction
Company,
Worcester,
Massachusetts, USA.
CONTACT: kieferb@morganco.com

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r Fig.10 Patented second generation tail end control

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