Roll Contouring

the configuration formed by the working (upper and lower) rolls of a rolling mill. A distinction is made between the initial roll contouring, which is the contour of the cold rolls when installed in the mill, and the roll contouring during the rolling operation, which is the shape of the gap between the rolls when the metal is in the process of deformation. The roll contouring during the rolling operation determines the cross-sectional grow-back of the band and depends on the initial roll contouring, the heating of the rolls, the wear of the roll surfaces, and the bending and the elastic flattening of the rolls in the zone of deformation.

In a broader sense, roll contouring is an aggregate of methods designed to change the form of working rolls of sheet mills during rolling both by changing the contour of the working rolls themselves and through the influence of temperature and bending. The most effective methods include (1) imparting a definite initial form to the rolls, (2) changing the shape of the rolls with temperature, and (3) changing the elastic deformations of the working rolls. The elastic deformations of the working rolls are changed by crossing the working and the backing-up rolls relative to each other, counterbending the working and the backing-up rolls, using rolls with sleeves with a nonuniform fit along the shaft, and using under-sleeve roll chamfers.