Retained Mandrel Rolling Mill Constant Diameter Rolls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seamless tube rolling mills face issues with oversized, bulky, and expensive equipment due to constantly reducing roll diameters, leading to high energy consumption, complex roll adjustments, and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A retained mandrel rolling mill design where rolls maintain a constant nominal diameter, with groove radii gradually decreasing across units, allowing for easier assembly, reduced energy use, and simplified adjustments, and enabling rolls to be reused with minimal adjustments by changing the groove profile rather than the entire roll.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If rolls are oversized to accommodate multiple turnings, then the rolls can be reused several times, but the rolling mill becomes large-sized, bulky, and expensive with high energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The roll is divided into two functional parts: a constant-diameter core structure and a replaceable groove profile component. This segmentation allows the groove to be reprofiled without changing the overall roll diameter, enabling multiple reuse cycles while maintaining compact mill dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of changing the roll diameter through turnings, the invention changes the groove profile parameters (radius, depth, shape) while maintaining the constant nominal diameter of the roll. This parameter change approach allows the same roll to accommodate different tube sizes and processing requirements without increasing mill size.
2Duration of action of moving object
If rolls are oversized to accommodate multiple turnings, then the rolls can be reused several times, but the operations of dismounting and re-mounting the rolls become onerous
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the roll into a permanent core and a replaceable groove component, the invention simplifies the reprofiling operation. Instead of heavy turning operations requiring roll removal and re-mounting, only the groove profile needs to be modified, which can be done more efficiently while the roll remains in position.
3Manufacturing precision
If the diameter of the roll decreases at each turning, then the work profile must be adjusted to maintain the same work position, but this requires time-consuming adjustment operations increasing process cost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the groove profile parameters (radius, depth, cross-sectional shape) while keeping the roll nominal diameter constant. This eliminates the need for diameter-based adjustments and positioning operations, significantly reducing adjustment time and process costs while maintaining manufacturing precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a more compact, cost-effective, and energy-efficient rolling mill with reduced labor and management costs, maintaining consistent production quality and optimizing roll usage by minimizing diameter adjustments and allowing for efficient reprofiling of worn rolls.
Implementation Method 1
the feeding occurs by means of friction between the tube and rolls
Data Source
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AI summary
A rolling mill (10) for processing seamless tubes comprises a plurality of rolling units (U) that are sequentially arranged along a rolling axis (L), each of which is provided with at least three removable working rolls (12), which are each equipped with a groove (12a) for accommodating the tube to be worked the rolling mill comprises a mandrel suitable to be fitted in the tube cavity during the process; the tube is worked by being sequentially passed, with the mandrel (22) fitted in the tube cavity, within the grooves (12a) of the rolls (12) of the rolling units (U) such that the outer diameter of the tube (T) is reduced; in order to have low capital and production costs, each roll (12) of each rolling unit (U) has a fixed nominal diameter.