Hot-Rolled Steel Sheet Cooling Nozzle Layout for Uniform Quenching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling devices for hot-rolled steel sheets struggle to provide effective and uniform cooling immediately after rolling, often resulting in nonuniform cooling and difficulties in managing sheet thickness and temperature due to their placement and design, which can lead to coarsening of crystal grains and inefficiencies in the rolling process.
Innovation Solution
A cooling device with nozzles that spray cooling water towards the upper and lower surfaces of the steel sheet, positioned close to the rolling stands, where the nozzles are integrated into or adjacent to guides on the downstream side, with adjustable spray angles and distances to ensure uniform cooling, and a water volume density that satisfies specific expressions to maintain effective cooling capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If cooling devices are positioned close to rolling stands to enable rapid cooling just after rolling, then crystal grain refinement is improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase due to integration with guides
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling device is merged with the guide structure by providing nozzles on the inside of the guide or adjoining to it. The guide serves dual functions: guiding the steel sheet and housing/positioning the cooling nozzles. This integration eliminates the need for separate cooling device mounting structures and simplifies installation while enabling rapid cooling immediately after rolling to refine crystal grains.
2Productivity
If nozzles are positioned closer to the steel sheet to improve cooling efficiency, then cooling capacity increases, but uniformity of cooling decreases due to varying spray distances
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle spray angles are made adjustable to optimize the spray pattern for each specific position and distance from the steel sheet. By locally adjusting the spray angle of each nozzle according to its position, the system achieves both high cooling efficiency (by directing spray optimally) and uniform cooling distribution (by compensating for position variations).
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzle spray angles are made adjustable rather than fixed, allowing dynamic optimization of the spray pattern. This enables the cooling system to adapt to different operating conditions and maintain both high efficiency and uniformity by adjusting spray parameters based on actual positioning and steel sheet conditions.
3Manufacturing precision
If cooling starts immediately after rolling to suppress crystal grain growth, then material quality improves, but the requirement for precise nozzle positioning and integration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling nozzles are integrated into the guide structure, which is an existing component in the rolling line. This merging allows cooling to start immediately after rolling (improving material quality) while utilizing the already-installed guide structure for nozzle positioning, thereby reducing additional installation complexity.
4Manufacturing precision
If water volume density is increased to enhance cooling capacity, then crystal grain refinement improves, but energy consumption and water usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable nozzle spray angles enable optimized water distribution patterns that concentrate cooling where most needed while reducing waste. This local optimization allows achieving effective crystal grain refinement through rapid cooling while minimizing overall water consumption by avoiding excessive spray in areas where cooling is already sufficient.
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
This solution allows for rapid and uniform cooling of the steel sheet, suppressing crystal grain growth, improving material quality, and simplifying the process by enabling closer placement to the rolling mill, thus enhancing the mechanical properties of the hot-rolled steel sheet while reducing labor and equipment complexity during roll replacements.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of nozzles 23 which spray cooling water toward one of or both of upper and lower surfaces of a hot-rolled steel sheet
Implementation Method 2
spraying cooling water toward one of or both of upper and lower surfaces of a hot-rolled steel sheet
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a cooling device, where a hot-finish-rolling mill includes a plurality of nozzles which spray cooling water toward one of or both of upper and lower surfaces of a hot-rolled steel sheet just after rolled by rolling stands, the nozzles are provided on the inside of the upper and lower guides or adjoining to the guides on a downstream side, and a nozzle spray distance changes depending on a position of the nozzle in a rolling direction, wherein a spray angle of the nozzle at a position whose nozzle spray distance is the largest is smaller than a spray angle of the nozzle at a position whose nozzle spray distance is the smallest, and the spray angle of the nozzle becomes the same or smaller as the nozzle spray distance becomes large.