Hot rolling of sheet and strip: copper and copper alloys

Abstract

The trends in development of hot-rolling mill capacities and plant layout are examinedfor the periodfrom 1950 onwards. Larger rolling-slab weights, made available by the progressive introduction of continuous-casting techniques in copper and copper alloy foundries, have produced a new generation of hot mills capable of producing individual coil weights up to 9000 kg weight. Even in older established mills, coil-to-coil build-up by welding has tended to be displaced by the direct rolling of larger cakes in the range 2000–4600 kg. The yieldfactor of good hot-rolled and scalped plate (or coil) is discussed relative to the various hot-mill parameters of cake weights, strip width, and also mill table length as it will affect ultimate hot-rolled gauge and surface-milling losses. Certain plant characteristics are detailed in tabular form and two plant layouts are described with typical production manning levels. Future development may well drift towards solutions based on continuous-casting systems with close-coupled tandem rolling mills, but probably not for another 5–10 years.