DOI: 10.18503/1995-2732-2026-24-2-75-81
Abstract
Problem Statement (Relevance). The increasing quality requirements for bearing steel wire rod intended for subsequent drawing and production of rolling elements for small-batch bearing manufacturing necessitate the develop-ment of technological solutions for compact casting and rolling facilities. When processing small-section square billets (up to 42×42 mm), the influence of geometric deviations (side dimension variation and rhomboidity), temperature gra-dients, and instability of heating and cooling conditions on rolling process stability and product quality (geometry, sur-face defects, and microstructure formation in ShKh15 steel) becomes increasingly significant. Objectives. The aim of this study is to substantiate the technology for rolling wire rod with diameters of 5.0-18 mm, primarily from ShKh15 bearing steel, and to determine the equipment requirements for a continuous bar mill considering the limitations of pro-duction area and output capacity. Methods Applied. The research methods included the analysis of deformation and speed conditions during rolling, assessment of technological risks, and numerical simulation of form change and power parameters in the initial passes when selecting billet dimensions and shape. Result. Dependencies between the filling of the first groove and the power parameters on the billet dimensions and temperature were established. The limiting val-ues of billet rhomboidity, at which stable biting conditions are maintained and the risk of defect formation is minimized, were determined. Requirements for induction heating were substantiated, including the need to synchronize the heating rate with the minimum rolling start speed, as well as requirements for two-stage wire rod cooling (Stelmor-type line) to ensure the required microstructure state. Practical Relevance. The practical relevance of the results lies in the possibil-ity of applying the proposed solutions in the design and adjustment of equipment for the integrated ―heating-rolling-cooling-coiling‖ line intended for the production of high-quality wire rod from ShKh15 steel.
Keywords
Wire rod, ShKh15 steel, continuous bar mill, billet rhomboidity, induction heating, roll pass design, Stelmor line, power parameters.
For citation
Moller A.B., Tulupov O.N., Levandovsky S.A., Mikhalev S.V., Mikhalev A.V., Savva A.D. Selection of Layout Solutions for a Continuous Bar Mill for ShKh15 Bearing Steel. Vestnik Magnitogorskogo Gosudarstvennogo Tekhnich-eskogo Universiteta im. G.I. Nosova [Vestnik of Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University]. 2026, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 75-81. https://doi.org/10.18503/1995-2732-2026-24-2-75-81
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