Long Products Rolling — A Practical Training Seminar

Conference Details: 11–13 February 2020, Jacksonville, Fla., USA
No. of Attendees: 74

The conference began with a presentation by Derek Voight and Joe Jacobin of Nucor Steel–Berkeley, who discussed safety from the perspective of changing the mindset from working safely for yourself to working safely for your family. Bob Cryderman of Colorado School of Mines then presented an overview of rod and bar production methods and applications.
The metallurgical concepts involving hot rolling and strengthening of steel were presented by Jonathan Straetker of Nucor Steel–Nebraska. He was able to explain a very complicated subject to a level that made it very easy for everyone to understand. Rolling theory was then covered by Joe Kennedy from Quad Engineering. He explained in detail what needs to be known to actually roll. Steel Dynamics Inc.’s Chris Petrie presented an overview of their newer billet welder and spooler line project.
CMC Steel Florida hosted a tour of their rolling mill on the second day of the conference. The tour was very informative and the attendees were very thankful. The technical presentations began with Keenan Cokain of Bloom Engineering, who described the basics of the reheat furnace from basic designs to combustion basics. Lesli Peterson of Spraying Systems presented on hydraulic scale removal, best known as descaling. The final presentation of the day was given by Mario Fabro of SMS group. Mario discussed the various technologies in merchant bar mill designs.
The third day of presentations began with Kevin Barbee of Danieli Service, who discussed torque and the rolling stand. Bill Posey of SinterMet presented on work rolls, describing the various types and compositions. Automation and drive systems were covered by Eric Thorstenson of Russula Corp. He was able to compare the use of AC versus DC drives, giving the advantages and disadvantages of both.
The cutting section was covered by both George Burnet of Braun Machine and Mario Fabro of SMS group. Burnet presented on abrasive cutting machine designs and uses. Fabro discussed shear design and uses. Marco Appio of Danieli Automation presented on detection automation technologies. Prediction maintenance tools and strategies were discussed by Dan Phillips of Regal Beloit.

Attendees of the Long Products Rolling seminar were given a tour of CMC Steel Florida. Jerry Herrmann (right) presented a plaque of appreciation to Jimmy Deberry (left) for hosting the tour.