Rodacciai SpA, Italy, recently placed an order for a second 3-roll Reducing & Sizing Block [RSB] for its special steel rolling mill in Sirone. The order will be carried out by Friedrich Kocks GmbH & Co KG, Germany, together with Danieli Morgardshammar, Italy.

Another RSB equipped with three stand positions has been operating successfully at the same plant since the end of 1999, rolling large round and hexagonal finished sizes.

Due to its compact design, the new 5-stand 215-mm block will replace four existing 2-high stands downstream the existing 3-roll block. The RSB will act as finishing block for bar in coils, and as the pre-finishing mill, it will produce the feeders for the existing wire rod block. Finished products will be 14.0 to 24.0 mm quality round bars and equivalent hexagons in carbon and stainless steel grades.

The ability to roll finished sizes in any required sequence with the Reducing & Sizing Block (chance-free rolling) increases the flexibility of the whole plant considerably. This flexibility is supported by the quick, automatic stand changing system, the pass and guide remote adjustment together with the quick roll ring change, and the computer-aided adjustment of stands and guides in the roll shop.

The new 5-stand RSB will facilitate rolling from a one-pass family in the roughing and intermediate mill and will considerably reduce the number of entry sections. The whole dimensional range is rolled with a minimum number of roll sets and correspondingly fewer stand changes. A very large diameter range (free-size rolling) of up to 3 mm can be rolled with one and the same pass at the closest tolerances. The corresponding setting values for motor speed, rolls and guides as well as gear steps are calculated by the configuration program Bamicon, which has been developed for this purpose, depending on the required final product. This guarantees trouble-free and economic production of high-quality steel bars.

Commissioning is scheduled for the second quarter of 2006.