METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IN-LINE HEAT TREATMENT OF HOT ROLLED STOCK

Abstract: Apparatus for the rolling and heat treatment of elongated material product of relatively small cross section, such as rods and bars, is described in which the elements required for the conduct of a variety of heat treatments are arranged in in-line disposition whereby any of several heat treatment procedures can be performed on the product without need for transferring the product to remotely located heat treatment facilities. The methods of performing various heat treatments through use of the disclosed apparatus are also described.

Description: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IN-LINE HEAT TREATMENT OF HOT ROLLED STOCK Field of the invention This invention relates to the hot rolling of elongated product, such as steel bars. More specifically, the invention concerns means and methods of in-line heat treating and finishing of the product. Prior Art Various systems are known for heat treatment of hot rolled products, such as bars. However, when the billets or blooms are produced in a caster such processes and facilities normally utilize off-line heat treating of the cast and hot rolled stock. It is known to perform certain limited heat treatments on the cast product before rolling. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,634,512 describes in-line thermal surface treatment of continuously cast blooms using cooling sprays to produce a bloom surface temperature of about 400-900 C after tempering caused by the hot core of the bloom. U.S. Patent No. 4,786,338 discloses a system wherein product from a finishing mill is followed by a cooling line made up of a quenching zone and a temperature recovery zone before being passed to cooling beds for obtaining low temperature toughness. Japanese Published Patent Application No. Sho 63- 149316 describes a method of producing steel bars and wire rods through continuous hot rolling for obtaining a directly spheriodized structure in which spheriodizing annealing is facilitated or possibly even eliminated. Such prior art has the drawback of being limited in the capability of producing a wide variety of metallurgical structures in the rolled stock. Off-line heat-treatments to produce various microstructures normally require treatment times of 10-15 hours. Summary of the Invention The apparatus of this invention is disposed in an intermediate position between a hot-rolling mill and a cold-finishing area for cleaning the rolled stock, cutting it to final form, bundling and packaging it for in-line production of a final product. The apparatus includes, in-line, and downstream of a hot rolling mill train, a thermocontrolled rolling device including a controlling temperature device and a sizing mill, shears, a quenching box, optionally an induction heater, a layers preparation system where layers of cut stock, such as bars, are consolidated prior to transfer to an annealing furnace, and thereafter to a cooling bed. By selection of particular ones of these apparatus elements for use in particular cases of heat treatment, and by selection of the conditions of heat treatment, a great variety of product structures can be achieved, for example, a spheroidized steel product, a shearability or workability annealed product, a recrystallation annealed product, a solution annealed product, a quenched product (martensitic or bainitic quenching), or a quenched and tempered (quenched and stress-relieved) product. With practice of the in-line heat treatments of this invention, prior art off-line treatment times of 10-15 hours can be reduced to about 1 to 2 hours. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objectives obtained by its use, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and description which relate to preferred embodiments thereof. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic representation illustrating an overall plant layout incorporating the invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of the finishing area for in-line heat treatment as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of the thermocontrolled rolling zone. Figs. 4 and 5 are schematic representations of compact variants of the finishing area for in-line heat treatments as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is partial sectional elevation view of a discharging system shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation view of a multilevel annealing furnace. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevational view of a one-level annealing furnace including a layer preparation system and a discharge system. Fig. 9 is a partial sectional view of a layer forming system shown in Fig. 2. Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention The disclosed invention is particularly directed to a plant 10 for the production of "long products", i.e. billets or blooms from about forty meters or more in length, RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) ISA/EP used in the production of bars, wire, rod, rebar, or shaped beams or angles, and the like, in which the production machinery utilized is typically smaller in size than that used in the production of sheet material from slabs. As used herein, the word, "billet", shall include blooms or slabs, or other strand forms produced by a continuous caster and useful in the production of the aforementioned intended product. Fig. 1 of the drawings shows a schematic representation of an overall plant layout suitable for the practice of the present invention. The described plant comprises a casting/mill entry area A, a rolling mill/stands store area B, a finishing area C for the in-line heat treatment of product according to the invention; and a finishing area D for the in-line heat treatment of wire rod and bars. A description of the apparatus for in-line heat treatment of hot rolled stock is presented hereinafter. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the metal product pass line, which is an extension of the roll pass line 14 shown in Fig. 1 , contains, in-line, a controlling temperature device 212, a reduction and sizing block 216, quenching box 218, cooling bed 220 (optional), induction heaters 222, an integrated device comprising a layers preparation system 224, an annealing chamber 226, and a discharge system 236. Shears 215 and 217 are also provided for head and tail cutting and for cutting-to-length of the rolled stock. A water box 241 , an on-line shot blasting 239 and a finishing area 240 are provided in-line downstream of cooling bed 220. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the temperature controlling device 212 is made up of a set of water boxes 213a, 213b, 213c and an area between the water boxes and the reduction and sizing block 216, with the aim of equalizing the rolled stock temperature. A set of inductors 215a, 215b, 215c can optionally be provided in an intermediate position between the respective water boxes. Selecting in this way either the water boxes or the inductors it is possible to control and subsequently equalize the rolled stock temperature before entry to reduction and sizing block 216. The controlling temperature device 212, together with the sizing and reduction block 216, permit thermocontrolled rolling of the bars. It is therefore possible to carry out according to the specific requirements either standard rolling, or normalizing rolling, or thermomechanical rolling. Upon leaving the sizing apparatus 216 the bars are passed to a quenching box 218 in which they are controllably cooled to a predetermined temperature depending upon the desired heat treatment to be performed. Next, the bars may be passed to the induction heated furnace 222 wherein, depending upon the residence time of the bars within the furnace, the bars may be heated for tempering, if desired, or simply heated to an elevated temperature for further processing or for temperature equalization purposes. Alternatively, the bars may simply be diverted through the cooling bed 220, shown in Fig. 10, for cooling to about atmospheric temperature prior to discharge to a bar finishing area 228. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the induction heaters 222 have been eliminated and heating, if any, of the rolled product takes place directly in the annealing chamber 226 downstream. Following the induction heated furnace 222, the bars pass to a layers forming system 224, shown in Fig. 9, from which they are transferred to the annealing chamber 226. The layers forming system 224 includes an enclosing wall having an opening 224A forming an inlet through which bars are passed onto a conveyor 224B for transfer to a layer forming conveyor 224C. The layers, upon leaving conveyor 224C, are transferred to a liftable table 224E which operates to transfer the layers of bars to the annealing chamber 226. Desirably, the layers forming system 224 includes a pivotally retractable cover 224F for overlying the conveyor 224B. The use of a layer forming system similar to the one shown in Fig. 9 is associated in an advantageous manner to the use of an annealing chamber 226' like the one shown in Fig. 7. In this case the annealing chamber is arranged on two or more levels and is used for high productivity plants. The layers formed with the layer forming system, see Fig. 9, are conveyed via a liftable table 224E inside one of the annealing chamber levels. The layers inside the annealing chamber are moved horizontally so that they cover its whole length in a time equal to that set for the heat treatment. The layer handling device inside the chamber is typically a walking beam system. Treated bar layers are discharged by a device which is symmetrical to the feeding device, an example of which is shown in Fig. 6. The bar layer is kept in an insulated place up to the bar separation area in order to limit the cooling of same and guarantee good bar straightness. The layers descend from the various levels due to a liftable table 236A which collects the layer and places it on the transfer 236B. Separation occurs by means of a device similar to the one for layer preparation, arranging the bars on a cooling bed 236C without maintenance hoods where the bars can be cooled without causing straightness problems. Other possible annealing chamber constructions suitable for use in the practice of the present invention are shown and described in U.S. Patent No. 6036485. The integrated device including the layer preparation system 224, annealing chamber 226 and discharge system 236, as described, is mainly used for high productivity plants. In low and medium productivity plants said system can be replaced with a system indicated as 226 having only one level, as shown in Fig. 8, where the layer preparation system and the discharge system are positioned directly inside the annealing chamber on one level only. In this case the over-all plant layout can be further simplified as shown in Fig. 5. Within the annealing furnace 226, depending upon the residence time of the bars within the furnace and the furnace operating temperature, the bars can receive a substantial range of heat treatments, such as tempering, workability annealing, spheroidizing-annealing, and slow cooling. In operation, the general method of the invention for heat treating of steel stock hot rolled in a rolling mill includes the following possibilities conducted in-line with the rolling mill: 1. thermocontrolled rolling of the rolled stock in a thermocontrolled rolling zone constituted by a controlling temperature device 212 and a reduction and sizing block 216; 2. cutting the rolled stock into pieces of predetermined length; 3. sizing in a reduction and sizing block 216; 4. quenching the pieces of hot rolled stock in the quenching box 218; 5. heating the rolled stock in the induction heater 222; 6. preparing layers of predetermined numbers of pieces of stock in the layers preparation system224 wherein the number of cut pieces of stock per layer depends on the section of the rolled stock and a following annealing time; 7. tempering and annealing the prepared layers of stock in the annealing furnace 226; 8. separating the layers into individual pieces of annealed stock in the discharge system 236; and 9. cooling the heat treated stock in the cooling bed 220, which, together with the other equipment, may be provided with a protective atmosphere, such as hydrogen/nitrogen or other suitable gases. The particular times and temperature used in the several steps outlined above are selected for each individual product as dependant, for example, on composition and shape of the rolled product, and on its initially rolled and finally desired microstructure. Some specific examples follow. For spheroidizing annealing the stock, the rolled stock is subjected to a thermocontrolled rolling using the controlling temperature device 212 and the reduction and sizing block 216 at a temperature of about 750°C to about 850°C, then passed through the quenching box 218 and through the induction heating furnace 222 wherein no cooling or application of heat occurs therein. The thus- treated stock then is passed through the layers preparation system 224 where layers of cut pieces of stock are prepared. The layers of stock then are passed into the annealing furnace 226 at a temperature of from about 680°C to about 720°C, and held therein for a time from about one hour to about two hours to spheroidize-anneal the stock. Thereafter, the cut pieces of stock in the layers are separated, and are passed through the cooling bed 220 where the product is cooled to substantially ambient temperature for subsequent in-line finishing, such as sandblasting, cutting to final form, and packaging. In another variant of the general process, i.e. for shearability or workability annealing of the stock, the process is similar to the previously described process, except that the layers of stock are held in the annealing furnace 226 at a temperature of from about 630°C to about 680°C for a time from about 30 minutes to about 40 minutes. For producing recrystallized annealed stock, the cast and rolled stock is subjected to thermo-controlled rolling in the thermocontrolled rolling zone containing the controlling temperature device 212 and the reduction and sizing block 216, and the thus-treated stock is annealed in the annealing furnace 226 at a temperature of about 800°C and at a holding time of about 30 minutes to about 60 minutes. For producing quenched stock, cut pieces of the cast and rolled stock are quenched in the quenching box 218. The induction heater 222, the layers preparation system 224, and the annealing furnace 222, the layers preparation system 224, and the annealing furnace 226 are by-passed and the quenched and tempered stock is passed directly to the cooling bed 220 and therein cooled to substantially ambient temperature. As a still further example, a method for producing quenched and tempered stock, the cast and rolled stock is quenched in the quenching box 218, exits the quenching box at a temperature of from about 50°C to about 150°C, then is optionally passed into the induction heater 222 and heated therein to the entry temperature to the annealing chamber 226 of from about 300°C to about 500°C and then held in the annealing chamber, where the temperature rises to about from 600 to 700°C for a time of from about one hour to about two hours. The thus- treated stock then is passed directly to the cooling bed 220 and therein cooled to substantially ambient temperature. Various other in-line treatments may be performed, for example, using the annealing furnace 226 for slow cooling of the product when such slow cooling is required for the treated products. The overall apparatus of the invention, and the flexibility with which the several in- line items of equipment can be used or not used, and the wide range of choices of heating and cooling times and temperatures responsive, for example, to differing product chemistries and microstructures to produce a variety of different products provides a novel and extremely valuable tool in the production of cast and rolled products, such as bar products. As above noted, the invention also provides substantial and significant savings of time and energy costs as compared to conventional off-line heat treatment processes and facilities. From the cooling bed 220 the processed bars are conducted via conveyor 238 to the water box 241 where they can be quickly cooled, especially after tempering, thereby reducing the stay time in the temperature range where the fragility of the tempering occurs (450-500°C). If desired, the processed bars can be conducted to on-line shot-blasting device 239 prior to being discharged to the bar finishing area 240 from whence the bars are transferred to storage or to shipment via a transport facility (not shown).

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for in-line heat treatment of elongated metal stock hot rolled in a rolling mill comprising in-line with the rolling mill: a) a first shear to cut the rolled stock into pieces of predetermined length, b) a quenching box for forced cooling of hot rolled stock, c) a layer preparation system to layer a predetermined number of pieces of cut stock in preparation for further heat treatment thereof, d) an on-line annealing furnace for controlled cooling, holding or heating of the layers of stock, e) means to discharge and separate the layers into individual pieces of stock, and f) a cooling bed for cooling the heat treated stock. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the quenching box is connected with the cooling bed. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an induction heater disposed between the quenching box and the layer preparation system. 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an in-line low thermocontrolled rolling device including water boxes, equalization zone and reduction and sizing block means disposed between the rolling mill and the first shear. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising into the thermocontrolled rolling device, between the equalization zone and the reduction and sizing block means, a second shear to cut the lead and the tail of the rolled stock coming from the rolling train. 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cooling bed is a controlled atmosphere cooling bed for cooling the heat treated stock in a protective atmosphere. 7. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the stock is in the form of bar product. 8. A method for in-line heat treating of steel stock hot rolled in a rolling mill, comprising the steps, conducted in-line with the rolling mill, of: a. cutting the rolled stock into pieces of predetermined length; b. quenching the pieces of hot rolled stock in a quenching box; c. in preparation for tempering of the quenched stock, preparing layers of predetermined numbers of pieces of stock in a layers preparation zone wherein the number of cut pieces of stock per layer depends on the section of the rolled stock; d. tempering the prepared layers of stock in an on-line annealing furnace for controlled cooling, holding or heating of the layers of stock; e. separating and discharging the layers into individual pieces of quenched and tempered stock, and f. cooling the quenched and tempered stock in a cooling bed. 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the pieces of hot rolled stock coming from the quenching box have a temperature in the range 50 to 150°C. 10. A method according to claim 8, wherein tempering takes place while holding the layers of stock at a temperature in the range 500 to 700°C for a time about 60 minutes to about 120 minutes. 11. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of induction heating the rolled and quenched stock before preparing layers to help the following tempering of the rolled stock in the heat treatment furnace. 12. A method according to claim 8 for producing quenched stock in the quenching zone, including by-passing steps c) to e) of claim 8, and passing the quenched stock directly to the cooling zone. 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the forced cooling in the water box is started from a temperature of about 800°C. 14. A method for in-line treating of steel stock hot rolled in a rolling mill, comprising the steps conducted in-line with the rolling mill, of: a. in-line treating the rolled stock, before shearing, in the thermocontrolled rolling zone, thereby preparing a product having a spherodized preliminary section; b. cutting the low temperature rolled stock into pieces of predetermined length; c. in preparation for annealing of the termocontrolled rolled stock, preparing layers of predetermined numbers of pieces of stock in a layers preparation zone wherein the number of cut pieces of stock per layer depends on the section of the rolled stock; d. annealing the prepared layers of stock in an on-line annealing furnace for controlled cooling, holding or heating of the layers of stock; e. separating and discharging the layers into individual pieces of annealed stock, and f. cooling the annealed stock in a cooling bed. 15. A method according to claim 14 for producing spherodized annealed stock, wherein the thermocontrolled rolling step takes place in the thermocontrolled rolling zone in the range of from about 750 to about 850°C and the spherodizing occurs in the on-line annealing furnace at a temperature in the range of from about 680 to about 720°C and a holding time of about 60 minutes to about 120 minutes. 16. A method according to claim 14 for workability or shearability annealing the stock, wherein the thermocontrolled rolling step takes place in the thermocontrolled rolling zone in the range of about 750 to about 850°C and the annealing occurs in the on-line annealing furnace at a temperature in the range of about 630 to about 680°C and a holding time of about 30 minutes to about 40 minutes. 17. A method according to claim 14 for producing recrystallized annealed stock wherein the thermocontrolled rolling step takes place in the termocontrolled rolling zone in the range of from about 750 to about 850°C and the annealing occurs in the on-line annealing furnace at a temperature in the range of from about 700 to about 800°C and a holding time of about 30 minutes to about 60 minutes. 18. A method according to either one of claim 8 or claim 14, further comprising a subsequent in-line finishing step selected from the group consisting of final cooling in a water box, shotblasting, cutting to final form, and packaging. 19. A method according to either one of claim 8 or claim 14, wherein the cooling zone is provided with a protective atmosphere.

Inventors: BENEDETTI GIANPIETRO, BENEDETTI, GIANPIETRO
Applicants: DANIELI TECHNOLOGY INC, DANIELI TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B21B1
IPC codes: B21B1, B21B45, C21D1, C21D8, C21D9