Plastic- Case Study 4 Focus on Plate Rolling Flashcards
Who account for around 50% of plate sales?
Stockholders. They supply plate material to all sectors
Use of plate in renewable energy
Wind turbine towers and offshore foundations (monopiles) are constructed from plate materials. Current investment in wind farms makes this a growth area
How are plate materials used in construction?
Used to fabricate girders which enables greater flexibility compared with rolled sections. Example is welding 3 plates together to make an H beam
Plate material in offshore oil and gas
Used to construct fixed, floating and subsea platforms. Structure quality is paramount as offshore rectification is very expensive
Plate in industrial process plants
Used for chemical processing, material transportation and pressure vessels. Often operating in corrosive, abrasive, high pressure and temperature environments
Plate in tubes and pipes
Plates are formed and welded to produce pipes. Pipes used to transport oil and gas or to deliver services. Pipes require good toughness to reduce risk of crack propagation
Plate in ship building and submarines
Plate material used for the hulls and superstructure of ships. Large flat plates required to minimise welding
Plate in yellow goods
About 3 tonnes of steel plate in a typical unit. Think JCB and Caterpillar. Typical unit also needs to look good in showroom so a quality surface finish is required.
Order of stages (equipment) in a conventional 2-stand plate mill
Reheating furnaces
Primary descaler
Roughing mill
Finishing mill
Hot leveller
Cooling bed
Cross-cut shear then side-trim shear
Inspection
Despatch
In which directions does the metal extend when rolled?
It gets longer not wider
Considerations at the cooling bed
Need to factor in any geometric distortions during cooling.
Want even cooling to get the same microstructure everywhere in the plate
