The Development History Of Cold Rolling Mills

I. Origin and the Mechanized Age (Late 19th Century - Early 20th Century)
Cold rolling technology originated from the two-roll mill invented in the UK in 1859 and was mainly used in the production of tin sheets in its early days. With the popularization of steam power, in 1900, the United States achieved continuous cold rolling of steel strips for the first time. Through multiple passes of rolling, the hot-rolled coil was thinned to 0.3mm, laying the foundation for modern cold rolling. The key breakthroughs during this period include:
Material upgrade of work rollers (cast iron → alloy steel)
The hydraulic lowering device replaces manual adjustment
The first generation of lubrication and cooling system was developed
Ii. The Electrification and Automation Revolution (1950s-1980s)
After World War II, cold rolling mills witnessed three major changes:
Electrical drive: DC motors replace steam engines to achieve stepless speed regulation (such as SMS's CVC rolling mill)
Automation control: In 1957, Japan developed an automatic thickness control system (AGC), with the accuracy improved to ±5μm
Technological innovation: In 1968, the Senjimir rolling mill achieved the production of 20 rolls of ultra-thin strip steel (the thinest being 0.001mm).
Iii. Intelligent and Green Development (21st Century to Present)
Modern cold rolling mills present three major characteristics:
Digital twin technology: In 2016, the German SMS Group launched a virtual rolling system that can simulate process parameters
Energy-saving design: Utilizing magnetic levitation bearings to reduce energy consumption by 30% (such as the hydrogen energy rolling mill put into operation by Baowu Group in 2023)
AI Quality Control: The surface defect detection system developed by Baidu Intelligent Cloud in collaboration with Ansteel has an accuracy rate of 99.2%