Cold rolling is a manufacturing process that creates large sheet metal, which is then delivered to the metal fabricator you will hire. The sheet metal forming process is accomplished by introducing metal between rollers, which squeeze and compress the metal to the desired sheet metal size and thickness. This process is done through temperatures around room temperature to gain and increase the strength and hardness of the steel. The process of cold rolling steel sheet is as follows: At room temperature, the steel sheet is passed through two or more rollers. The rollers reduce the thickness of the steel plate and increase the strength and hardness. The most important thing is that the sheet does not lose ductility. This means that the final product is less prone to cracking or forming. This is the main difference from hot rolled steel.
Not all steelmaking processes involve heating steel to or above its recrystallization temperature. For example, cold rolling is performed at room temperature. Not surprisingly, rolling and forming steel at room temperature requires more pressure. However, since cold rolled steel is processed at temperatures well below the recrystallization temperature of the steel, it offers several benefits.
Increased strength: The strength of cold-rolled steel is significantly higher than that of hot-rolled steel. When the rollers compress the steel at room temperature, the steel becomes stronger due to strain hardening. How strong is cold rolled steel plate? While there are exceptions, cold rolled steel is typically around 20% stronger than hot rolled steel.
Improved Surface Finish: In addition to being stronger, cold rolled steel has an improved surface finish. It is smoother than hot rolled steel and has fewer surface defects. This not only improves the aesthetics of cold-rolled steel; it makes cold-rolled steel a more suitable material for certain applications, such as bridge construction.
Tighter tolerances: Cold rolling allows tighter tolerances than hot rolling. What exactly does this mean? In metalworking, the term "tolerance" refers to the overall thickness of the metal. Cold rolled steel is generally thinner than hot rolled steel (without sacrificing strength). Therefore, cold rolling offers tighter tolerances than other steelmaking processes.
Variety of options: There are several different options available for making cold rolled steel sheets, some of which include full hard, semi hard, quarter hard and skin rolled. Of all these options, full hard cold rolling is generally preferred as it offers the tightest tolerances. When performed correctly, full hard cold rolling can reduce the thickness of steel by up to 50%. Other cold rolling processes can also reduce the thickness of the steel, but are not as effective as full hard cold rolling.