ABSTRACT
Hot rolling work rolls consisting of a hard, wear resistant sleeve interference-fitted to a tough, fracture resistant shaft are typically used in production of steel sections (e.g. rails, I-beams). Due to the method of assembly and the complex stress fields found within the rolls, competing failure modes develop when in-service. The sleeve material is often very brittle, leading to fracture, while the nature of the interference-fit means that the sleeve is susceptible to slipping, which can cause damage to the shaft. Increasing the interference exacerbates the probability of fracture but decreases the probability of slip. Decreasing the interference reduces the likelihood of fracture, but increases the probability of slip, which can lead to severe and expensive shaft damage. In this paper, the modelling, mechanical and tribological aspects of work roll failure are examined and provides a reliability based optimisation approach for reducing the number of failures.
