Recently, news came from the heavy plate production area of Jisco Jude rolling mill—a 100×2200×8000mm Q355B extra-thick wide plate rolled off the production line. This is a new breakthrough following the 80mm product, successfully reaching the ultimate design thickness.
Jiuquan Iron & Steel’s product matrix gains another core member.
Due to its characteristics of low compression ratio, large cross-sectional dimensions, and high thickness precision control, extra-thick wide plates place stringent requirements on heating regime, rolling rhythm, and the accuracy of the rolling die, making it a long-standing “hard nut to crack” in the development of thick-gauge products in the steel industry. The successful rolling of this 100mm-class extra-thick wide plate stems from deep collaborative efforts across multiple departments, including production, process, and equipment. The rolling mill established a dedicated task force and implemented a “closed-loop management” mechanism throughout the entire process, systematically optimizing and upgrading each key step from billet loading to finished product delivery.
In the heating stage, addressing the pain points of uneven heating and temperature differences in the core of 320mm thick large-section steel billets, the team innovatively designed a “zoned temperature control” system. By adjusting the temperature gradient in each zone of the heating furnace and extending the heating time, combined with real-time temperature monitoring feedback, the team achieved precise control of the temperature difference between the billet core and surface within ±15℃. This completely solved the problem of insufficient rolling stability caused by traditional heating methods, laying a solid foundation for subsequent rolling processes.
Technological breakthroughs in the rolling stage were particularly crucial. The process technology team, relying on SMS’s intelligent algorithm model, precisely designed core parameters such as rolling passes, reduction distribution, and deformation rate, innovatively forming a “gradient reduction + balanced deformation” rolling scheme. This scheme breaks down the internal structure of the billet through large reduction in the first pass, and ensures dimensional accuracy through precise shape control in subsequent passes. Ultimately, the thickness deviation of the finished steel plate is stably controlled within ±0.3mm, and the surface quality and internal grain uniformity both meet process standards.
To address common industry challenges in extra-thick plate rolling, such as difficulty in controlling thickness precision and the susceptibility to cracking, the equipment team simultaneously upgraded the temperature monitoring device and rolling rhythm control system. By adding infrared temperature measurement points at the mill inlet and dynamically adjusting the rolling interval, they ensured that the steel plate remained within the optimal rollable temperature range throughout the rolling process, guaranteeing its stability.
This technological breakthrough not only validated the equipment’s limits and technological integration level on the rolling mill’s heavy plate production line but also solidified a set of core process parameters and management experience for extra-thick plate production, providing technical support for the company to expand its customized production business. Currently, the rolling mill has launched a project to tackle extreme specification products, focusing on achieving stable production technologies for 12mm-grade thin plates and ultra-wide steel plates, continuously improving its heavy plate product portfolio, and helping the company seize opportunities in the steel industry’s transformation and upgrading wave.
