Abstract
The growth in the aluminium alloy plate market and the demand for largerplate sizes have been met by the installation of wide 4-high hot-rolling mills and ancillary equipment. This paper describes a typical hot-mill configuration capable of rolling plate up to 3·5m wide at an output rate of 1500 t/week. A description is given of the rolling andfinishing processes, together with a summary of the factors which control yield and material properties. Particular attention is drawn to the importance of ingot feedstock quality and the control of thermal treatments. The need to considerproduct control as a total quality assurance plan is discussed. Aluminium alloy plate is supplied to a number of advanced technology industries including aerospace, defence, and cryogenics. The trends in customer requirements are towards larger plate sizes and higher standards of quality and material properties.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.