Hot rolling tests with steel bars and silicon nitride rolls

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the possibilities to use rolls made from Si3N4–TiN ceramic composite in hot rolling of steel. The results show that the wear of the ceramic material was lower than the wear of a reference cast iron. The results suggest that the Si3N4–TiN material is beneficial to use in a hot rolling process, on condition that the temperature of the work piece material is held sufficiently high.