From large heavy sea faring giants to gas and oil carrier to construction materials, use of steel is pretty wide. In fact, if you see around there is a very good chance that you will spot many things made of steel. But steel is not always readily available in the right form for use. For instance food cans need ultra-thin stainless steel sheets while hot or cold rolled stainless steel coils are needed in construction, bicycle manufacturing, ship building and manufacturing of precision tubes. Thus you see that steel has to be made into the right shape before it can be used and two common methods of making coiled rolls: hot rolling and cold rolling. We will take a look at both here, and know the differences between them in terms of cost, usage and production techniques.
How different is the cold rolling process from hot rolling?
One thing that becomes clear right away is the difference in temperature at which steel is rolled. Cold rolling is obviously done by keeping the steel at room temperature, while for hot rolling the steel has to be heated first. That’s basically all the difference there is to the two methods.
How is the final product different?
Cold rolling produces steel sheets which are far stronger and used in making products which demand higher tensile strength and load bearing prowess. Also cold rolling process makes the surface much cleaner and polished. This is one of the reasons why cold rolled stainless steel coils are priced higher and is used in precision equipment manufacturing industries. Hot rolled steel coils and sheets have higher malleability and hence are ideal for applications such as military and heavy transportation industries. Hot rolled steel sheets are easier to mould into shapes with less effort than it would take cold rolled sheets. That said, the hot steel is more in demand in the market for many reasons, cost being one of them.
How different is the cold rolling process from hot rolling?
One thing that becomes clear right away is the difference in temperature at which steel is rolled. Cold rolling is obviously done by keeping the steel at room temperature, while for hot rolling the steel has to be heated first. That’s basically all the difference there is to the two methods.
How is the final product different?
Cold rolling produces steel sheets which are far stronger and used in making products which demand higher tensile strength and load bearing prowess. Also cold rolling process makes the surface much cleaner and polished. This is one of the reasons why cold rolled stainless steel coils are priced higher and is used in precision equipment manufacturing industries. Hot rolled steel coils and sheets have higher malleability and hence are ideal for applications such as military and heavy transportation industries. Hot rolled steel sheets are easier to mould into shapes with less effort than it would take cold rolled sheets. That said, the hot steel is more in demand in the market for many reasons, cost being one of them.
