Stuff 101 – Induction Bending vs. Hot Rolling
The following article will help to explain the differences between induction bending and hot rolling.
Induction bending is also referred to as hot rolling, but there are some differences between the two processes. There are many advantages of both induction bending and the hot rolling over that of the cold rolling process, but first we should explain the difference between the two processes.
Induction bending is an efficient way to form a bend when only a specific area of a metal tube or pipe requires a bend. That specific area is usually heated with the use of an induction coil in order to make the material easier to bend to a preset radius. While in hot rolling the entire metal slab or billet is heated to between 800 and 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit and while the metal is still hot it is sent through rollers that are set to a controlled amount of weight that will change the metal to the desired size or thickness. The metal is then quenched with either air or water spray. So induction bending is usually used to bend a specific area of a finished piece of metal, where hot rolling, much in the same way as cold rolling, is a process used to change the thickness of a metal.
Almost any metal or steel product can be used in the induction bending process, this includes metal bars, pipes and tubes, and while with the hot rolling process steel is usually the metal that is used. Most non-ferrous metals, these are metals other than iron or alloys that do not contain a certain amount of iron, are typically cold rolled.
There are many advantages that induction bending has over cold bending and even hot rolling. The following are the top 6 advantages:
1) With induction bending you have the ability to heat a specific area of the metal pipe and this will ensure that a minimal amount of distortion occurs after the bend is completed.
2) Induction bending results in higher energy efficient systems since only a portion of the metal requires heating the power required to create the bend is kept to a minimum.
3) The induction bending process does not require any sand filling or internal mandrels, so the overhead costs are much lower.
4) Bending times do not take as long as other processes, making induction bending more cost effective.
5) The overall quality of the product is better than that of cold bending, where excessive warping and wall thinning may occur.
6) And finally induction bending eliminates the need for mechanical or welded joints, resulting in a smoother finish.
Although there may be some crossovers in the way the finished metal products are used, induction bending is almost always used on large pipes such as petroleum pipelines, but can also be used in making smaller products such as springs, and farming tools. In the hot rolling process finished steel is typically used for sheet metal and comes coiled. These coils of sheet metal are either used directly by fabricators or as feed for cold rolling mills where they are later turned into sheet metal, metal foil and metal plates.
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Corey Rozon is a freelance writer from Ottawa, Canada.
This article about induction bending and hot rolling was written for Paramount Roll, a company specializing in steel bending.
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