Development history of steel ball skew rolling mill
In the past, skew rolling mills in mineral processing plants used cast iron balls.
However, due to the high phosphorus content of pig iron used for casting, cast iron balls were brittle and of poor quality, resulting in low production efficiency and high consumption. To fundamentally change this situation, in the late 1950s, according to a Sino-Soviet technical agreement, my country ordered two sets of steel ball rolling mills from the Soviet Union: one for producing steel balls with a diameter of 40-80mm, and the other for producing steel balls with a diameter of 80-125mm. Under the leadership of Soviet steel rolling expert Etlikob, skew rolling forming technology was successfully developed, and the world's first hot-rolled steel ball plant was built at the Leningrad Red Banner Machine-Building Plant, producing ball mill steel balls with a diameter of 25mm-125mm. In 1965, the hot-rolled steel ball plant of Handan Iron and Steel Group was completed and put into operation. Handan Iron and Steel Group became my country's earliest, largest, and highest-quality professional ball mill steel ball manufacturer, with its products selling well in domestic and international markets.
Later, due to soaring prices of finished steel used in rolling mills, and the emergence of low-chromium and high-chromium cast steel balls, the cost of rolled steel balls increased significantly, causing them to lose their cost-performance advantage. Cast steel balls experienced a period of rapid growth and widespread adoption. However, the emergence of forged steel balls disrupted the market landscape. Forged steel balls are typically made of high-manganese steel, such as recycled railway steel, train wheels, and axles, and their cost-performance is comparable to that of cast steel balls. Both dominated their respective fields, ultimately leading to a rebalancing between the two.
With the advent of Industry 4.0 and the research and development of new wear-resistant materials by large steel mills, rolled steel ball production lines will inevitably replace cast and forged steel balls, becoming the new standard and starting point for the wear-resistant steel ball industry.
