Cold-Rolled Steel
Processed further than hot-rolled steel. The surface is typically smooth. Ideal for applications where tolerances are important, or when the surface finish is a factor.
angle of surface finishes. The term Cold Rolled is mistakenly used on all products, when actually the product name refers to the rolling of flat rolled sheet and coil products.
When referring to bar products, the term used is “cold finishing”, which usually consists of cold drawing and/or turning, grinding and polishing. This process results in higher yield points and has four main advantages:
- Cold drawing increases the yield and tensile strengths, often eliminating further costly thermal treatments.
- Turning gets rid of surface imperfections.
- Grinding narrows the original size tolerance range.
- Polishing improves surface finish.
All cold products provide a superior surface finish, and are superior in tolerance, concentricity, and straightness when compared to hot rolled.
Cold finished bars are typically harder to work with than hot rolled due to the increased carbon content. However, this cannot be said about cold rolled sheet and hot rolled sheet. With these two products, the cold rolled product has low carbon content and it is typically annealed, making it softer than hot rolled sheet.
Uses: Any project where tolerances, surface condition, concentricity, and straightness are the major factors.
