Ten Years Rolling Strong.

From melt to finish, HRPF plays a strong roll in producing specialty materials.

ATI’s Hot Rolling and Processing Facility (HRPF) plays a crucial “roll” in metal processing technology. Uniquely designed to incrementally reduce the thickness of various materials, the HRPF set new standards in the industry when it was commissioned in 2014. Ten years later, it’s rolling strong, delivering highly diversified specialty materials for the aerospace, defense and energy markets. Capable of rolling up to 1.9MM tons per year, the HRPF processes titanium, nickel, zirconium, specialty stainless, and carbon steels into coils, sheets and plates. And it delivers those in grades and sizes that no other facility can match.

Requiring more than 21 processes at extreme force and high temperatures, the HRPF maintains tight control over critical parameters including thickness, width, and gauge. Innovative process models ensure precise regulation through high-speed automation controls, setting the standard for efficiency and accuracy in hot strip rolling. As a result, the HRPF delivers:
  • Unprecedented melt-to-ship lead times;
  • Enhanced capacity to meet customers' product design needs;
  • Unique capability to offer best-in-class coil geometry; and
  • Capacity to provide industry-leading plate products, at widths between 60 and 79 inches.
  • Unprecedented coil size

Melt. Roll. Finish.
Where does it all come from, and where does it go? Materials destined for the HRPF are first melted –primarily at ATI’s facilities in Lockport, NY, Richland, WA, Albany OR, Bakers, NC, or Latrobe or Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, in addition to a number of carbon steel melt shops that produce slabs for toll rolling.

Once materials reach the HRPF, they are initially rolled through the Roughing Mill. The mill exerts up to 60 meganewtons (MN) of force. That's equivalent to approximately 13.5 million pounds of force, or 12 fully assembled Airbus A380s careening through the sky. It reduces materials from a robust 8.5 inches down to 1.5 inches in less than 90 seconds. This gives ATI the ability to roll the broadest range of materials in the industry, to the thinnest gauges.

Materials are then taken through the Finishing Mill, where final thickness – or should we say thinness? – is achieved. The finishing mill transforms materials to a precise thickness of as little as .065” inches, thinner than a nickel.

Coils are then taken by rail to ATI's Vandergrift facility for finishing processes. ATI's brand-new Bright Anneal Line ensures maximum strength of materials through a high-temperature annealing process. The capabilities at Vandergrift Operations deliver the shortest flow times, high-quality products and production of a wide variety of specialty coils. 

Ten years after the first coil rolled off the HRPF, the mill remains at the center of ATI's portfolio of tremendous capabilities, with the technology and power to produce unmatched, diverse specialty products making ATI – and our customers – Proven to Perform.

Want to learn how our workforce gets HRPF-ready? Watch Training for the Future below.

 

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