Cooling Bed
Rake-type cooling beds that receive hot bar from the mill, hold it straight while it cools and index it across to the shear and bundling end.
Discuss Your RequirementSpecified around the line—not selected from a generic list.
A cooling bed has to absorb the full rolling rate while keeping the bar straight. Rake pitch, tooth profile, indexing stroke, bed width and the entry braking arrangement follow directly from the section range, bar length and the cooling time the steel grade requires.
Engineering scope
- Rake-type cooling bed structures and rake bars
- Fixed and moving rake drive arrangements
- Entry braking slides and bar-arresting equipment
- Discharge aprons, run-out tables and aligning rolls
- Bed width, pitch and indexing set to the bar length
- Rake bar, tooth and wear-part replacement for existing beds
Typical applications
- 01TMT and reinforcement bar mills
- 02Rounds, flats, squares and angles
- 03Structural and section rolling mills
- 04Capacity upgrades on existing cooling beds
How a rake-type cooling bed works
Finished bar, cut to length by the dividing shear, runs along the entry side of the bed, is braked and dropped onto the rakes. The bed carries fixed rakes and moving rakes with notched teeth. On each cycle the moving rakes lift the bars, advance them one notch and set them down again, so every bar steps across the bed in its own notch.
Because each bar turns slightly at every step, it cools evenly and stays straight. At the discharge end, aligning rolls square the bar ends and the bars are gathered into layers on the run-out table for the cold shear and bundling.
What sets the size of a cooling bed
The longest dividing-shear length sets the bed length. The rolling rate, multiplied by the time the bar needs to cool to a safe discharge temperature, sets how many notches are needed and therefore the bed width. Heavier sections hold heat longer and need more time on the bed, while the largest section fixes the rake pitch and tooth profile.
This is why a cooling bed often becomes the limit when a mill increases output: the bed that suited the old rolling rate no longer gives the bar enough time to cool.
Maintenance and wear on an existing bed
The parts that wear are predictable: rake teeth and notches, bent rake bars, the eccentrics and bearings in the rake drive, and the liners of the entry braking slide. Replacement parts are produced to the installed pitch and datum so they fit without re-aligning the whole bed.
What to send us for a quotation
The more of this you can share, the faster we can come back with a firm scope.
- Finished section range
- Maximum rolling rate in tonnes per hour
- Dividing shear lengths
- Delivery temperature and whether the bar is quenched
- Existing bed length, width and pitch, if upgrading
- Cold shear and discharge arrangement
Questions buyers ask early
How is cooling bed size decided?
Bar length sets the bed length. The cooling time required at the finishing temperature, together with the rolling rate, sets the bed width and rake pitch. Section range and steel grade then influence tooth profile and indexing speed.
Can rake bars and teeth be replaced on an existing bed?
Rake bars, teeth and aligning components are regularly supplied as replacements. Working from the installed pitch and measured wear, they can be produced to the existing datum.
Why do bars come off the cooling bed bent?
The usual causes are uneven braking at the entry so the bar lands out of position, worn or damaged rake teeth, misalignment between the fixed and moving rakes, or bars being discharged while still too hot. Checking rake alignment and tooth wear is normally the first step.
Share it and we will come back on feasibility, scope and the data still needed.
Discuss your cooling bed requirement.
Share the application, product range, current equipment and performance objective. The conversation starts with your process—not a standard catalogue answer.