DURABILITY OF DUAL METAL CENTRIFULALLY CAST ROLLS FOR FLOUR MILLING

GRINDING ROLLS ARE THE HEART OF THE FLOUR MILLING PROCESS. THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ON THE SPEEDS, DIFFERENTIALS, AND CORRUGATIONS OF THESE ROLLS, BUT ABSOLUTELY NONE ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE ROLLS THEMSELVES FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. THE U.S. IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST USER OF THESE ROLLS AND IMPORTS 100% OF THEM. THE IMPORTED ROLLS ARE PREDOMINANTLY MADE OF A SINGLE METAL, STATICALLY CAST, AND MECHANICALLY CHILLED. OUR APPROACH IS TO CENTRIFUGALLY CAST TWO DIFFERENT METALS WITH A UNIFORM METALLURGICAL BOND AND A CHEMICAL CHILL. OUR PROGRAM OBJECT IS TO BUILD UPON THE CASTING TECHNOLOGY ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR USE BY THE U.S. NAVY AND APPLY IT TO DEVELOP A FLOUR MILLING ROLL WHOSE GREATER UNIFORMITY OF HARDNESS AND SUPERIOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY WILL ENHANCE BOTH THE QUALITY AND COST EFFICIENCY IN THE U.S. FLOUR MILLING INDUSTRY. WE WILL CAST AND FABRICATE TWO EXPERIMENTAL DUAL METAL CENTRIFUGALLY CAST ROLLS AND TWO TRADITIONAL ROLLS. PHASE I WILL INCLUDE TESTING THESE ROLLS ON THREE VARIETIES OF WHEAT. POWER CONSUMPTION WILL BE RECORDED AND ANALYZED. GRANULATION CURVES WILL BE COMPARED FOR UNIFORMITY, NON-DEGRADATION, AND REPEATABILITY. PHASE II WILL TEST THE SAME ROLLS IN EXTREMELY HIGH WEAR AND HOSTILE SITUATIONS.