𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 : 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧

In the 1920’s, auto makers were anxious to procure high-quality sheets of thin steel in wide widths. However, existing hot-strip sheet mills employed an antiquated process. Workmen gripped hot bars of steel with tongs and fed them into massive roller assemblies multiple times, tightening the gap after each pass. The adjustments were made by eye, based on the worker’s experience and skill. Each piece might require twenty-two passes. The metal cooled between each step, introducing differences between one piece and the next.

Gruesome accidents were common in the hot, noisy environment.

Each sheet varied in thickness and temper, making them difficult to stamp into car body parts. Rough steel surfaces looked shoddy when painted. Due to the width capabilities, body parts could have ugly weld seams.

  

John Butler Tytus recognized these limitations and spent three years and millions of dollars to develop a continuous sheet metal process. A steel ribbon was pulled directly from one nip roller assembly to the next, running thinner and faster with each step. Tytus discovered that perfectly flat rollers were not the ideal for squeezing hot metal into thin sheets. Convex nip rollers did the initial compression, followed by increasingly flat rolls. The temperature of each roller was optimized, allowing much wider product with a far better surface quality. 

Within a few years, uniform sheet steel was flying through continuous rolling machines at speeds of 2000 feet per minute. Car body designs changed to take advantage of the deep drawing ability of the new materials. Process improvements at the steel mills allowed cars to become an iconic art medium by the 1950’s.

source : Tim Oberle