Main Processes of Steel Wire Production

1 Main Processes of Steel Wire Production

Stainless Steel Wire Rope production uses hot-rolled Wire Rod as raw material and is processed through four main processes: surface preparation, heat treatment, drawing, and coating (plating/cladding). Depending on the requirements of the finished wire, auxiliary processes such as peeling and polishing may also be necessary.

1.1 Surface Preparation

The task and primary purpose of surface preparation are to remove scale and apply a lubricant carrier.
The presence of scale on the wire rod surface can cause surface defects on the wire, premature damage to dies, and even block the die hole, leading to breakage during drawing. Methods for removing scale from carbon Stainless Steel Wire Roperod include: mechanical methods, chemical methods, and electrolytic pickling. Mechanical methods include: repeated bending, shot blasting, and combined treatment methods. Chemical methods include: hydrochloric acid pickling, sulfuric acid pickling, and ultrasonic pickling. Electrolytic pickling is divided into: cathode method, anode method, and alternating anode-cathode method. Methods for removing scale from alloy Steel Wire Rod include: mixed acid pickling, molten salt treatment, and immersion in caustic soda-potassium permanganate solution.
To ensure the lubricant adheres firmly to the Stainless Steel Wire Rope  surface and can smoothly enter the drawing deformation zone to achieve the expected lubrication effect, the wire must be coated with a lubricant carrier before drawing. A lubricant carrier (coating) with a certain roughness carries the lubricant into the die hole, forming a sufficiently thick lubricating film together with the lubricant; this is the lubricating coating. There are many types of coatings for steel wire, commonly used ones include: phosphating, borax coating, copper plating, soaping, and lime coating.

1.2 Heat Treatment

Heat treatment in steel wire production is sequentially divided into three types: preliminary heat treatment, intermediate heat treatment, and final heat treatment.
Preliminary heat treatment refers to the heat treatment performed on the wire rod before drawing. Its purpose is to increase the sorbite content of the hot-rolled wire rod, improve its plasticity, and eliminate structural inhomogeneity. Intermediate heat treatment is performed between drawing passes. Its purpose is to eliminate the cold work hardening phenomenon generated during the drawing process, restore the wire's plasticity, and allow further drawing. Final heat treatment is performed either before or after the drawing of the Stainless Steel Wire Rope. Its purpose is to ensure the final mechanical or physical properties of the finished Stainless Steel Wire Rope. Heat treatment methods include: isothermal quenching, annealing, normalizing, tempering, and quenching and tempering.