The new Reducing and Sizing Block has been designed to increase flexibility in Nucor's rolling mill. Additionally, its design minimises potential trouble spots and improves safety for operators. Following the successful commissioning, the Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) was signed only three weeks after the first bar was produced through the block.

Nucor Steel Nebraska, based in Norfolk, is a division of Nucor Steel Corporation, which is the largest steel producer in the U.S. The investment is part of a greater commercial strategy to align the product mix with current and future demand of customers and will reinforce Nucor as a leader in engineered bar and rod. The selection of the “iRSB” was based on the substantial improvement of the whole rolling mill concept with regard to quality, flexibility, productivity, and process safety.

With the Kocks 3-roll intermediate block, new, more sophisticated material grades can be most flexibly rolled and enhance the steel producer's product portfolio without major changes to the overall layout of the rolling mill. The 3-roll “iRSB 370++/8” replaces eight traditional 2-high stands, providing pre-sections in a tandem arrangement for the existing “RSB 370/5”, which has been successful in operation since 2005.

Kocks also supplied the roll-shop equipment and its software solutions. Furthermore, the “RSB” is equipped with the Kocks profile measuring gauge “4D Eagle” and is also connected to Kocks’ “Size Control System” (SCS), which allows real-time adjustments of the operating parameters of the rolling block. This enables transparent process monitoring and the quickest possible process adjustments.

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