1. Historical aspects

1.1 A brief history of rolling

In his book entitled Le Savoir Fer, J. Corbion traces the history of the steel industry as a whole, part of which refers to rolling mills [1] .

The forge was the main tool used by our ancestors to shape metal in its solid state. This operation was most often carried out using heat. Cold reduction was used for relatively "soft" metals such as gold, silver, and zinc.

Known since the 15th century, rolling technology involves passing a piece of metal between two cylinders to change its shape. The "invention" of the rolling mill is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, based on drawings of machines designed to prepare lead strips for stained glass windows....