In order to improve the surface quality of strip steels it is essential that surface oxide adheres to the roll surface. To understand the mechanism of banding (the detachment of oxide from the roll surface), black oxide layers on a roll surface and on a slab surface were analysed using SEM, optical microscopy, microhardness testing, energy dispersive spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. A mathematical model for black oxide layer thickness of a high chromium iron roll was established on the basis of the oxidation mechanism and oxide layer structure. It is shown that the black oxide layers, formed on the roll surface, induce the formation of cracks which propagate easily along M 3C and M 7 C 3 carbides resulting in their final separation from the roll surface during the rolling process. MST/4506
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.