Wide hot-rolled strip is a core raw material for modern manufacturing，and its efficient large-scale production combined with refined quality management is essential for industrial upgrading. However，the hot rolling process is characterized by strongly coupled multivariable factors，along with limited material information sensing，fragmented data systems，and insufficient automation in critical stages. These challenges hinder the coordinated optimization of product quality，rolling stability，and manufacturing cost. This research systematically reviews recent technological advances，with a focus on progress in the following key areas. In the field of multidimensional material information sensing for hot continuous rolling，robust sensing systems based on machine learning and deep learning have addressed the difficulty of feature extraction under high-temperature and high-noise conditions，substantially improving information acquisition in complex conditions. In the area of multi-zone operational interconnection and edge–end collaboration，the integration of heterogeneous data from multiple sources and the use of dynamic resource allocation mechanisms have eliminated information discontinuities among storage yards，rolling lines，and roll grinding systems，enabling coordinated optimization across regions. In centralized control of multiple rolling lines and regions in hot continuous rolling，intelligent rolling technologies oriented toward reduced manual intervention have been developed by leveraging advanced inspection systems and high-accuracy hybrid modeling，thereby enhancing the compactness and responsiveness of the production process. In cross-business coordination for hot continuous rolling，lean management platforms integrating online prediction，real-time monitoring，and anomaly diagnosis have been established within a deeply integrated cyber–physical framework，driving transformation in production management across multiple business domains. Finally，the paper summarizes current developments and outlines future directions for efficient large-scale production and refined quality management of wide hot-rolled strip.

The assembly structure accuracy of rolling mill systems constrains the improvement of equipment service stability, among which the service accuracy of the roll system assembly structure is key to affecting the assembly stiffness of the rolling mill. To address the impact vibration issues in a four-hot-strip mill, a roll-to-roll contact stiffness model considering roll crossing is established based on the energy method. A contact stiffness model for chock liners is developed based on contact mechanics and statistical theory. Furthermore, by considering the relationship between the quasi-static roll axis position and stiffness, a roll system dynamic model is constructed to investigate the influence of roll system assembly structure stiffness on dynamic characteristics. A monitoring system for the service accuracy of the rolling mill roll system is proposed, which combines roll system calibration and rolling process data to obtain the side clearances and stiffness states of the roll system at different service stages. A rolling mill stiffness dataset with roll crossing state and load as variables is constructed. By matching the measured stiffness and stiffness gradient during forward and reverse calibration processes, the roll crossing state variables are obtained. The relative difference between the theoretical initial deviation and the matched values is within 20%, establishing the correlation between offline and calibration-process roll system assembly states. Finally, rolling tests are conducted to acquire the roll system clearance states before and after adjustments. The roll-to-roll crossing angle is reduced from 120 μrad to 20 μrad, and the chock liner fit angle due to tolerance is reduced from 13 μrad to 5 μrad, resulting in a suppression of work roll horizontal vibration by over 60%. The established dynamic model effectively simulates the roll system impact vibration. The research demonstrates that the assembly structure stiffness model, which accounts for chock liner fit and roll crossing, can predict the service accuracy of the roll system assembly structure. By clarifying the relationship between offline roll system data and the service accuracy during calibration and rolling processes, an effective offline adjustment strategy for vibration suppression can be achieved.

7000 series aluminum (Al) alloys are often used in load-bearing components such as aircraft frames, stringers, and the underframes and traction beams of high-speed rails due to their low density and high strength. Not only are high requirements imposed on the strength of 7000 series Al alloys, but they are also required to have good fatigue crack propagation (FCP) performance. Taking AA7075 as object, cryorolling (CR), corresponding artificial aging treatments and deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) were conducted. It is found that although peak aging can significantly improve the strength of AA7075, attention should be paid to its potential negative impact on the FCP performance. Because η' phases are generated during peak aging, which cannot be shorn by dislocations, dislocations accumulate at the crack tip, accelerating crack propagation. By contrast, DCT scarcely affects strength yet distinctly retards FCP. The yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and fracture elongation (FE) of the sample subjected to peak aging followed by DCT after CR (CR-AT-DCT) are 571 ± 0.8 MPa, 612 ± 3 MPa, and 11.2 ± 0.24%. The Paris fitting index m of the sample subjected to peak aging followed by DCT after CR is 7.4% smaller than that of the sample that only undergoes peak aging after CR during the stable FCP stage. DCT promotes 13.8% reduction in the width of the PFZs, making it difficult for fatigue cracks to propagate along the rolling direction of the grain boundaries and thereby slowing the FCP rate. A systematic investigation correlating microstructure with FCP performance demonstrates that the CR-AT-DCT hybrid route furnishes a new process for lightweight design.

Large rings are widely used in high-end equipment such as aviation，aerospace and energy. They have many specifications，long manufacturing process and large batch changes. The process design，process measurement and control，and quality inspection of traditional ring rolling production are mainly dependent on manual experience，which will lead to poor process stability，large product quality fluctuation，high energy consumption and low efficiency. In order to meet the needs of high-qality，high-efficiency and low-carbon manufacturing of high-end equipment rings in China，the research on network collaborative and intelligent ring rolling technology for large-scale rings of high-end equipment was carried out. The key technologies such as digital intelligent process design，process measurement and control，quality inspection and network collaborative operation of multi-variety and variable-batch ring rolling were broken through. The computer-aided process design，process measurement and control，quality inspection system and design-manufacturing-detection integrated management and control platform for the whole process under the industrial network environment were developed. Several large-scale ring network collaborative intelligent ring rolling demonstration production lines were constructed，which promoted the upgrading of ring rolling production from manual-assisted semi-automatic mode to intelligent automation mode in China.

Compressor stator blades of TC11 titanium alloy and GH4169 superalloy with double mounting plate structure were fabricated using the short-process forming technology combining cross wedge rolling (CWR) with die forging (DF). Preforms with favorable microstructure and no internal defects were obtained by optimizing the CWR process. Subsequently, DF was carried out, and the microstructural evolution of the two types of blades was analyzed. The results show that internal defects in titanium alloy (initial microstructures with equiaxed, duplex, and Widmanstatten) rolled workpieces formed at the interface between α phase and β phase. By improving the rolling temperature, the transformation of α phase to β phase can be promoted, thus help to eliminate internal defects effectively. Among them, the critical temperature required for initial equiaxed rolled workpieces to reach a defect-free state is the lowest. Nucleation of internal defects in superalloy (hot-rolled state, with a substantial amount of δ phase pre-precipitated within the grain, a minimal amount and a significant quantity of δ phase pre-precipitated at the grain boundary) rolled workpieces are primarily concentrated at the carbides. Although proper pre-precipitated δ phase can reduce damage degree in matrix by promoting dynamic recrystallization and pinning effect, coarse needle shaped δ phase precipitation at grain boundary may also accelerate defect propagation. Among them, the pre precipitation of a minimal amount of δ phase at grain boundary results in the lowest damage degree. No internal defects were observed in either type of blade. The titanium alloy blade exhibited a uniform bi-phase distribution with a regular morphology of α phase. The superalloy blade demonstrated uniform grain size in the body section and mixed grains in other regions, with the grain size grade difference meeting standard requirements. These findings validate the reliability of new process and provide a theoretical basis at the microscopic level for its further development and application.

Based on the characteristics of high-strength titanium alloys with high strength but poor toughness, and high-toughness titanium alloys with low strength but good toughness, high-strength and high-toughness TA2/TC4 titanium alloy composites were prepared by the method of explosive welding followed by rolling. The microstructure of the bonding interface was characterized, and the properties of the composites were tested by tensile, shear, and bending experiments. And the failure behavior of the samples was analyzed to reveal the correlation mechanism between microstructure and mechanical behavior. The results show that the interface of the explosively welded TA2/TC4 titanium alloy composite presents a wavy morphology, while the rolled interface shows an approximately straight morphology. Dynamic recovery and recrystallization occur at the interface, and the matrix grains exhibit columnar or rod-like elongation. The tensile strength of the TA2/TC4 composite ranges from 780 to 801 MPa, and the bending strength ranges from 1142.58 to 1267.19 MPa. The shear strength of the bonding interface ranges from 134 MPa to 185 MPa, showing a discrete state. Explosive welding + rolling can realize the preparation of high-strength and high-toughness composite materials of different thicknesses, providing a new approach for the preparation of various high-strength and high-toughness metal composite materials.

Precise determination of hot rolling work roll surface wear conditions is critical for optimizing mill performance. To address the imaging challenges posed by large-sized roll surfaces, a vision acquisition system integrating dual line-scan cameras with customized linear light sources was designed, allowing roll surface images to be reliably captured during the roll changing process. A template matching algorithm based on Constrained Dynamic Time Warping is proposed to achieve automated image acquisition. Wear conditions are effectively characterized by a four-dimensional Tamura texture feature vector consisting of coarseness, contrast, linearity, and regularity. Furthermore, the classification of typical wear morphologies is achieved with 95% accuracy by employing an extremely randomized trees ensemble learning model. Finally, an intelligent roll surface wear detection platform was developed, providing a novel approach for the intelligent maintenance and process optimization of hot rolling work rolls.

Metal composite plates have extensive applications in many fields of modern industry, among which cold rolling is the main method for preparing metal composite plates. In order to prepare composite plates with better performance, it is necessary to study the composite mechanism and process in depth. As the most widely recognized cold rolling composite mechanism currently, the film theory believed that the brittle hardening layer on the metal surface cracks under large plastic deformation, and squeezed into the crack under large rolling pressure to form mechanical bite during cold rolling, which is the main reason of composite. Based on this theory, many studies have pointed out that the reduction rate required for forming composite between heterogeneous metals depends on the softer metal, however, the greater the performance different between metals, the greater the performance difference between metals in actual production, there is still no reasonable explanation for this. In order to reveal the composite mechanism of heterogeneous metals in the cold rolling process, a finite element model which can completely and accurately describe the interfacial composite and separation in the cold rolling process is established through the secondary development of MARC software. Based on this model, the important role of interfacial shear stress in the cold rolling composite process was revealed, and the composite mechanism was improved, through this mechanism, the reasons for the influence of material properties and reduction rate on the composite process were explained.