Roll system forces and their relationships with each other during asym
metrical rolling have been studied for deciding the direction and magn
itude of the lateral roll forces that could affect the rolling stabili
ty, rigidity and loading conditions of a rolling mill. Results obtaine
d from experiment is in agreement with theoretical analysis which indi
cates that kinematical asymmetry in strip rolling creates lateral roll
forces and magnitude of the forces is dependent on the angle of force
inclination affected by roll speed mismatch ratio i, pass reduction e
psilon and applied strip tensions T. It has been found that, for optim
izing mill design and operation, front tension (or tension difference)
in asymmetrical rolling should not exceed the level which is required
to preserve rolling stability. The appropriate value of i should not
be higher than 1.28 to avoid bearing overloading whilst still retain r
oll force reduction characteristics of cross shear rolling.