In this article, the factors which have influence on the work roll thermal deformation in cold strip rolling and the heat transferring mechanism are discussed. It is considered that there are three directions, radial, axis and circumference, for heat transferring for work roll thermal deformation. Therefore, it is a three dimensions unstable system for work roll temperature field of cold strip rolling. The plastic deformation work and friction heat are calculated by the divided element and digital integration method. The simplified calculation model is built for the heat transferring along work roll. There are four zones for work roll heat transferring: roll gap zone, air zone, emulsion zone, rolls contact zone. The heat transferring between the zones is decided by the temperature difference. The inter temperature field and thermal deformation of work roll can be calculated by two-dimension finite difference method. The work roll temperature and thermal crown of actual application cold rolling mill are analyzed by the model. By the comparison between calculated values and measured values, the work roll thermal calculation model can meet the accuracy requirement of on-line control.