Non-Linear Finite Element Method Simulation and Modeling of the Cold and Hot Rolling Processes

A nonlinear finite element model of the hot and cold rolling processes has been developed for flat rolling stock with rectangular cross section. This model can be used to analyze the flat rolling of cold and hot steel rectangular strips under a series of different parameters, providing the rolling designer with a tool that he can use to understand the behavior of the steel as it flows through the different passes.

The models developed, take into account all of the non-linearities present in the rolling problem: material, geometric, boundary, and heat transfer. A coupled thermal-mechanical analysis approach is used to account for the coupling between the mechanical and thermal phenomena resulting from the pressure-dependent thermal contact resistance between the steel slab and the steel rolls.

The model predicts the equivalent stress, equivalent plastic strain, maximum strain rate, equivalent total strain, slab temperature increase, increase in roll temperature, strip length increase, slab thickness % reduction (draft), and strip's velocity increase, for both the cold and hot rolling processes. The FE model results are an improvement over the results obtained through the classical theory of rolling. The model also demonstrates the role that contact, plastic heat generation and friction generated heat plays in the rolling process.

The analysis performed shows that the steel in cold rolling can be accurately modeled using the elastic-plastic (solid Prandtl-Reuss) formulation, with a von Mises yield surface, the Praguer kinematic hardening rule, and the Ramberg-Osgood hardening material model. The FE models also demonstrate that the steel in hot rolling can be modeled using the rigid-viscoplastic (flow Levy-Mises) formulation, with a von Mises yield surface, and Shida's material model for high temperature steel where the flow stress is a function of the strain, strain rate, and the temperature.

Other important contributions of this work are the demonstration that in cold rolling, plane sections do not remain plane as the classic theory of rolling assumes. As a consequence, the actual displacements, velocity, and stress distributions in the workpiece are compared to and shown to be an improvement over the distributions derived from the classical theory. Finally, the stress distribution in the rolls during the cold rolling process is found, and shown to be analogous to the stress distribution of the Hertz contact problem.