3-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF SHAPE ROLLING BY THE FINITE AND SLAB ELEMENT METHOD

In this study a new simplified 3-D numerical method and the associated computer program have been developed to simulate the shape rolling process. The 2-D rigid-plastic finite element method (FEM), used for the generalized plane-strain condition, is combined with the slab method. This method, called FSEM (finite and slab element method), reduces the computational effort without losing much accuracy obtained in the 3-D computer simulation of the shape rolling process. The FSEM has been used to develop a computer program, called TASKS for three-dimensional analysis of shape-rolling as a kinematically steady-state process. The program TASKS has been used to simulate the metal flow and the bulge profile in flat rolling of slabs, the shape rolling of a simple H section, and the rolling of a practical H-beam section. In flat rolling, predicted spreads agreed well with experimental results, given in the literature. The metal flow in rolling of a simple H section was compared with results of a full 3-D simulation, obtained by other investigators. The comparison indicated that the present predictions give quite good results. Finally, the predictions made for a practical pass, used in rolling H sections, also compared well with experimental data.