Finite element simulation of a cross rolling process

Finite element analyses of unidirectional and cross hot rolling operations, for AISI 304 stainless steel, have been carried out by using DEFORM 3D software. Cross rolling is achieved through changing the rolling direction by 90° i.e. after each pass, the plate is rotated by 90° around the normal direction. In order to get the material constants for the constitutive model, with sine hyperbolic function, compression tests were carried out at different temperatures and strain rates. Rigid-visco-plastic finite element formulation along with incremental Lagrangian method has been used to predict stress and strain fields in the work-piece. The predicted rolling load shows a maximum of 9.91% error with the measured load value. Comparison among the different state variables for unidirectional and cross hot rolling has also been carried out. Effects of roll speed and percentage reduction on temperature, for both cross hot rolling and unidirectional hot rolling, have also been reported.