Temperature field analysis and its application in hot continuous rolling of Inconel 718 superalloy

A coupled thermo-mechanical model containing metal flow and temperature field for calculating temperature variation has been developed on fourteen-pass hot continuous rolling of round rod for Inconel 718 alloy using 3D elastic-plastic finite element method (FEM). The temperature of characteristic analysis points in the intermediate cross-section of the workpiece has been simulated at initial temperature ranging from 960 to 1000 °C and initial velocity in range of 0.15-0.55 m·s−1. Based on finite element analysis and microstructural observation in cylindrical hot compression experiments, the appropriate hot continuous rolling technologies have been designed for rod products with diffierent diameters. For a real rolling practice, the simulated surface temperature was examined and is in good agreement with the measured one.