Production of blanks with thickness transitions in longitudinal and lateral direction through 3D-Strip Profile Rolling

3D-Strip Profile Rolling should enable the production of blanks with a defined thickness profile in latitudinal and longitudinal direction. The production chain of 3D-Strip Profile Rolling will combine Flexible Rolling in a first production step with Strip Profile Rolling in a second step. The control system to adjust the roll gap during 3D-Strip Profile Rolling is currently under development. Nevertheless, some first experiments have shown the general feasibility to produce 3D-profiled blanks. In 3D-Strip Profile Rolling the material will strain harden differently on different locations. This results in a variation of the material properties of the strip. Lateral spread, elastic roll stand deformation and local deformation will be influenced by this variation. To investigate these influences on the complete production process, the complete production chain needs to be modelled in the future with aid of finite element simulations. In this publication a first simulation model is used to study the influence of different grades of strain hardening in a Taylor Rolled Blank on the bulge formation that occurs during the rolling of a rill in this Tailor Rolled Blank.