On the Evolution of Temperature and Combined Stress in a Work Roll under Cyclic Thermo-Mechanical Loadings during Hot Strip Rolling and Idling

An accurate prediction of temperature and stress evolution in work rolls is crucial to assess the service life of the work roll. In this paper, a finite element method (FEM) model with a deformable work roll and a meshed, rigid body considering complex thermal boundary conditions over the roll surface is proposed to assess the temperature and the thermal stress in work rolls during hot rolling and subsequent idling. After that, work rolls affected by the combined action of temperature gradient and rolling pressure are investigated by taking account of the hot strip. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified through comparison with the calculation results obtained from the mathematical model. The results show that thermal stress is dominant in the bite region of work rolls during hot rolling. Afterwards, the heat treatment residual stresses which are related to thermal fatigue are simulated and introduced into the work roll as the initial stress to evaluate the redistribution under the thermal cyclic loads during the hot rolling process. Results show that the residual stress significantly changed near the roll surface.