Roll design method using virtual flow line for multi-stage profile rolling process

The roll profile in the multi-stage profile rolling process for manufacturing shaped wires influences product quality and dimensional accuracy significantly. Because the multi-stage profile rolling process is affected by many variables, such as elongation, rolling reduction, and width spread in a complex manner, many difficulties are involved in roll design. The roll profile design is predominantly conducted using finite element analysis (FEA). In this paper, a design method using virtual flow line, which is a roll profile design method in the multi-stage profile rolling process, is proposed. This design method employs a cross-section of the three-dimensional (3D) profile as the roll profile with a virtual flow line, thereby enabling roll profile design without performing FEA. To validate the design method, roll profiles were designed by applying the design method to the profiles of 12 products typically manufactured industrially using the profile rolling process, and FEA was conducted. The results indicate that the proposed method not only ensures higher dimensional accuracy than the conventional method but also assigns a higher strain rate.