Edge drop control characteristics of the taper-work roll contour for six-high cold mill

To investigate the edge drop control characteristics of the roll contour on the taper segment of a taper-work roll, a three-dimensional roll stack-strip-tension coupling model was established with the finite element method, and the simulation model was verified using experimental data. The effects of the taper-work roll shifting (T-WRS) for different contours on the edge drop, center crown, flatness, and nonuniformity of the rolling pressure field unevenness were studied. The results indicated that the thickness difference caused by the combination of the roll contour and the work roll shifting (WRS) effectively compensated for the edge drop caused by the elastic deformation of the roll was the main way for T-WRS to reduce edge drop. Increasing the height of the roll contour inserted into the strip could significantly improve the edge drop control ability. However, it would also lead to increasing the trend of M-mode waviness defects and increase the peak of rolling pressure and the unevenness of the contact pressure between the rolls. Therefore, a novel approach for the roll contour evaluation was proposed by constructing the multi-objective function of the taper-work roll shifting. With edge drop control as the primary goal, the optimal range and suitable range of the WRS for different roll contours were calculated for the first stand of the tandem cold mill.