Continuous FEM simulation of multi-pass plate hot rolling suitable for plate shape analysis

In order to continuously simulate multi-pass plate rolling process, a 3-D elastic hollow-roll model was proposed and an auto mesh-refining module with data passing was developed and integrated with FE software, Marc. The hollow-roll model has equivalent stiffness of bending resistance and deformation to the real solid and much less meshes, so the computational time is greatly reduced. Based on these, the factors influencing plate profile, such as the roll-bending force, initial crown, thermal crown and heat transfer during rolling and inter-pass cooling can be taken into account in the simulation. The auto mesh-refining module with data passing can automatically refine and re-number elements and transfer the nodal and elemental results to the new meshes. Furthermore, the 3-D modeling routine is parametrically developed and can be run independently of Marc pre-processing program. A seven-pass industrial hot rolling process was continuously simulated to validate the accuracy of model. By comparison of the calculated results with the industrial measured data, the rolling force, temperature and plate profile are in good accordance with the measured ones.