Development and validation of a finite element model for hot rolling using ABAQUS/STANDARD

A finite element (FE) model for hot flat product rolling has been developed using the commercial software ABAQUS/ STANDARD version 5.5 to obtain the local deformation history of the material required to predict the local microstructural behaviour, which results in through thickness variations in mechanical properties. Physically based models of roll/slab interfacial friction and heat transfer between the roll and the slab were incorporated in the FE model. From a computational point of view, the simulation of hot rolling can take a long solution time due to the large number of elements required to model the slab and the roll, combined with the inherent geometric and material non-linearities of the problem. To model interfacial heat transfer, an artifice known as the ‘phantom roll’ was used to eliminate modelling the roll without sacrificing accuracy. This reduced the computational time significantly. The FE model was then validated using experimental data on the distortion patterns of pins in experimentally rolled slabs. Good agreement was found between the grid distortion and the pin distortion patterns. Rolling loads and temperature changes were also in good agreement with experimental results.