FE Simulation of Roll Forming of a Complex Profile with the Aid of Steady State Properties

Abstract

Roll forming is a continuous, steady state process where state variables remain unchanged over the process time with respect to a fixed position. The design of roll forming is a complex and iterative process which mainly depends on the experience of designers. In industry, the finite element analysis (FEA) is commonly used to design rolls and to predict important process variables such as longitudinal peak strains and springback. However, the FEA is attributed with a high computational cost. The approach described in this paper aims at the reduction of the computational cost with the aid of steady state properties evolved in roll forming. To exploit the steady state properties, the steady state extrapolation algorithm (SSEA) is used in conjunction with conventional FE simulations. A complex profile requiring 10 roll forming stations is considered for the validation of the simulations. Experimental measurements confirm the results from conventional simulation as well as the simulation assisted by the SSEA. Springback behavior predicted by the simulation using SSEA is also verified successfully. With the help of the SSEA, the total computational time for the FE analysis of the complex profile is reduced by 54.7%.