Study on roll force and dynamic recrystallization of high-strength interstitial-free steels in hot rolling

Abstract

This paper presents a constitutive model for two interstitial-free (IF) steels that can be used for calculating the roll force during hot rolling. The constitutive models assume that the deformation behaviour of material can be described with reference to strain, strain rate, and temperature together with the volume fraction of dynamically recrystallized grains. The two IF steels are Nb-Ti-added IF steel containing 0.001 wt% B and 0.1 wt% P, and IF steel with no B and P. To verify the proposed constitutive model, a laboratory-scale hot-plate rolling experiment, together with three-dimensional finite element analysis coupled with the proposed model, has been performed. The capability of the proposed model was demonstrated through comparing predicted roll forces with measured values. A series of finite element simulations has then been carried out to study the variation in the distribution of the dynamically recrystallized volume fraction in the deformed workpiece by changing the rolling temperature and reduction ratio. Good agreement was obtained between the predicted roll forces and experimental measurements for two IF steels. The roll force of IF steel with P and B components was 11.6 per cent larger than that of IF steel without them since dynamic recrystallization was delayed owing to the alloying elements. It has been found that, as the reduction ratio increases, the effect of those alloys on the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization becomes more dominant and leads to considerable differences between the roll force of the steels.