Research On Radial And Axial Ring Rolling Large Profiled Ring By FE Simulation

Radial and axial ring rolling is an advanced plastic rotary forming technique during which the radial thickness and axial height is reduced, the diameter is enlarged and the profile of the ring is formed by the combined rolling of the radial roll gap and the axial roll gap, which is widely used to manufacture large seamless annular rings. Because of its technical superiorities including high efficiency, good quality, energy saving and high material yield, the radial and axial ring rolling products have been used in many industry fields. The influencing factors and process instability increase during radial and axial ring rolling large profile-section rings compared with rolling rectangular-section rings. Until now, the researches about radial and axial ring rolling large profile-section ring are few, leading that theoretic guidance of actual manufacture process design is limited, and that the application and development of large profile rings are seriously restricted.In this paper, three forming schemes are designed to form large L-section ring and T-section ring including symmetrically ring rolling L-section ring using shape mandrel, ring rolling L-section ring using shape axial roll and ring rolling T-section ring using shape axial roll. The corresponding3D coupled thermo-mechanical FE models are established on the platform of DEFORM-3D and the ring rolling processes are simulated.During symmetrically ring rolling L-section ring using a shape mandrel, the mandrel structure is of great importance for the ring rolling process. In this paper, the chamfer radius of the shape mandrel is changed. Then according to the FE results, the effects of mandrel structure on the metal flow law, the folding defect and the height of the fishtail.In this paper, mathematic models predicting the variation of key variables including ring diameter, increasing speed of ring diameter and rotation speed of rolling ring are firstly established during ring rolling L-section ring and T-section ring using shape axial roll. Then the corresponding ring rolling processes are simulated using FE method. On the basis of simulation, the distribution and evolution regulation of the ring’s stress, strain and temperature as well as rolling force are revealed. At last, the mathematic predicted key variables are compared with the simulated values, and the predicted values match well with the simulation results, indicating that the mathematic model is reliable and can be used to guide actual nanufacturing. The research results would provide the feasibility of radial and axial ring rolling large profile ring and would support the actual technical parameters design with theoretical guidance.