Study On The Effect Of Vertical Roller Cone Angle On The Flange Lateral Spread In H-Beam Rolling Process

As a structural material, H-beam is widely used for its high mechanical properties, working efficiency and light weight in comparison with conventional double T-irons. Many works have been done to investigate the effects of rolling variables on the workpiece deformation in H-beam rolling, which is important for the pass design and the production of desired products to meet the customer's requirements at lowest cost. However, it is not seen that quantitative analysis on the effects of vertical roller cone angle on the flange lateral spread has been performed by far.H-beam rolling is one of the most complex deformation processes. In the past, experimental methods were always employed to analyze H-beam rolling processes qualitatively. Modern computer modeling technologies allow to perform more accurate description of material flow behavior of workpiece in rolling. The major effort of this study is to simulate the H-beam rolling process by using three-dimensional elastic-plastic FEM with the intention to find the relationship between the vertical roller cone angle and the flange lateral spread. In this work, the historical research on the flange lateral spread during H-beam rolling process is reviewed at first. The basic theory of elastic-plastic FEM, as well as detailed operation procedures, is given. Then, H-beam rolling processes with different cone angles have been simulated by using three-dimensional finite element code, ANSYS. The deformation characteristi-cs of rolled H-beam and the relationships between the vertical roller cone angle and the flange lateral spread are analyzed. Finally, to validate the computational values, H-beam rolling experiments were carried out by using lead specimens at the Three-stand Continuous H-beam Mill of Yanshan University. The deformation characteristics of specimens in rolling were observed clearly by a method of dividing H-beam sections into elements. The effects of the vertical roller cone angle variation on the flange lateral spread are investigated and compared with the computational results. It indicates thatthey meet each other quite well and give the same conclusions.