Analysis of 3D rolling forming with generalized rigid-plastic boundaries approach

A new formulation of a generalized rigid-plastic boundaries approach is proposed to analyze the three-dimensional forming by rolling. In this approach, the dual-stream function that satisfies the velocity boundary conditions at the surfaces of rigid-plastic boundaries is derived. The arbitrary shapes of rigid-plastic boundaries with chosen optimization parameters are used to minimize the power required for rolling. The optimal flow field is found and used to calculate the velocity field, forming load and the width spread of the metal strip. Experiments were carried out to compare with the theoretical results of different dimensions. It is found that the predicted load, flow patterns and width spread are in good agreement with the experimental observations and results from literatures.