A comparative study of slab deformation under heavy width reduction by sizing press and vertical rolling using FE analysis

A detailed comparison between the quality of slabs formed by sizing press and vertical rolling mill is presented. ABAQUS/explicit commercial finite element software with elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model for material is used to study the geometric characteristics and deformation pattern during width reduction in these processes. Finite element models developed for both sizing press and vertical rolling processes are validated by comparing their results with experimental data available in literature. Parametric studies are performed using validated finite element models for sizing press mill to determine the effect of input process parameters such as initial slab width and thickness, width reduction and transfer pitch on the process outputs such as dogbone formation, head and end fishtail profiles, width necking at the leading end of the slab and slab edge quality. Similarly, developed finite element models for vertical rolling are used to investigate the effects of different input parameters on the slab deformation after passing through a vertical rolling stand with the aim of comparing the two width reduction processes. According to the results, benefits and drawbacks of each width reduction method are discussed. The enhancing effect of subsequent horizontal rolling after sizing press and vertical rolling processes on the final slab thickness is also presented.