Numerical study of strain-rate effect in cold rolls forming of steel

Cold roll forming (CRF) is a well-known continuous manufacturing process, in which a flat strip is deformed by successive rotating pairs of tools, without changing the material thickness. In the past decades, to lessen the process-development efforts, finite-element simulations have been increasingly employed to improve the process design and predict the manufacturing-induced defects. One of the important aspects in design of the CRF process is consideration of resulting strains in the final product as the material passes through several complex forming stands. Sufficient knowledge of longitudinal strain in the workpiece is required to set various process parameters. Increasing a process speed in a roll forming operation can bring cost advantages, but the influence of the forming speed on the strain distribution should be explored. This study is focussed on a strain-rate effect in the CRF process of steel sheets. The strain-rate dependency of a plastic behaviour observed in most metals can affect the finished product’s quality as well as process parameters. This paper investigates the influence of the strain rate on longitudinal strains induced in the roll forming operation by incorporating a phenomenological Johnson-Cook constitutive model, which allows studying the impact of the process speed on the output product. Taking advantage of 3D finite element analysis, a roll forming process was simulated using MCS.Marc, comprising a complete set of forming stations. Through the changing of the process speed, the strain rate impact on longitudinal peak strains and forming length was investigated. The results highlight the effect of the strain rate on edge thinning and subsequent undesirable distortions in the product.