Dynamic Analysis of

Cold-Rolling Process Using

Sajan Kapil
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Indian Institute of Technology,
Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: kapil.sajan17@gmail.com
Peter Eberhard
Institute of Engineering and
Computational Mechanics,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 9,
Stuttgart 70569, Germany
e-mail: peter.eberhard@itm.uni-stuttgart.de
Santosha K. Dwivedy
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Indian Institute of Technology,
Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: dwivedy@iitg.ernet.in
the Finite-Element Method
In this work, the finite-element method (FEM) is used to develop the governing equation
of motion of the working roll of a four-high rolling mill and to study its vibration due to
different process parameters. The working roll is modeled as an Euler Bernoulli beam by
taking beam elements with vertical displacement and slope as the nodal degrees-of-
freedom in the finite-element formulation. The bearings at the ends of the working rolls
are modeled using spring elements. To calculate the forces acting on the working roll,
the interaction between the working roll and the backup roll is modeled by using the
work roll submodel, and the interaction between the working roll and the sheet is
modeled by using the roll bite submodel (Lin et al., 2003, “On Characteristics and
Mechanism of Rolling Instability and Chatter,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 125(4),
pp. 778–786). Nodal displacements and velocities are obtained by using the Newmark
Beta method after solving the governing equation of motion of the working roll. The tran-
sient and steady-state variation of roll gap, exit thickness profile, exit stress, and sheet
force along the length of the strip have been found for different bearing stiffnesses and
widths of the strip. By using this model, one can predict the shape of the outcoming strip
profile and exit stress variation which will be useful to avoid many defects, such as edge
buckling or center buckling in rolling processes. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4031280]

Keywords: chatter, cold-rolling mill, four-high rolling mill, finite-element analysis,

crowning

1 Introduction method, a numerical method, is used for simulating the three-

dimensional deformations of plate and strip rolling.
In the rolling process, the exit thickness profile of the strip
In Ref. [5], a tension distribution model along with the
depends on many system parameters, such as the dimensions of
streamline strip element method is used to increase the calculation
the working roll, backup roll, roll speed, gap between two
precision and convergence speed. In Ref. [6], the FEM is used to
working rolls, material properties of strip and rolls, dimension and
model the static deflection of the cluster-type rolling mill compo-
velocity of the strip in the inlet section, and support conditions of
nents and to compute the strip thickness profile. In Ref. [7],
the rolls. Hence, it is very difficult to predict the accurate exit
experiments on the rolling process of ultra-thin steel strips have
thickness profile of the strip, particularly when the roll gap
been performed and a model is developed considering the rolls
changes due to self-excited oscillations or during chatter in the
edge kiss. In Ref. [8], a model coupling method for the shape pre-
rolling mill. The variation of the system parameters beyond cer-
diction of the exit strip profile in a rolling process is used. In
tain critical limits in the rolling process causes many defects in
Ref. [9], an iteration method to calculate the entry and exit stress
the outcoming strip, and one of the most common defects is the
variation of the cold-rolling strip has been proposed by consider-
excessive convex or concave crowning in the strip. There are
ing the nonuniform incoming velocity with nonuniform thickness
many literatures [1–10] available for the study and prediction of
profile of the incoming strip. In Ref. [10], a numerical method has
the crown on the outcoming strip profile. Hence, it is important to
been introduced to calculate the displacements of structures
study the effect of variations of the system parameters over the
involving multiple, shear-deformable beams in lengthwise nonlin-
width of the strip, such as thickness, exit stress, and sheet force,
ear elastic contact. This method is then used in the rolling mills
during the rolling process. In the present work, a new model has
for the prediction of deflections and contact conditions between
been developed to predict the variation of these parameters over
the rolls and the strip.
the width of the strip by combining the conventional rolling mill
In Refs. [11–14], a dynamic rolling model with a constant fric-
models with chatter models. A brief literature review is carried
tion factor approach has been used to study chatter in the rolling
out in the following paragraphs.
process. The distinguishing feature of this model is the considera-
Pawelski and Teutsch [1] developed the first mathematical
tion of the rate of change of the roll gap in the modeling besides
model to predict the profile of a strip in tandem cold-rolling proc-
roll gap variations. A homogeneous and an inhomogeneous
esses. In Ref. [2], software has been developed to predict the strip
dynamic rolling model have been proposed in Refs. [15,16]. In
thickness distribution in the transverse direction. In this work, the
Ref. [17], the chatter vibration phenomenon is studied in a tandem
elastic deformation of working rolls and backup rolls, work roll
rolling mill with the use of parametrically self-excited vibrations
bending, and effect of roll flattening are considered. In Ref. [3],
of the system. In Ref. [18], a nonlinear dynamic model of rolling
the third-power spline function strip element method is used for
chatter is presented considering the homogeneous dynamic rolling
simulating the three-dimensional stresses and deformation of
model developed in Ref. [15]. Here, the analysis is mainly con-
cold-strip rolling. In Ref. [4], the stream surface strip element
cerned with the fifth octave chatter. In Ref. [19], the vibration of a
moving strip with different distributed stress in rolling process is
analyzed. In Ref. [20], the chatter in a four-high cold rolling mill
Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. Manuscript received
considering a dynamic friction model is studied. In Ref. [21], a
December 25, 2014; final manuscript received July 30, 2015; published online nonlinear dynamic analysis of a four-high rolling mill considering
October 27, 2015. Assoc. Editor: Brad L. Kinsey. the system to be a parametrically excited lumped parameter

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering APRIL 2016, Vol. 138 / 041002-1
C 2016 by ASME
Copyright V

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Fig. 1 (a) Schematic diagram of a four-high rolling mill and (b) modeling of the upper half of
the four-high rolling mill

system is carried out. In Ref. [22], a finite-element based model Using Galerkin’s method and putting the approximated
has been proposed for the prediction of the deformed roll profile assumed vertical deflection ve in Eq. (1), the residual is
in a 20-high Sendzimir mill. In the present work, the working roll  
is considered as a continuous system, and the FEM has been used d2 d 2 ve d 2 ve  
to analyze the system as discussed in Secs. 2 and 3. Re ¼ 2 EI 2 þ qA 2  fes  ke ve (2)
dz dz dt

2 Mathematical Modeling Equating the weighted residual in the element to zero, one obtains
In this section, the mathematical modeling of a four-high ðh ðh  2   
e e e d d 2 ve d 2 ve  s e

rolling mill is carried out using the FEM. Figure 1(a) shows the w R dz ¼ w EI 2 þ qA 2  fe  ke v dz ¼ 0
0 0 dz2 dz dt
schematic diagram of a four-high rolling mill having two working
rolls and two backup rolls. The working roll is modeled as an (3)
Euler Bernoulli beam by taking beam elements with vertical dis-
where we is the weighted parameter, and h is the length of the
placement and slope as the nodal degrees-of-freedom in the finite-
element. Hence,
element formulation. The bearings at the ends of the working rolls
are modeled using spring elements. Figure 1(b) shows the upper ðh 2   ðh  ðh
d d 2 ve e d 2 ve e  s 
half of the rolling mill with supports modeled by springs and the EI w dz þ qA w dz ¼ fe  ke ve we dz
dz2 dz 2 dt 2
coordinate system used in this analysis. In Sec. 2.1, the governing 0 0 0
equation of motion for the working roll is developed by FEM, and (4)
the expression for an approximate value of the end bearing stiff-
ness is found. In Sec. 2.2, the roll bite submodel and the work roll Using integration by parts, the first part of the expression is inte-
submodel are described to calculate the sheet force and stiffness. grated twice, so that Eq. (4) is converted to the weak form as

   
2.1 FEM Formulation. As shown in Fig. 1(b), the working d d2 ve h dwe d 2 ve h
e
roll has been divided into three zones. In zones 1 and 3, there is w EI 2   EI 2 
dz dz 0 dz dz 0
no sheet metal but in zone 2 the sheet metal width is L2. The ðh 2 e   ð
2 e h
working roll is discretized in n elements with n ¼ n1 þ n2 þ n3 . d w d v e d 2 ve
Here, n1 ; n2 ; and n3 are the numbers of elements in zones 1, 2, and þ 2
EI 2 dz þ w qA 2 dz
0 dz dz 0 dt
3, respectively. It can be noted that an interesting node is taken ðh
 s 
between nodes n1 þ 1 and n1 þ n2 þ 1, where the working roll is ¼ fe  ke ve we dz (5)
in contact with sheet metal. A typical two-node beam element of 0
the working roll is shown in Fig. 2. The governing equation of
motion of this Euler Bernoulli beam element can be written as
 
d2 d2 v d2 v
EI þ qA ¼ fes  ke v (1)
dz2 dz2 dt2

where v is the vertical deflection of the working roll. E is the

Young’s modulus and q is the density of the working roll materi-
als. The quantities A and I are the cross-sectional area and second
moment of area of the considered beam element. The strip is
assumed to exert a force per unit length fes on the working roll,
and the contact force between the working roll and backup roll is
modeled as ke v, where ke is the contact stiffness of the modeled
spring between the working roll and backup roll per unit length of
the element. Fig. 2 Two-node beam element with four degrees-of-freedom

041002-2 / Vol. 138, APRIL 2016 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 As shown in Fig. 2, taking the transverse displacement and and
slope as the degrees-of-freedom per node, the four degrees-of- 8 9
freedom in the local (zy) coordinate system are indicated as v1, v01 , >
> h > >
>
> >
v2, and v02 . The displacement of a point in the element ve can be >
>
> 2 > >
>
>
written in terms of the nodal degrees-of-freedom as >
> >
> 2 >>
>
> h >
>
8 9 >
< 12 > =
>
> v >
> 1>
> > fFe g ¼ fes (12)
< v0 >= >
> h > >
e ne 1 >
> >
>
v ¼ ½Nfv g ¼ ½ N1 N2 N3 N4  (6) >
> 2 >
>
>
> v2 >> >
> >
>
> > >
> >
>
: v0 ;> > h >
> 2 >
>
2 >
: > ;
12
where N1, N2, N3, and N4 are the shape functions which are given,
see Ref. [23], by After assembling the n elements, the governing equation of
motion can be written as
 2  3  
z z z 2
N1 ðzÞ ¼ 1  3 þ2 ; N2 ðzÞ ¼ z 1  ; ½Mf€
v g þ ½Kfvg ¼ ½F (13)
h h h
 2  3  2  ! (7) where ½M2ðnþ1Þ2ðnþ1Þ is the generalized mass matrix,
z z z z
N3 ðzÞ ¼ 3 2 ; N4 ðzÞ ¼ z  ½K2ðnþ1Þ2ðnþ1Þ is the generalized stiffness matrix, and ½F2ðnþ1Þ1
h h h h
is the generalized force vector.
Figure 3 shows the working roll with boundary conditions.
In this analysis, the basis functions for approximating the With the bearing stiffness kw of the support, one may formulate
deflections ve and the weight functions we are the same, i.e., the following boundary conditions.
At the left end, the shear force is ðd=dzÞðEIðd2 v=dz2 ÞÞ ¼ V1
we ¼ ½wne fNg (8)
¼ kw v1 and the bending moment is EIðd2 ve =dz2 Þ ¼ M1 ¼ 0. At
the right end, the shear force is ðd=dzÞðEIðd2 v=dz2 ÞÞ ¼ Vnþ1
By inserting Eqs. (6) and (8) in Eq. (5), one can obtain the
¼ kw vnþ1 and the bending moment is EIðd2 ve =dz2 Þ ¼ Mnþ1 ¼ 0.
expression
To obtain the bearing stiffness kw of the working roll, the free-
8 9 body diagram of the working roll is shown in Fig. 4.
>
> V1 > > s
Here, the total average sheet force L2 favg is assumed to be act-
>
> >
< M > = ing in the middle of the working roll in upward direction, and the
e ne e ne 1
½M f€
v g þ ½K fv g ¼ þ fFe g (9) total average force exerted by the backup roll Lkavg vavg is acting
>
> V 2 >
>
>
> >
: M > ; in the downward direction. Now considering the bearing forces
2 kw v1 and kw vnþ1 and using the force equilibrium in vertical direc-
tion, one can obtain
Here, v€ne is the second derivative of the nodal displacement vne
with respect to time, V1 and V2 are the shear forces, and M1 and s
kw v1 þ kw vnþ1 ¼ Lkavg vavg þ L2 favg (14)
M2 are the bending moments at nodes 1 and 2 of the beam ele-
ment. The expressions for the element mass matrix ½Me , element If there is a symmetry about the centerline of the working roll,
stiffness matrix ½K e , and element force vector fFe g are then v1 ¼ vnþ1 and hence, one can obtain the bearing stiffness as
2 3
156 22h 54 13h s
kw ¼ ðLkavg vavg þ L2 favg Þ=2v1 (15)
ðh
qAh 6
6 22h 4h2 13h 3h2 7 7
½Me  ¼ qAf N g½ N dz ¼ 6 7
0 420 4 54 13h 156 22h 5
13h 3h2 22h 4h2 2.2 Calculation of the Element Sheet Force and Contact
Stiffness. In the presented FEM-based formulation of the four-
(10)
high rolling mill, the main difficulty is to calculate the element
ðh sheet force fes and the element contact stiffness ke per unit length
 
½K e  ¼ EIfN 00 ½N 00  þ ke f N g½ N Þdz of the element. In the present work, the chatter model developed
0
2 3 in Ref. [18], which is known as the roll bite sub model, is used to
12 6h 12 6h obtain these expressions. Figure 5 shows the roll bite geometry
6 7 during chatter, see Ref. [18]. Applying this roll bite model at the
EI 6 6h 4h2 6h 2h2 7
¼ 36 7 ith node of zone 2 (where the sheet is in contact with the working
h 6 4 12 6h 12 6h 5
7 roll), the force per unit length can be given as
2 2
6h 2h 6h 4h
2 3
156 22h 54 13h
6 7
hke 6
6
22h 4h2 13h 3h2 7
7
þ (11)
420 64 54 13h 156 22h 7 5
13h 3h2 22h 4h2

Fig. 3 Force acting on the beam at the boundary Fig. 4 Free-body diagram of the working roll

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering APRIL 2016, Vol. 138 / 041002-3

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 ki þ kiþ1
ke jith element ¼ (19)
2

For completeness, the expressions of different geometric parame-

ters are given, see Ref. [15], as

x2i
hð xÞi ¼ hci þ (20)
R

uðxÞi hðxÞi ¼ u1i h1i  ðx1i  xi Þh_ ci (21)

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x1i ¼ ðh1i  hci ÞR (22)

Rhci h_ ci
x2i ¼   (23)
2 u1i h1i  x1i h_ ci
Fig. 5 Roll bite model of a rolling process, see Ref. [18]
  
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi m1 x1i
xni ¼ Rhci tan tan 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
m1 þ m2 Rhci
sy   2   
 
fis ¼ ð2sy þ r1m Þðx2i  x1i Þ þ m2 x2i  x2ni þ m1 x21i  x2ni m1 x 2i 1
R þ tan 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ
    m1 þ m2 Rhci 2s y ð 1 þ m2 Þ
m
h2i h1i rffiffiffiffiffiffi
þ sy Rm2 ln þ sy Rm1 ln  
hni hni hci h2i
rffiffiffiffiffiffi  r2m  r1m þ 2sy ln (24)
    R h1i
h1i R xni
þ 2sy x2i ln þ 2sy ðm1 þ m2 Þx2i tan 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  
h2i hci Rhci 1 x2ni _
rffiffiffiffiffiffi!   u1i ¼
h1i
vr hci þ vr
R
þ ðx1i  xni Þh ci Þ (25)
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi R x1i
þ 4sy Rhci  2sy m1 x2i tan 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
hci Rhci
u1i h1i þ ðx2i  x1i Þh_ ci
rffiffiffiffiffiffi! u2i ¼ (26)
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   x2
R x2i hci þ 2i
 4sy Rhci þ 2sy m2 x2i tan 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (16) R
hci Rhci
T1
Here, R is the radius of the working roll, sy is the yield strength of r1m ¼ (27)
sheet metal in shear, m1 and m2 are the friction coefficients before h1m L2
and after the neutral point, r1m and r2m are the mean tensile
stresses at the entry and the exit, u1i and u2i are the velocities of and
the strip at the entry and the exit of the roll bite at the ith node, h1i
T2
and h2i are the thickness of the strip at the entry and the exit of r2m ¼ (28)
roll bite, hci is the gap between two working rolls, hc0 is the initial h2m L2
position of the working roll, h_ ci is the rate of change of roll gap
where T1 and T2 are the entry and exit tension, and h1m and h2m
between two working rolls along the centerline of the rolls,
are the entry and exit mean thickness of the strip. The roll gap hci
x1i ; x2i , and xni are the distances between strip entry, exit, and
will be related to the nodal displacement vi as
neutral point position from the centerline of the working roll, and
x_ ci is the horizontal velocity of the vibrating rolls. Hence, the hci ¼ hc0 þ 2vi (29)
element sheet force per unit length of the element is

fis þ fiþ1
s and
fes jith element ¼ (17)
2 h_ ci ¼ 2v_ i (30)
Due to the compressive load fis , there will be a deformation at the
contact of the working roll and the backup roll. This deformation where hc0 is the initial roll gap. To find out the stress variation
at the interface is modeled using a linear spring between them. at the entry and at the exit, following expressions are used from
Due to large size of the backup roll, one may neglect the vertical Ref. [9]:
deflection of the backup roll and hence, this force is calculated as  
E u1i
the product of the stiffness of the spring and the vertical displace- r1i ¼ r1m þ  1 (31)
ment of the working roll. The contact stiffness ki per unit length 1   2 u1m
(when the roll bite is applied to the ith node) can be written as
described in Ref. [18] and
 
pE E u2i
ki ¼ !! (18) r2i ¼ r2m þ 1  (32)
1  2 u2m
1 0:78125EðDW þ DB Þ
2ð1   Þ  þ ln
2
3 fis ð1   2 Þ where u1m and u2m are the mean entry and exit velocity of the
strip. The expression of entry stress has been simplified for this
where E is the Young’s modulus,  is the Poisson ratio, and Dw model by assuming constant incoming strip width.
and DB are the diameters of the working and the backup roll. To get the desired output from the developed FEM model, one
Hence, the contact stiffness per unit length of the element is can use the flow chart shown in Fig. 6. It shows the steps involved

041002-4 / Vol. 138, APRIL 2016 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use


Fig. 6 Flow chart for the simulation of the rolling mill
in the simulation. In this flow chart, i denotes the ith node of the
working roll.
3 Results and Discussion
In this section by using the developed FEM model and by
following the flow chart shown in Fig. 6, a MATLAB code is
developed and a detailed study has been carried out for a wide
range of system parameters. The physical parameters of the roll-
ing mill, such as diameter of the working and backup roll and
material properties of rolls and strip materials which are similar
to that of Refs. [18,6], are given in Table 1. In this section, a
range for the bearing stiffness is assumed which can be
obtained as follows.
Using the parameters from Table 1 and from Ref. [18], the av-
erage contact stiffness per unit length between the working roll
and the backup roll kavg is found to be
Table 1 Physical parameters of a four-high rolling mill
Symbol Description
Dw Diameter of working roll (m)
Db Diameter of backup roll (m)
L Length of working roll (m)
Lb Length of backup roll (m)
 Poisson ratio of roll material
m Mass of working roll per unit length (kg/m)
E Modulus of elasticity of working roll material (GPa)
sy Yield strength of strip material (MPa)
s Poisson ratio of strip material
Es Modulus of elasticity of strip material (GPa)
L2 Width of strip (m)
kw Working roll bearing stiffness (N/m)
Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering
Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
kavg ¼ 3:10  1010 N=m2 (33)
Similarly, the average sheet force per unit length is
s
favg ¼ 2:7  106 N=m (34)
and the average working roll deflection in the vertical direction is
vavg ¼ 0:04  103 m (35)
s
By using the values kavg, favg , and vavg and the values L and L2
from Table 1 in Eq. (15), one can obtain
kw ¼ ð1:2703:10  1010  0:04 103 þ 0:900  2:7 106 Þ=2v1
(36)
or
kw ¼ ð0:8552  106 Þ=2v1 ¼ ð0:4276  106 Þ=v1 (37)
If the deflection in the bearing is of the order 106 (approximately
10% of vavg), we take v1 ¼ 106 and kw ¼ 0:4276  1011 N/m.
If the deflection in the bearing is of order 104 , we take v1
¼ 104 and kw ¼ 0:4276  109 N/m. Hence, in the present
work, the range of the bearing stiffness is taken as 5  109 N/m to
5  1011 N/m as given in Table 1. This wide range variation in the
stiffness parameter kw will also take care the different types of bear-
ings used in real four-high rolling mills.
Table 2 lists the process parameters taken in this work for
numerical analysis. These are similar to those taken in Ref. [18].
After carrying out the convergence analysis, the number of
elements in different zones is decided and is given in Table 3. The
parameters used in the Newmark Beta method are also given in
Table 3.
Figure 7 shows the nodes on working roll in different zones.
The three nodes A, B, and C have been selected for the study of
the behavior of various quantities. Node A is the first node and
this node is considered in the bearing, node B is at z ¼ L=4, and
node C is in the middle of the sheet or working roll, i.e., at
z ¼ L=2. The study of quantities on these nodes can summarize
the distribution of parameter over the working roll.
With the stiffness of the bearing 5  1010 N/m and width of the
strip 0.508 m, the time responses for the three nodes A, B, and C
are plotted in Fig. 8. One can observe that the node at C which is
in the middle of the sheet is having the highest initial overshoot
and highest settling time in comparison to the other nodes A
and B.
The variation of the sheet force f s at each node with time can
be calculated by using Eq. (16). Figure 9(a) shows the distribution
of sheet force over the length of the working roll in the transient
state and in the steady state and it can be noted that in transient
state, its value varies from 2.77 MN/m to 3.85 MN/m. In
Value Source
0.61
1.52
1.270
1.270
0.3
2300 [6,18]
206
110
0.334
69
0.508–0.900
5  109–5  1011
APRIL 2016, Vol. 138 / 041002-5
 Table 2 Process parameters of the rolling mill [18]

Symbol Description Value

vr Velocity of working roll (m/s) 17.6

m1 Coefficient of friction before neutral point 0.1
m2 Coefficient of friction after neutral point 0.1
T1 Front tension (kN) 50
T2 Back tension (kN) 50
h1 Average thickness of strip at entry (mm) 2.54
hc0 Initial roll gap (mm) 1.8

Table 3 Parameters for FEM and the Newmark Beta method

Symbol Description Value

N1 Number of elements in zone 1 20
N2 Number of elements in zone 2 60
N3 Number of elements in zone 3 20
d Constant parameter in Newmark Beta method 0.75
b Constant parameter in Newmark Beta method 0.5
hc0 Initial position of working roll (m) 1:8  103
v0 Initial nodal displacement (m) 0:1% of hc0
v_ 0 Initial nodal velocity (m/s) 0 the variation in the ratio of exit velocity (u2 Þ and velocity of the
Fig. 7 Node selection in different zones
Fig. 9(b), the distribution of sheet force over the length of the
working roll is plotted for the steady state only. The sheet force is
found to be smallest at the nodes, which is at the middle of strip
and maximal at edges because the reduction in thickness will be
higher at the edges due to bending of working roll at the center.
The difference of minimum to maximum value of the sheet force
over the length of the sheet is approximately 3  104 N/m, which
is around 0.9% of the average sheet force in steady state. This
sheet force distribution is found to be similar to the results
reported in Refs. [6,8].
Figure 10(a) shows the transient and steady-state distribution of
relative exit thickness of sheet (strip crown corresponding to C0
locations) over the working roll length. It can be noted that the
thickness at the center of the working roll (node C) is highest and
least at the edges (node 1) due to the bending of the working roll.
Further it is observed that in the transient state, the relative thick-
ness at the center varies from 7.5 lm to 17 lm, this implies that
the strip crown C(z) corresponding to C0 locations (z ¼ 0.381 mm)
is varying from 7.5 lm to 17 lm. Figure 10(b) shows the exit
thickness variation over the working roll length in steady state.
This model predicts that for the input parameters in Tables 1–3,
the thickness (1.865 mm) at a distance of 25 mm from the edge of
the strip (z ¼ 0.406 mm) is 0.010 mm less than the center thickness
(1.875 mm). Hence, the C25 crown is 0.010 mm or 0.53% of the
center thickness.
Figures 11(a) and 11(c) show the transient and steady-state var-
iation in entry and exit velocity over the length of the working
roll, plotted by using Eqs. (25) and (26), respectively, which is
generated because of the change in roll gap at each node with
respect to time. Figure 11(b) shows the variation in the ratio of the
entry velocity (u1) and the velocity of the working roll (vr) in
steady state. It can be noted that due to the backward slip this ratio
Fig. 8 Time response of different nodes on the working roll for
kw 5531010 N/m and L2 50:508 m
is always less than 1. The value of u1 =vr is highest (0.7545) at
the center of working roll and depends on the friction condition
(m1 and m2) before and after the neutral point. Figure 11(d) shows
working roll (vr) and due to the forward slip the ratio is found to
be larger than 1. The value of u2 =vr is lowest (1.0227) at the cen-
ter of the working roll and is maximal at the edges (1.0229). The
difference in the velocity ratio (u2 =vr ) at the center and edge is
the same as in Ref. [9] by using a model coupling method.
Figure 12(a) shows the variation of the average entry velocity
with time. This variation in the entry velocity is responsible
for the nonlinear and parametric excitation in the rolling mill.
Figure 12(b) shows the variation in the average exit velocity with
time. In this case, the initial overshoot in the velocity is 17.82 m/s
and after 0.0065 s the velocity becomes constant (17.65 m/s). The
variation in the exit velocity is similar to the variation in the roll
gap as shown in Fig. 8. This exit velocity variation is also respon-
sible for the parametric excitation in the moving strip between the
two stands.
Figure 13 shows the variation of exit stress which is obtained
by using Eq. (32). It is observed that the stress in transient state is
varying from  30 MPa to 130 MPa at the edges of the strip and in
the center it varies from 10 MPa to 90 MPa. Maximum variation
in the exit stress from the edge to the center is found in the very
beginning when the process starts and its value is approximately
120 MPa which is found to be same as reported in the literature
[3,8,9]. Due to this variation in the stress over the strip, many
defects, such as centerline cracking, warping edge, and wavy
edge, may develop at the exit. Figure 13(b) shows the distribution
of the exit stress over the strip in the steady state and it has been
found that the difference in the exit stress from edges to the center
is lesser (11 MPa) than the difference obtained in transient state,
but even when working rolls are not vibrating there is a variation
in exit stress which may cause defects. Figure 13(c) shows the
variation in average exit stress with time. Initially, the value of the
average stress is about 54 MPa and similarly as the roll gap vibra-
tion stops after 0.0065 s, the average stress remains constant at
52.7 MPa.
3.1 Effect of the Stiffness of the Bearings. As it has already
been assumed that the ends of the working rolls and backup rolls
are placed on elastic foundations, the effect of the stiffness of
these ends is discussed in this section. In this subsection, the
stiffness kw is taken as 5  109 N/m which is lower than the stiff-
ness 5  1010 N/m considered in Sec. 3.
Figure 14 shows the roll gap at different nodes A, B, and C in
the working roll. It can be observed that due to a decrease in the
stiffness at ends, the roll gap at node A is now similar to the rest
of the nodes in the working roll. Comparing Figs. 8 and 14, it is

041002-6 / Vol. 138, APRIL 2016 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Fig. 9 Distribution of sheet force over the working roll length for kw 5531010 N/m and
L2 50:508 m: (a) both transient and steady state and (b) steady state

Fig. 10 Exit thickness distribution of sheet over the length of working roll for kw 5531010 N/m
and L2 50:508 m: (a) both transient and steady state and (b) steady state

Fig. 11 (a) Distribution of entry velocity of strip over the length of working roll, (b)
distribution of the ratio of entry velocity of strip and working roll velocity in steady state, (c)
distribution of exit velocity of strip over the length of working roll, and (d) distribution of the
ratio of entry velocity of strip and working roll velocity in steady state, kw 5531010 N/m and
L2 50:508 m

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering APRIL 2016, Vol. 138 / 041002-7

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Fig. 12 (a) Variation in average entry velocity with time and (b) variation in average exit
velocity with time, kw 5531010 N/m and L2 50:508 m

Fig. 13 (a) Exit stress distribution over the length of the working roll in both transient and
steady state, (b) exit stress distribution over the length of the working roll in steady state, and
(c) variation in average exit stress with time, kw 5531010 N/m and L2 50:508 m

observed that the initial overshoot, settling time, and the steady-
state roll gap increase with decrease in the bearing stiffness.
Figure 15(a) shows the sheet force distribution over the length
of the working roll. The value of sheet force in the transient state
varies from 2.75 MN/m to 3.9 MN/m, which is similar as found in
Fig. 9(a) for higher bearing stiffness. In case of steady state, from
Fig. 15(b), the difference in the sheet force at the edges and at the
center of the strip is found to be 2  104 MN/m which is less than
that for the bearing with higher stiffness, see Fig. 9(b). Also, the
value of average force decreases in the present case.
Figure 16(a) shows the distribution of the exit thickness of the
sheet relative to the thickness at the edges in the transient and
steady state. It can be observed that in transient state, the relative
thickness at the center varies from 4.5 lm to 14.5 lm. Hence, the
strip crown C(z) corresponding to C0 locations (z ¼ 0.3810 mm) is
varying from 4.5 lm to 14.5 lm. Figure 16(b) shows the exit
thickness variation over the working roll length in the steady state.
It is observed that the thickness (1.887 mm) at a distance of Fig. 14 Time response of nodes A, B, and C on the working
25 mm from the edge of the strip (z ¼ 0.406 mm) is 0.007 mm less roll for kw 553109 N/m and L2 50:508 m

041002-8 / Vol. 138, APRIL 2016 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Fig. 15 Distribution of sheet force over the working roll length for kw 5 53109 N/m and
L2 5 0:508 m: (a) both transient and steady state and (b) steady state

Fig. 16 Exit thickness distribution of sheet over the length of working roll for kw 553109 N/m
and L2 50:508 m: (a) both transient and steady state and (b) steady state

than the center thickness (1.8894 mm). Hence, the C25 crown is
0.0077 mm or 0.37% of the center thickness. From Figs. 10(b) and
16(b), it is observed that with decrease in the bearing stiffness, the
value of C25 crown decreases. It may be noted that with a smaller
value of the crown, the exit strip profile is better and less material
has to be removed from the center of the strip to make it flat.
It is observed that with a decrease in bearing stiffness to
5  109 , in the transient state, the exit stress varies from 30 MPa
to 90 MPa at the edges of the strip and in the center it varies from
30 MPa to 90 MPa. Maximal variation in the exit stress from the
edge to the center is found to be approximately 122 MPa which is
almost the same (120 MPa) for kw ¼ 5  1010 , see Fig. 13(a).
Also, in the steady state, the difference in the exit stress from the
edges to the center is 8 MPa, which is less than the previously cal-
culated value of 11 MPa for kw ¼ 5  1010 . It may be noted that
the defect in the final product will be less for the less variation of
the exit stress in the strip over the working roll length.
Further it is observed that with a decrease in the value of the
bearing stiffness, the stress variation over the length of the work-
ing roll decreases and the settling time increases.
width. Also, in this case the settling time in roll gap is 0.0045 s
which is less than for the case with lower sheet width. This may
be due to the higher damping with increase in the sheet width. It
is observed that in this case of higher sheet width, the value of the
sheet force in the transient state varies from 2.2 N/m to 3.9 N/m.
In the steady state, the difference between the force at the edge
and at the center of the strip is found to be 10  104 N/m, which
is higher than the difference calculated for lesser width of strip
(3  104 N/m) in Fig. 9(b). The value of the average force also
increases for higher sheet width. In the present case, in the tran-
sient state the strip crown C(z) corresponding to C0 locations
(z ¼ 0.1850) is varying from 18 lm to 68 lm. In steady state, the
thickness of the outcoming strip (1.868 mm) at a distance of

3.2 Effect of the Width of the Sheet. It is desirable to

increase the width of the incoming strip to increase the productiv-
ity of the process, but it has been experimentally observed that
due to the increase in the width of the strip, many flatness-related
defects arise. In this section, the effect of the width of the sheet on
various parameters, such as roll gap, exit thickness profile of the
strip, variation of the sheet force over the working roll length,
and exit stress distribution, has been studied. The width L2 is con-
sidered to be 0.9 m.
Figure 17 shows the roll gap at nodes A, B, and C in the
working roll. From Figs. 8 and 17, it can be found that the initial Fig. 17 Time response of different nodes on the working roll,
overshoots of all nodes are higher in case of a sheet with higher for kw 5531010 N/m and L2 50:9 m

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering APRIL 2016, Vol. 138 / 041002-9

Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 25 mm from the edge of the strip (z ¼ 0.210 mm) is 0.04 mm less
than the center thickness (1.918 mm). Hence, the C25 crown is
0.04 mm or 2.1% of the center thickness. On comparing with
Fig. 10(b), one can observe that the value of C25 crown has been
increased with increase in the width of the strip. The maximal var-
iation in the exit stress from the edge to the center is found in the
very beginning when the process starts and its value is approxi-
mately 350 MPa which is higher than the previously calculated
(120 MPa) variation for the strip width of L2 ¼ 0:508 m in
Fig. 13(a). In steady state, it is found that the difference in exit
stress from edges to center is 42 MPa, which is higher than
the previously calculated value (11 MPa) for the width of strip
L2 ¼ 0:508 m as shown in Fig. 13(b). If the variation of exit stress
in strip from the edge to the center is high, then there will be more
defects in the final product. It is also predicted that initially the av-
erage stress value is about 30 MPa and as the roll gap vibration
stops after 0.0045 s, the average stress remains constant at
29.3 MPa which is less than the value obtained (52.7 MPa) for
L2 ¼ 0:508 m, see Fig. 13(c).
4 Conclusion
In the present work, a new model has been developed for a
four-high rolling mill to study the exit thickness profile of the
strip. The working roll is modeled as an Euler Bernoulli beam by
taking beam elements with vertical displacement and slope as the
nodal degrees-of-freedom in the finite-element formulation. The
bearings at the ends of the working rolls are modeled using spring
element. The interaction between the backup roll and working roll
is considered by the work roll submodel and the interaction
between working roll and sheet is modeled by the roll bite submo-
del. The results obtained for the nodal displacement and velocity
are used to predict the thickness and shape of exit strip and exit
thickness crown (C25 and C0). By measuring the exit thickness
crown, one can find the size of the optimal camber on the working
roll to use the mill efficiently.
The lateral distribution of various parameters, such as exit
stress, sheet force, exit velocity, and entry velocity, has been
found for both transient and steady states, which can be used to
predict the flatness of the rolled product. The effect of bearing
stiffness and width of strip are also studied in detail. It has been
found that if the ends of a rolling mill are very rigid then the out-
coming shape of exit strip has a larger crown, and similarly if the
width of strip is large, then the value of the crown will be high.
Hence, by using this model one can predict the shape of the out-
coming strip and exit stress variation over the length which will
be useful to avoid many defects, such as edge buckling and center
buckling, in the rolling process. As some of the results are vali-
dated from the previous experimental and theoretical studies, this
model can be used for rolling mill design.
In the developed model, shear deformation of the working rolls
and backup rolls has not been considered, and hence the study can
be further improved by considering the shear deformation of both
the rolls. The developed governing equation of motion may be
modified by considering the deformation of the working roll and
backup roll. To consider the mill tilting effect, one can further
study the system by incorporating asymmetric effect in the rolling
mill by taking different stiffness values at the two ends of the
working roll in the numerical calculation. Strain hardening also
041002-10 / Vol. 138, APRIL 2016
Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/28/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
plays an important role in the dynamics of rolling mill, and hence
one can include the strain hardening effect in this model. For
high-speed rolling condition, one may consider deformation
heating and its effect on dimensional accuracy by incorporating
thermal stresses in the finite-element formulation.
References
[1] Pawelski, O., and Teutsch, H., 1985, “A Mathematical Model for Computing
the Distribution of a Strip Rolled in Four-High Rolling Mills,” Eng. Fract.
Mech., 21(4), pp. 853–859.
[2] Deshpande, A. S., and Srinivasamurthy, K., 1997, “Computer Analysis for the
Prediction of a Strip Profile in Cold Rolling,” J. Mater. Process. Technol.,
63(1–3), pp. 712–717.
[3] Liu, H., Lian, J. C. H., and Peng, Y., 2001, “Third-Power Spline Function Strip
Element Method and Its Simulation of the Three-Dimensional Stress and Defor-
mations of Cold Strip Rolling,” J. Mater. Process. Technol., 116(2–3), pp.
235–243.
[4] Liu, H., and Wang, Y., 2003, “Stream Surface Strip Element Method for Simu-
lation of the Three-Dimensional Deformations of Plate and Strip Rolling,” Int.
J. Mech. Sci., 45(9), pp. 1541–1561.
[5] Peng, Y., and Liu, H., 2004, “Study on Increasing Calculation Precision and
Convergence Speed of Streamline Strip Element Method,” J. Cent. South Univ.
Technol., 11(1), pp. 105–108.
[6] Malik, A. S., and Grandhi, R. V., 2008, “A Computational Method to Predict
Strip Profile in Rolling Mills,” J. Mater. Process. Technol., 206(1–3), pp.
263–274.
[7] Jiang, Z. Y., Wei, D., and Tieu, A. K., 2009, “Analysis of Cold Rolling of Ultra
Thin Strip,” J. Mater. Process. Technol., 209, pp. 4584–4589.
[8] Wang, D., and Liu, H., 2012, “A Model Coupling Method for Shape
Prediction,” Int. J. Iron Steel Res., 19(2), pp. 22–27.
[9] Wang, D., 2012, “Entry and Exit Stress Variation of Cold Rolling Strip,” Int. J.
Iron Steel Res., 19(6), pp. 19–24.
[10] Malik, A. S., and Hinton, J. L., 2012, “Displacement of Multiple, Coupled
Timoshenko Beams in Discontinuous Nonlinear Elastic Contact With Applica-
tion to Rolling Mills,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 134(5), p. 051009.
[11] Yun, I. S., Wilson, W. R. D., and Ehmann, K. F., 1998, “Chatter in Strip
Rolling Process—Part I: Dynamic Rolling Modelling,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci.
Eng., 120(2), pp. 330–336.
[12] Yun, I. S., Wilson, W. R. D., and Ehmann, K. F., 1998, “Chatter in Strip
Rolling Process—Part II: Dynamic Rolling Experiments,” ASME J. Manuf.
Sci. Eng., 120(2), pp. 337–342.
[13] Yun, I. S., Wilson, W. R. D., and Ehmann, K. F., 1998, “Chatter in Strip Roll-
ing Process—Part III: Chatter Model,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 120(2),
pp. 343–348.
[14] Yun, I. S., Wilson, W. R. D., and Ehmann, K. F., 1998, “Review of Chatter
Studies in Cold Rolling,” Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 38, pp. 1499–1530.
[15] Hu, P., and Ehmaan, K. F., 1999, “A Dynamic Model of Rolling Process. Part I:
Homogeneous Model,” Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 40(1), pp. 1–19.
[16] Hu, P., and Ehmann, K. F., 1999, “A Dynamic Model of Rolling Process. Part
II: Inhomogeneous Model,” Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 40(1), pp. 21–31.
[17] Swiatoniowski, A., and Bar, A., 2003, “Parametrical Excitement Vibration in
Tandem Mills—Mathematical Model and Its Analysis,” J. Mater. Process.
Technol., 134, pp. 214–224.
[18] Lin, Y. J., Suh, C. S., Langari, R., and Naoh, S. T., 2003, “On Characteristics
and Mechanism of Rolling Instability and Chatter,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng.,
125(4), pp. 778–786.
[19] Sun, J., Peng, Y., Liu, H., and Jiang, G., 2010, “Vibration of Moving Strip With
Distributed Stress in Rolling Process,” J. Iron Steel Res., 17(4), pp. 24–30.
[20] Dwivedy, S. K., Dhutekar, S. S., and Eberhard, P., 2012, “Numerical Investiga-
tion of Chatter in Cold Rolling Mills,” Materials With Complex Behaviour II
(Advanced Structured Materials), Vol. 16, A. Ochsner, da Silva, L. F. M.,
Altenbach, H., eds., Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp. 213–227.
[21] Kapil, S., Eberhard, P., and Dwivedy, S. K., 2014, “Nonlinear Dynamic Analy-
sis of a Parametrically Excited Cold Rolling Mill,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng.,
136(4), p. 041012.
[22] Cho, J. H., and Hwang, S. M., 2014, “A New Model for the Prediction of Roll
Deformation in a 20-High Sendzimir Mill,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 136(1),
p. 011004.
[23] Dixit, U. S., 2009, Finite Element Methods for Engineers, Cengage Learning
Asia, Singapore.
Transactions of the ASME