Heat transfer in cold rolling process of AA8015 alloy: a case study of 2-D FE simulation of coupled thermo-mechanical modeling

The finite element method (FEM) is one of the most applicable mathematical analytic methods of rolling processes and is also an efficient method for analyzing coupled heat transfer. Thermal analysis of cold rolling process is not frequently used due to the widespread assumption of insignificant impact during rolling process. This research focuses on the development of coupled thermo-mechanical 2-D FE model analysis approach to study the thermal influence and varying coefficient of friction during the industrial cold rolling process of AA8015 aluminum alloy. Both deformable-rigid and deformable-deformable rigid contact algorithms were examined in the 2-D FE model. Findings revealed that temperature distribution in the roll bite rises steadily in a stepwise manner. The deformable-deformable contact algorithm is the best investigations of thermal behavior of the rolled metal and work rolls necessary for typical application in work roll design. The predicted roll separating force is validated with industrial measurements.