Technological Shells in Rolling Processes of Thin Sheets from Hard-to-Deform Materials

Innovations in many strategically important sectors, such as the aerospace, automotive, energy and other industries, depend on making products from hard-to-deform materials. The most promising technology for their forming is rolling in a ductile shell. Even though the use of such technological shells allows one to effectively reduce rolling forces and soften the stress state, they have not found wide application in manufacturing practice due to the accompanying disadvantages: dog boning effect, high thickness variation, shell delamination during rolling and the lack of comprehensive studies on the influence of shell material on the process parameters. This study used finite element (FE) simulation to analyze the impact of shell material on the process parameters of rolling with the use of shells. On the basis of FE simulation, a new shell design was proposed. The key difference between the new shell design and the well-known one lies in the two-layer construction of the proposed shells. The FE model of the rolling process with the use of the modified technological shells and testing on the example of high-carbon tool steel under laboratory conditions have shown an improvement in the process parameters and high potential for use in real manufacturing processes.

Automated summary

Innovations in important industries rely on using hard-to-deform materials for product manufacturing. Rolling in a ductile shell is a promising technology, but it faces challenges such as dog boning effect and shell delamination. This study used finite element simulation to analyze and propose a new two-layer shell design, demonstrating improvements in process parameters and potential for real manufacturing processes.