EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF LOAD AND STRIP PROFILE IN THIN STRIP ROLLING

Experiments are described in which plasticine strips are rolled using elastomer rolls. Conditions cover the range from ''thick strip'' behav iour, in which roll elastic deformations are small, to ''thin strip ro lling'', in which elastic deformations of the rolls are very significa nt. Results provide the first direct experimental confirmation of the thin strip rolling model proposed by Fleck el al. (Proc. Instn Mech. E ngrs B 206 (1992) 119-131). Strip profiles clearly show a short region of reduction at the inlet to the bite and a central region which is r elatively flat, in accord with the theory. The profiles do not however show a short region of reduction at the exit as predicted. For interm ediate strip thicknesses the measured loads are in reasonable agreemen t with theory. For the thinnest strips, although the form of the depen dence of load on reduction and inlet strip thickness is as predicted b y theory, the measured loads are almost an order of magnitude lower th an predicted. It is suggested that this is caused either by difference s between the assumed rigid-perfectly plastic strip and the real const itutive behaviour of the plasticine, or by errors in treating the roll s as elastic half-spaces, an approximation which is accurate for indus trial metal rolling, but is not good for the conditions of these exper iments. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.