OPTIMUM-SHAPE DESIGN TECHNIQUES OF DIRECT ROLLER UNDER THERMAL LOAD AND ROLLING FORCE IN THE DIRECT ROLLING PROCESS OF MOLTEN MATERIALS CONSIDERING SOLID FRACTION

Rolling force in the direct rolling (or in the twin-roll strip continu ous casting) process of semi-solid material has been computed using th e rigid-viscoplastic finite-element method. Temperature distributions for calculations of rolling force and roll deformation are obtained fr om thermofluid analysis. Three-dimensional roll deformation analysis h as also been performed using the commercial package ANSYS. From the re sults, the behavior of the metal flow, the rolling force and the roll deformation have been investigated according to the process conditions of semi-solid direct rolling. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.