Numerical Simulation of the Hot Rolling Process of Steel Beams

The complete rolling schedule (25 passes) of steel beams in a mill was simulated to predict the final beam length, geometry of the cross-section, effective stress, effective plastic strain and rolling power for two cases; the first case corresponds to the hot rolling process assuming a constant temperature of 1200 ∘C. The simulation of the second case considered the real beam temperature at each pass to compare the results with in-plant measurements and validate the numerical model. Then, the results of both cases were compared to determine the critical passes of the process with high peaks of required power, coinciding with the reports at the mill. These critical passes share the same conditions, high percentage of reduction in cross-sectional area and low beam temperature. Additionally, a potential reduction of passes in the process was proposed identifying passes with low required power, minimal reduction in area of cross-section and essentially unchanged geometry. Therefore, it is reasonable to state that using the present research methodology, it is possible to have a better control of the process allowing innovation in the production of profiles with more complex geometries and new materials.