Journal of Materials Processing Technology 89 90 (1999) 218 223

Computer-aided process design for the tension levelling of metallic

strips
Fusahito Yoshida *, Masaki Urabe 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hiroshima Uni6ersity 1 -4 -1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739 -8527, Japan

Received 26 June 1998

Abstract

The present paper deals with a computer-aided process design for tension leveling based on finite element analysis. A FE code
developed specifically for that purpose, which involves a sophisticated constitutive model of cyclic plasticity, enables the accurate
performing of a numerical simulation. The very short computation time in numerical simulation by this FE code is due to a novel
calculation algorithm to solve the steady elasto-plasticity problem based on the incremental deformation theory of plasticity.
From the results of numerical simulation for some tension leveling processes, it has been concluded that a series of work rolls
should be set in the final stage of the leveling process such that the roll-intermesh gradually decreases along the stream line and
approaches zero at the final roll. 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tension leveling; Computer-aided process design; Finite element method; Constitutive modelling; Cyclic plasticity

1. Introduction ulus, Poissons ratio and yield strength) and the

Tension leveling is a typical metal forming tech-
nique for producing perfectly flat metallic strips. In
most factories, the tension-leveling process (the com-
bination of roll-pitches, roll-intermesh and applied
tensile load) is determined by a try-and-error ap-
proach. In order to determine the optimal process for
tension leveling, there have been some attempts at
computer-aided process designing, mostly at the R &
D centers of steel companies and heavy industries [1
5]. In these works, in order to predict the curvature
of a metallic strip right under a work roll (hereafter
called work curvature), two types of models, i.e.,
empirical and analytical, were presented. In the em-
pirical models [13], the work curvature of a strip is
formulated based on experimental data as an explicit
function of the mechanical properties (Youngs mod-
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yoshida@mec.hiroshima-u.ac.jp (F. Yoshida)
1
Present address. R & D Research Center of NKK Co. Ltd. 1,
Kokan-cho, Fukuyama, Hiroshima 721, Japan.
thickness of the strip, the roll-intermesh, the roll-pitch
and the applied tensile stress. On the other hand,
some simplified analytical models [4,5] have also been
presented, but none are based on FE analysis. How-
ever, neither the empirical nor the analytical models
so far proposed take into account the complex defor-
mation behavior of metallic strips characterized by
the Bauschinger effect and cyclic hardening/softening.
As a result, the accuracy of the work curvatures of a
strip predicted by these models is not always ensured.
Instead of such classical approaches, the authors
propose a computer-aided process design for the ten-
sion leveling of metallic strips based on the finite ele-
ment analysis. The present paper describes some
details for the accurate numerical simulation, i.e., the
new method of identification of material parameters
in a constitutive model of cyclic elasto-plasticity to
describe accurately the cyclic behavior of the strips, a
novel algorithm of the steady FE analysis and its
formulation. Moreover, guidelines for process design
are discussed based on the results of the FE simula-
tion for some typical cases of the tension leveling
process.

0924-0136/99/$ - see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 3 4 - 5
 F. Yoshida, M. Urabe / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 218223 219

2. Analytical procedures

2.1. Constituti6e modelling and identification of

material parameters

In order to perform accurate numerical simulation of

the tension-leveling process, it is necessary to have an
appropriate constitutive model that can describe cyclic
behavior, especially, cyclic hardening/softening charac-
teristics and the Bauschinger effect. In the present
work, the authors use a constitutive model proposed by
Chaboche and Russelier [6] in which cyclic behavior of
materials is described by the combination of non-linear
kinematic hardening rules and an isotropic hardening
rule (hereafter called the combined hardening model,
see Table 1). This type of model can well describe
complex stressstrain responses such as cyclic harden-
ing and the Bauschinger effect under cyclic loading
[7,8]. If only the linearly kinematic hardening rule is
used, it is identical to the so-called Prager model [9].
Constitutive models incorporate a number of mate-
rial parameters that should be identified from some
material tests (e.g. the combined hardening model used
in this paper incorporates eight parameters). For thin
sheet metals, conventional tension compression tests
cannot be conducted because of the buckling of the
sheets in compression. Instead of tension-compression
tests, the present authors [8] recently proposed cyclic
bending tests in order to identify the material parame-
ters in an elasticplastic constitutive model. Obviously,
such experiments will involve inhomogeneous stress and
Table 1
Constitutive model [6]
Fig. 1. Cyclic stress strain response predicted by the combined
hardening model [6] and the linearly kinematic hardening model [9],
together with the experimentally determined tensile stressstrain
curve.
strain fields in a sheet specimen and the material
parameters cannot be determined from the experiment
immediately. Therefore, an iterative identification pro-
cedure is necessary. Here, the identification problem is
formulated as an optimization problem where the func-
tion to be minimized is an error function defined as the
difference between the test results and the correspond-
ing results of numerical simulation [8,10].
For example, Fig. 1 shows the stressstrain curve for
a SPCC strip used for the experiments, together with
the results of numerical simulation using the combined
hardening model and the linearly kinematic hardening
model which incorporates the thus-identified material
parameters.

Kinematics: 2.2. No6el algorithm of finite element analysis

o; = o; e+o; p
So far, there have been some attempts with FE
Flow rule: analyses of tension-leveling process [11,12], however,
1 1
f= (Sa):(Sa) (Y+R)2 one of the problems in these analyses is that conven-
2 3
tional non-steady FE analyses need considerable com-
putation time. This is mainly due to: the displacement
Isotropic hardening rule:
R: = b(QR)o; ,
 
2
o; = o; p:o; p
1/2 of a material element moving along the stream line of
the strip being very large; and the procedure of contact/
3
detouch searching between the numbers of rolls and the
strip being very time-consuming.
Kinematic hardening rule:
a; = a; 1+a; 2 As a breakthrough of the above problems, the
present authors have developed a finite element code
2
a; 1 = H%o; p for steady elasticplastic analysis based on the incre-
3
mental deformation theory of plasticity for the specific
purpose of simulating the tension-leveling process. The
2 
[linear kinematic hardening]
a; 2 = C ao; po; a2
procedure of the analysis is illustrated schematically in
Fig. 2 and is summarized as follows: (i) First, the
3
roll-pitches are assumed as an initial guess; (ii) Consid-
[non-linear kinematic hardening] ering such a situation that the rolls are moving down
step by step during tension leveling, we determine the
220 F. Yoshida, M. Urabe / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 218223
steady stream line of the strip is determined for each
time step (here, the time increment Dt corresponds to
the roll-intermesh increment) until the roll-intermeshes
reach the prescribed ones; and (iii) since the thus calcu-
lated final roll-pitches are different from the prescribed
pitches, the final solution is obtained after a few num-
ber of iterations of the above procedure by correcting
the pitches.
A great advantage of this FE code over other con-
ventional codes is the much less calculation time for
obtaining the final steady solution. One of the reasons
for this is that this analysis does not include the itera-
tion for the contact/detouch searching between a roll
and a strip, which is a quite time-consuming procedure
in conventional non-steady FE calculation.
2.3. Finite element formulation
In the FE formulation, the Kirchhoff Love hypothe-
sis, is assumed that the cross-section of a plane initially
normal to the plates axis remains plane and normal to
the axis, under plane-strain conditions.
Assuming that the solution at a time (t = t) has been
obtained, the FE stiffness equation for a plate element
at the subsequent stage (t =t +Dt) is described. In Fig.
3 are shown two plate elements at the current (t= t)
and the subsequent (t = t +Dt) stages, respectively.
Here, x y is the global coordinate system and j h
Fig. 2. Flow chart of the present FE analysis.
Fig. 3. Global and local coordinate systems to describe the kinetics of
a plate element.
and j( h are the local coordinate systems at t=t and
t= t+Dt, respectively.
When using the linear and cubic interpolations for
the displacement increments, Duj and Duh, respectively,
the strain increment {Do} is given as a linear function
of the nodal displacement increment
{Du}[uji Duhi Du%hi Duji Du%hi ]T as follows:
{Do}=[B]t {Duj h }, (1)
where [B]t is the straindisplacement matrix (at t=t)
that has linear components of j and h. Therefore, the
strain at the subsequent stage, {ot + Dt } ( ={oj}t + Dt ), is
given by the equation:
{ot + Dt }= {ot }+ {Do}={ot }+ [B]{Du}. (2)
In this steady analysis, the stressstrain history of
each material element moving along the stream line is
expressed by a cyclic stressstrain curve, as shown
schematically in Fig. 4. The stressstrain curve in each
half stress/strain cycle is expressed by the following
equation based on the deformation theory of plasticity:
{s} {s*(k) }= [D. ]({o} {o*(k) }), (3)
where {s*(k)} and {o*(k)} are the stress and strain states at
the k-th stress reversal point and [D. ]stands for the
stressstrain matrix defined in the stress-strain coordi-
nate system in which the origin is identical with the
stress reversal point (see Fig. 4(b)). Therefore, at t=
t+ Dt, the stressstrain relationship is given by the
equation:
{st + Dt }= [D. t + Dt ]{ot + Dt }
+({s*(k)t + Dt } [D. t + Dt ]{o*(k)t + Dt }). (4)
Let {P}=[Fji Fhi Mi Fjj Fhj Mj ]T be the nodal force
vector, then, from the principle of virtual work:
{Du}T{Pt + Dt }j( h =
& {Do}T{st + Dt } dV, (5)
V
 F. Yoshida, M. Urabe / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 218223 221

together with Eqs. (2) (4), the FE stiffness equation for

an plate element at t =t + Dt is derived in the subse-
quent local coordinate, j( h, as:

{Pt + Dt }j( h
& [B]T[D. t + Dt ]{ot } dV

&
V

[B]T({s*(k)t + Dt } [D. t + Dt ]{o*(k)t + Dt }) dV

& 
V Fig. 5. Work curvatures as a function of the roll-intermesh predicted
by the FE analyses using two types of constitutive models, together
= [B]T[D. t + Dt ][B] dV {Du}. (6) with experimental results.
V

This stiffness equation is also expressed in the current 3. Numerical results and discussion
local coordinate, j h, as:

{Pt + Dt }j h
& [B]T[D. t + Dt ]{ot } dV 3.1. Verification of the accuracy of the analysis

&
V
In order to verify the accuracy of the FE analysis, the
[B]T({s*(k)t + Dt } [D. t + Dt ]{o*(k)t + Dt }) dV results of numerical simulation for work curvatures

& 
V
= [B]T[D. t + Dt ][B] dV +[Q] {Du}.
V with a three- or a four-roll unit (see Fig. 5) were
where [Q] is the rotation matrix to describe the rotation
of the local coordinate, du :(Duhj Duhi )/l as shown in
Fig. 3. By summing the whole of the element stiffness
equations, the global stiffness equation to be solved is
formulated.
were compared with the corresponding experimental
results. For that purpose, tension-leveling experiments
(7)
conducted using mild steel strip (0.5 mm thick SPCC)
under various conditions of roll-intermesh and tensile
stress. The work curvature of a strip right under the
work roll was determined from the profile of the strip
measured by a cantilever-type profile meter. The resid-
ual curvature of the strip after the finishing of the
process was also determined from the strain change
measured by strain gauges bonded on both of the
surfaces of the strip when the strip was cut off after it
had passed through the roll unit.
Fig. 6 shows the relationship between work curvature
and roll-intermesh for a four-roll experiment under 40
MPa back tension, calculated by the present FE code
using two types of constitutive models: the combined
hardening model and the linearly kinematic hardening

Fig. 4. Updated coordinate system s o to describe cyclic stress Fig. 6. Residual curvatures as a function of roll-intermesh predicted
strain response by the deformation theory of plasticity: (a) the stream by the FE analyses using two types of constitutive models, together
line of a strip in tension leveling; (b) the stressstrain response of a with experimental results (back tension of 40 MPa, for 0.5 mm thick
material element during tension leveling. SPCC).
222 F. Yoshida, M. Urabe / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 218223

Fig. 7. Residual curvatures (curl in the longitudinal direction and
gutter in the width direction of the strip) as a function of roll-inter-
mesh predicted by the FE analyses using two types of constitutive
models, together with experimental results (back tension of 40 MPa,
for 0.5 mm thick SPCC).
Fig. 9. Residual curvatures (curl in the longitudinal direction and
gutter in the width direction of the strip) as a function of roll-inter-
mesh predicted by the FE analyses, together with experimental results
(back tension of 27 MPa, for 0.5 mm SPCC).

model; together with experimental results. The calcu-
lated results of the residual curvature as a function of
roll intermesh, together with the experimental data, for
a four-roll experiment, are shown in Fig. 7. From these
results, it can be concluded that this FE analysis gives
an accurate prediction for the curvature in tension
leveling when using the combined hardening model.
3.2. Process design
As an example, two typical cases of tension leveling
processes for a 0.5 mm thick SPCC strip were examined
types A and B as shown in Fig. 8(a) and (b), respec-
tively, of which the roll arrangements were the same as
those used in the experiments of Hattori et al. [2]. The
process of type A consists of two four-roll units (No. 1
and 2 in Fig. 8(a)) followed by two three-roll units (No.
3 and 4 in Fig. 8(a)). In this process, the roll-inter-
meshes for unit Nos. I to 3 were set as 4, 4 and 15 mm,
respectively and the effect of the roll-intermesh of No.
4 unit (from 1 to 9 mm) on the residual curvature was
examined. Type B has a four-roll unit (No. 1 in Fig.
8(b), 5 mm roll-intermesh) and a three-roll unit (No. 2
in Fig. 8(b), 4.5 mm roll-intermesh) followed by a series

Fig. 8. Two types of tension-leveling processes: types A and B.

 F. Yoshida, M. Urabe / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 218223
Fig. 10. Bending moment versus curvature curve in type A process
predicted by the FE analysis (back tension of 27 MPa, for 0.5 mm
SPCC).
of work rolls (No. 3 unit in Fig. 8(b)) of which roll-in-
termeshes gradually decreases along the stream line and
approaches to zero at the final roll. In this process, the
effect of the roll-intermesh at the first roll of No. 3 unit
(from 0 to 3 mm) on the residual curvature was
investigated.
Fig. 9 shows the calculated results of the final resid-
ual curvatures of the strip, in the longitudinal direction
(the so called curl) and the width direction (the gut-
ter), as a function of the roll-intermeshes at unit No. 4
for the type A and at the unit No. 3 for type B,
respectively, under 27 MPa back tension. It is found in
this figure that the curl in type-A process is quite
sensitive to the roll-intermesh and the flat strip can be
obtained exclusively under the condition of 6 mm roll-
intermesh. In contrast, in type-B process, residual curl
becomes enough small if the roll-intermesh is set be- .
tween 1 and 2 mm. The calculated result of bending
moment versus curvature curve for type-B process (2
mm roll-intermesh at the first roll of No. 3 unit) is
shown in Fig. 10. It is found in this figure that the
curvature decreases with increasing number of bending
cycles. In addition, contrary to the curl, the gutter is
not so sensitive to the roll-intermesh for both the
processes (see Fig. 9).
From the above results, it can be concluded
that, for the type-B process, a series of work rolls
should be set in the final stage of a leveling pro-
cess such that the roll-intermesh gradually decreases
along the stream line and approaches zero at the final
roll.
223
4. Concluding remarks
A system of computer-aided process design for ten-
sion leveling has been presented. A FE code developed
specifically for that purpose, which involves a sophisti-
cated constitutive model of cyclic plasticity, exclusively
enables us the performing of accurate numerical simula-
tion. The very short computation time in the numerical
simulation with this FE code is due to a novel calcula-
tion algorithm to solve the steady elasto-plasticity prob-
lem based on the incremental deformation theory of
plasticity.
From the results of numerical simulation for some
tension leveling processes, it has been concluded that a
series of work rolls should be set in the final stage of a
leveling process such that the roll-intermesh gradually
decreases along the stream line and approaches to zero
at the final roll.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr T. Okada and K.
Tanita of Hiroshima University for their help with the
experiments and the computation. They also would like
to thank to T. Kajiwara of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry
Co. Ltd for providing the test apparatus and specimens.
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