FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF DEFORMED GEOMETRY IN THREE-ROLLER PLATE BENDING PROCESS

In pyramid type three-roller bending process, it is difficult to deform the plate perfectly to the required circular shape and it mainly depends on the skill of the operator. Presented work shows the finite element (FE) simulations of three-roller plate bending process to study the influence of different parameters, such as roller position, rolling speed, plate material, plate length and friction (at roller plate interfaces) on the bending quality of the deformed plate. FE simulations were performed based on the elastic-plastic explicit dynamic finite element method under the Hyperform LS-DYNA environment. FE simulation results were verified with the experimental results. Parametric studies were carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters on the quality of the final shape. Reported work will be helpful to process engineers in predicting the final radius of curvature and deviation of plate prior to manufacturing. This will reduce the trail and error in achieving the final geometry.