| As important construction materials of national economy, Bars and wire rods are widely used in many fields such as industry, agriculture and building, etc. In recent years, versatile demands of society and marketing competitiveness have resulted in increasing requirements for the bar and wire production. To improve the rolling process and product quality of rolled bars and wires, it is meaningful to develop process modeling tools based on modern numerical methods and computer technologies to investigate the metal flow and energy parameters during rolling. In present study, developments of bar and wire rod production, research on finite element method (FEM) and associated pre/post-procedures are reviewed. Using rigid-plastic FEM, simulation system of bar and wire rolling has been developed in which the pre/post-procedures are coded in Visual C++. Standard language OpenGL (Open Graphic Library) of computer graphic technologies for three-dimensional solid modeling is used to enhance the pre/post-proceeding modules. In pre-procedure, roll parameters, workpiece dimensions and rolling conditions can be easily input for finite element calculation; In post-procedure, the obtained stresses, strains, roll loads and torques can be checked quickly. The output graphics can be freely zoomed and rotated through the transformation of view and model based on three-dimensional display technology of OpenGL, and therefore the deformation of finite element mesh, distribution contours of various parameters can be optionally observed. To validate the software developed, it has been used to simulate the bar rolling process of a bar and wire rod plant, and the calculated results are compared with production logs. It shows that the software is capable of simulating bar and wire rod rolling reliably and has the advantages of friendly interface and easily used operations. |
