FE SIMULATION OF EDGE CRACK INITIATION AND PROPAGATION OF CONVENTIONAL GRAIN ORIENTATION ELECTRICAL STEEL

Abstract

Three-dimensional finite element simulation has been carried out to understand better the crack initiation and growth at the edge side of silicon steel sheet during cold rolling, which is attributable to elastic deformation of work roll, i.e., roll bending. Strain-controlled failure model was coupled with finite element method and a series of FE simulation has been carried out while three different roll bending modes are considered. FE simulation shows that the negative roll bending mode during rolling affects significantly the crack initiation behavior. When the strain for failure was reduced by 20%, number of elements removed was increased by about 305%. If an initial crack with 2.5mm in length was assumed on the strip, the initial edge crack propagated toward inner region of strip and the propagated length is about 10times of the initial edge crack length.