Analytical and Numerical Investigation of Four-roll Bending

Four-roll bending process is usually used for manufacturing of seamed thick-walled and thin-walled cylinders. Due to complexity of this process, the analytical solution of plate bending in this process has not been developed completely. The existence of friction and multi-step processing makes it more difficult. Investigation of four-roll bending process using analytical and numerical methods is the main aim of current research. At first, using plate deformation theories, an analytical solution for four-roll bending process is extracted. By decomposing the deformation to elastic and elasto-plastic, the required bending moment is calculated. Considering the distribution of bending moment along the plate, the radius of bending is calculated considering spring back effects. The four-roll bending process is simulated by the finite element method. The simulation results show that the level of strain is less than the critical value and hence there are no damaged parts in the plate during process. Besides, bending radius of the plate after spring back is calculated and compared with the analytical values. Finally, for validation of analytical and numerical results, some experiments were conducted on aluminum. Results of this research show that both analytical and numerical methods are proper techniques for predicting plate behavior during four-roll bending.