1.5 GPa Grade High-Strength Steel Sheet Flattening by Roll Gap Adjustment Considering Pattern Roll Effects

Abstract

This study analyzes a three-stage roll flattening process to improve the flatness of 1.5 GPa grade AHSS sheets. Unlike conventional leveler rolls, which mainly relieve residual stress through longitudinal tension-compression, the second roll has a sloped pattern to induce transverse deformation and redistribute local residual stresses. A twisted sheet was pro-cessed under different roll gap settings (1.3 mm, 1.1 mm, 0.9 mm, and 0.7 mm), and ex-perimental measurements were compared with Abaqus Explicit simulations. At a 1.1 mm gap, the RMSE between experiment and simulation is 0.22 mm, showing the highest agreement. Both twist and crossbow defects are reduced by over 80%, achieving optimal flattening. At 1.3 mm, the simulation overestimates the second roll’s effect, causing exces-sive localized deformation. Reducing the gap to 0.9 mm or 0.7 mm increases discrepan-cies due to roll fixation differences. Experiments allow more central bending, amplifying crossbow, while simulations assume rigid rolls, underestimating curvature. Adjusting the second roll’s geometry to enhance transverse tension-compression and setting the gap to 1.1 mm effectively reduces defects. This method improves flatness while minimizing the number of rolls needed in high-strength steel sheet production.