Prediction and Optimization of Wear Depth on Rectangular Tube Surface in Roll Forming

The outer surface of the tube is worn under the interaction between the velocity difference and rolling pressure, in the process of rolling the circular tube into a rectangular tube. In order to predict the wear depth, according to the characteristics of roll forming, the causes of wear in the forming process are analyzed. The finite element model of rolling forming was established based on Archard theory, and the 40 mm × 27.5 mm × 3 mm SUS304 stainless steel rectangular tube was simulated. The simulated results were compared with a test rolling of the steel tubes of the same size material, and the wear areas were found to be highly consistent, which verified the accuracy of the finite element model. The effects of the friction coefficient and the flat roller angular velocity on the simulation results which wear depth were analyzed, and the regression model of wear depth was established by response surface method. The results showed that the flat roller angular velocity had the greatest effect on wear depth; moreover, the flat roller friction coefficient was the second, and the vertical roller friction coefficient was the lowest. The minimum value of the regression model was optimized, the simulation value of the optimization scheme was compared with the optimized value, and the error of the two values was less than 5%, which verified the correctness of the regression model. The wear depth of the rectangular tube after optimization was reduced by 64.69% compared with that before optimization, which verified the effectiveness of the optimization results.