Development and Validation of a Large Strain Flow Curve Model for High-Silicon Steel to Predict Roll Forces in Cold Rolling

Accurately modeling the flow curve over a large strain range is crucial for predicting the flow stress behavior of high silicon steel undergoing strain hardening in the continuous cold rolling process. This study proposes a large strain flow curve model for high-silicon steel, a material commonly used in the cores of electromagnetic devices such as electric motors, generators, and transformers. This model was developed through a series of tensile tests on homogenously pre-strained specimens. Pilot cold rolling was performed at various thickness reduction ratios to impart different magnitudes of pre-strain to sheet-type tensile specimens. The proposed flow curve model was implemented in a VUHARD user-defined subroutine within Abaqus/Explicit, and the predicted roll separating forces were compared with those measured from the pilot cold rolling tests. The comparison demonstrated that the proposed flow curve model accurately captures the flow stress behavior of high-silicon steel at different strain rates over a large strain range, with an R-squared value of 0.9932. The predicted roll separating forces closely matched the measurements from the pilot cold rolling tests, with an average difference of 5.1%.