Cold angular rolling process as a continuous severe plastic deformation technique

Cold angular rolling process (CARP) has emerged as a potential continuous severe plastic deformation technique enabling the processing of bulk metal sheets with improved mechanical properties. The CARP technique involves a combination of cold rolling of a sheet by a single rotation roller followed by equal-channel angular pressing of the sheet passing through a bent channel. The present work uses finite element method (FEM) to model CARP by considering processing conditions, including different friction values and processing velocities for different copper and stainless steel alloys. The simulations reveal the influence of these processing parameters on distributions of strain, strain rate, stress (in both the metal sheet and the CARP tool), temperature, and torque requirements through one pass of CARP on the metal sheets. The modeling results are validated by the experimental characterization of the hardness distribution and microstructure after CARP on a copper sheet. The results from FEM are used to estimate the energy incorporated into different metal alloys at various processing conditions. Finally, this study discusses the feasibility of scaling up the CARP technique. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].